美国国家公共电台 NPR American Muslims In Public Life Say They Face Outsize Scrutiny

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Freshman¹ Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has made a name for herself with controversial comments against Israel. Some other American Muslims believe the controversy² around her is more about who she is than what she says. Here's Omar speaking at a rally organized by black women leaders.

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ILHAN OMAR: They could not stand that a refugee, a black woman, an immigrant, a Muslim shows up in Congress thinking she's equal to them.

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MARTIN: NPR's Leila Fadel has more.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE³: Omar has caused a lot of controversy in her few months in office. Her critics accuse her of anti-Semitism. After an offensive tweet, she apologized. But she refuses to back down from questioning lobbyists' influence in policymaking, from groups that support Israel to gun rights. Her prominent presence in Washington is being met with violent death threats, many incited⁴ by a tweet from the president of a video that interspersed⁵ Ilhan Omar speaking with video of the 9/11 attacks. Movita Johnson-Harrell says it's all very familiar.

MOVITA JOHNSON-HARRELL: Historically, we have not occupied these spaces. And now that we are - that it is a threat to the misogyny and the white supremacy⁶ in this country.

FADEL: Johnson-Harrell is the first black Muslim woman in the Pennsylvania Statehouse. For her, it started before she was even sworn in this spring when State Representative Stephanie Borowicz gave an invocation that Johnson-Harrell says made her feel unwelcome and implied that her election was wrong.

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STEPHANIE BOROWICZ: God, forgive us. Jesus, we've lost sight of you. We've forgotten you, God, in our country. And we're asking you to forgive us, Jesus.

JOHNSON-HARRELL: It was laced with bigotry⁷. And it was very, very offensive.

FADEL: Johnson-Harrell says since saying she was offended...

JOHNSON-HARRELL: I've gotten hate mail. I've had people put comments on my social media telling me to go back to where I came from, telling me to remove the rag from my head. I mean, it's been absolutely insane.

FADEL: Backlash like this is something Vanessa Taylor thinks about a lot.

VANESSA TAYLOR: I'm a black Muslim writer based in Philadelphia whose work focuses on black Muslim womanhood and the taboo⁸.

FADEL: For black Muslim women in politics, the chorus of critics from both parties is a familiar tune⁹. Taylor says they become symbols of marginalized people rising to power.

TAYLOR: Black women, historically, when they speak, are punished and humiliated¹⁰ and publicly shamed.

FADEL: So she says in the case of Ilhan Omar, many critics are seizing on anti-black, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant tropes.

TAYLOR: So it's not even a matter of if she actually did that or if it's actually a wrong thing to do. It's really just a matter of a black woman's position is to be in atonement.

FADEL: And the congresswoman, Taylor says, is not atoning¹¹. Now, it's not just black Muslim women who deal with this. It happens frequently to Muslims in politics who publicly identify with their faith.

YASMINE TAEB: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED VOTER: Hi, how are you doing? It's good to see you.

TAEB: It's good to see you. Thank you for being here.

FADEL: Yasmine Taeb is greeting voters at the public library in Falls Church, Va., at a town hall.

TAEB: For me, as someone who came to the U.S. as a refugee originally from Iran, grew up undocumented, for me...

FADEL: She's running on a progressive platform for the Virginia State Senate - clean energy, getting corporate¹² money out of politics. But the headlines attacking her read pro-Iran socialist¹³. She's accused of hating Israel. Now, foreign policy - it's never come up in this race.

TAEB: This is a state legislative¹⁴ race. These are dog whistles. These are, you know, again, Islamophobic tactics.

FADEL: She gets messages from across the country calling her a terrorist, trash, asking ICE to deport¹⁵ her.

TAEB: Why is it that every single time we have a Muslim declare their candidacy and run for office, why is it that we have to jump this hurdle¹⁶ to prove that, you know, we are loyal to this country?

FADEL: There are brief moments, she says, when she wonders if staying in politics is worth it, when she looks at the hundred or so hateful messages she gets a day.

TAEB: And then it just makes me remember that it's all the more important why we should. These are individuals that are trying to silence us. These are individuals that don't support a more inclusive commonwealth¹⁷ and country.

FADEL: Instead, she looks at the vitriol as a challenge and the reason to keep talking.

Leila Fadel, NPR News.

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1 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

5 interspersed   

adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

7 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

8 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

9 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

10 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

11 atoning   

v.补偿，赎（罪）( atone的现在分词 )；补偿，弥补，赎回

参考例句：

• A legacy from Mrs. Jennings, was the easiest means of atoning for his own neglect. 詹宁斯太太的遗赠，是弥补他自己的失职的最简单、最容易的方法。 来自辞典例句
• Their sins are washed away by Christ's atoning sacrifice. 耶稣为世人赎罪作出的牺牲，洗去了他们的罪过。 来自互联网

12 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

13 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

14 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

15 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

16 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

17 commonwealth   

n.共和国，联邦，共同体

参考例句：

• He is the chairman of the commonwealth of artists.他是艺术家协会的主席。
• Most of the members of the Commonwealth are nonwhite.英联邦的许多成员国不是白人国家。