PBS高端访谈:美国新政策要求城市解决住房隔离问题

 　　GWEN IFILL: The Obama administration this week announced plans to step up scrutiny¹ under the 1968 Fair Housing Act that the Supreme² Court upheld at the end of its term. The new rules require cities and towns to document patterns of racial bias³ in their neighborhoods, and publicly report the results every three to five years.

　　The communities would then set and track goals to reduce segregation⁴. In extreme cases, the Department of Housing and Urban Development could withhold⁵ federal funding.

　　Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro made the announcement in Chicago yesterday, and he joins me now.

　　Explain to me, Mr. Secretary, what is the connection between this and the Supreme Court ruling?

　　JULIAN CASTRO, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Well, the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the use of disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act was also a very significant development.

　　The relationship is that America has always prided itself on being the undisputed land of opportunity, and one of our challenges is, how do we ensure that that remains⁶ true in this 21st century?

　　With housing, we know that where you live matters, and we want to make sure nobody's destiny is determined⁷ by their zip code, so that people have fair housing opportunity. The disparate impact case was about ensuring that you didn't absolutely have to show intention. You could just show a disparate impact in order to bring a claim under the Fair Housing Act.

　　What we unveiled yesterday was something called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. That's a rule that basically guides cities as they think about how to ensure that there is good, fair housing opportunities throughout their community. It really is a — this is a collaborative tool that will help communities plan better and connect housing opportunity to things like where a library's located, where a school is located, where's the nearest bus stop or train stop, so that folks can access jobs and education.

　　GWEN IFILL: So, how do you measure that? How do you decide which cities are — where discrimination — or segregation patterns are caused by discrimination or are the cities or the urban areas where it's just caused by choice?

　　JULIAN CASTRO: Well, one of the things that we do is not just work with cities that have had deep patterns of racial segregation, but we work with all cities that get Community Development Block grant money, for instance.

　　So, we're looking, more than anything else, for cities that are making best efforts to ensure that everybody in their community has a fair shot at opportunity.

　　GWEN IFILL: Give me an example of a city and of a fix under these rules that you're talking about.

　　JULIAN CASTRO: Yes.

　　Yesterday, we were in Chicago, and I stood with Mayor Emanuel to make this announcement about the Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing rule. And what they did there at a place called Park Boulevard is not just create a housing community that's going to ensure that more folks have good, decent housing, but connect that to a place for folks to recreate, a recreation center, connect it to transit⁸ options so that folks can get to jobs.

　　We will know when cities are making progress when they put all those components⁹ together, when they put housing together with better educational opportunities, better transit options so people can get to jobs, better infrastructure¹⁰ investment.

　　GWEN IFILL: Flip¹¹ side of this, social engineering, critics say. They say this is another example of executive overreach, that it's the Obama administration trying to engineer outcome.

　　JULIAN CASTRO: It's without merit.

　　The fact is that we're collaborating¹² with communities. We're not dictating¹³ to communities what they have to do.

　　GWEN IFILL: Except that you say you're going to withhold federal funding. Isn't that kind of a stick with the carrot?

　　JULIAN CASTRO: Enforcement is a last resort.

　　The fact is that enforcement has always been one tool, always a last resort. Every single year, we have enforcement situations. We're approaching this, this rule, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, in the spirit of collaboration¹⁴.

　　And the fact is that the vast majority of communities out there know that they have challenges with respect to trying to create more opportunity for people of modest means, and they want to do the right thing, and HUD stands ready to help them do the right thing.

　　GWEN IFILL: And yet some housing advocates say this is like slow motion change. As you pointed¹⁵ out, the enforcement mechanisms¹⁶ have been in place before.

　　And you're asking for cities, or municipalities or communities to account for their own behavior every three to five years. That's not immediate¹⁷.

　　JULIAN CASTRO: It's correct to say that this is not going to be an overnight change.

　　However, we really are in it for the long haul, and these communities will now be required to put together a plan on how they're making efforts to affirmatively furthering fair housing every five years, when they submit what's known as their consolidated¹⁸ plan.

　　We're confident that, over the long haul, that's going to mean that more families have good housing opportunities, both because these opportunities invest in older, distressed¹⁹ neighborhoods, and they're smarter about how they use their housing choice vouchers²¹ to help communities — help families that want to move to areas of higher opportunity to be able to do that.

　　GWEN IFILL: If a community does this, to demonstrate this, they have to show that, for instance, they have made an investment in an underserved community by doing what, by giving tax breaks to developers? How?

　　JULIAN CASTRO: It might be one of several things.

　　It might be demonstrating that with respect to housing choice vouchers they're ensuring that families who have a voucher²⁰ can move to different parts of the community, that affordable²² housing is being developed in different parts of the community. It may be showing that their community development block grant, or CDBG money, is going to reinvest, revitalize older distressed parts of the community, that they're conscious about access to transportation options or libraries.

　　So it's not any one thing. It's a number of decisions that demonstrate that these cities understand how to expand opportunity for people who are low-income, folks of modest means.

　　GWEN IFILL: When it comes to enforcement, how much federal money hangs in the balance?

　　JULIAN CASTRO: Well, that depends on the community.

　　Different communities receive different amounts of HUD assistance. But, again, this is a last-resort option. There are instances — and we're not afraid to enforce when we need to, but we want to do every single thing that we can to collaborate²³ with communities, to work with them and follow the lead of local leaders who want to put better policies in place to ensure that people who are low-income in this 21st century can make it if they're willing to work hard.

　　GWEN IFILL: Housing Secretary Julian Castro, thank you very much.

　　JULIAN CASTRO: Thank you.

1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

4 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

5 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

9 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

12 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

13 dictating   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• The manager was dictating a letter to the secretary. 经理在向秘书口授信稿。 来自辞典例句
• Her face is impassive as she listens to Miller dictating the warrant for her arrest. 她毫无表情地在听米勒口述拘留她的证书。 来自辞典例句

14 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

18 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

19 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

20 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

21 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

22 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

23 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。