异类之不一样的成功启示录 第199期:肤色决定家庭地位

 　　"If, as often happens, children are of different shades of color in a family," the Jamaican sociologist¹ Fernando Henriques once wrote: “正如经常发生的那样，如果一个家庭里的孩子们的肤色深浅不同，”牙买加社会学家费尔南多·亨利克斯曾经写道：

　　the most lightly colored will be favored at the expense of the others. 肤色最浅的孩子会最受到家里人的宠爱，其他孩子因此而得不到宠爱。

　　In adolescence², and until marriage, the darker members of the family will be kept out of the way when the friends of the fair or fairer members of the family are being entertained. 当皮肤白皙的孩子或比较白皙的孩子来家中做客时，家庭里的黑孩子们从不被允许加入，从他们的青春期一直到结婚。

　　The fair child is regarded as raising the color of the family and nothing must be put in the way of its success, 家里人把这些皮肤白皙的孩子看做今后当家的人，排除万难只为迎接他们的成功。

　　that is in the way of a marriage which will still further raise the color status of the family. 这种方式还被应用在他们的婚姻上，他们需要进一步提亮肤色来提升家庭地位。

　　A fair person will try to server social relations he may have with darker relatives... 一个肤色白皙的人会尽量断绝他与那些黑人的社会关系，

　　the darker members of a Negro family will encourage the efforts of a very fair relative to "pass" for White. 黑人家庭里的较黑的家庭成员会鼓励帮助肤色很白的亲戚成为白人，

　　The practises of intra-family relations lay the foundation for the public manifestation³ of color prejudice. 这种家庭内部关系的行为方式为肤色偏见的公开显示奠定了基础。

　　My family was not immune to this. 我的家人也不能幸免于此。

　　Daisy was inordinately⁴ proud of the fact her husband was lighter⁵ than she was. 戴西的丈夫肤色比她浅，对此她格外地骄傲。

　　But that same prejudice was then turned on her: 但是，反过来，对于她本人，人们也持同样的偏见，

　　"Daisy's nice, you know," her mother-in-law would say, "but she's too dark." “戴西很美丽，你知道， ”她的婆婆会说，“但她太黑了。”

　　On of my mother's relatives (I'll call her Aunt Joan) was also well up the color totem pole. 我母亲的一位亲戚（我叫她琼姨妈）也十分崇拜肤色象征。

　　She was "white and light". But she was a widow, and her husband had been what in Jamaica is called an "Injun" 她“长得很白，肤色淡。”但是，她的丈夫在牙买加被称为“印第安人”——

　　—a man with a dark complexion⁶ and straight, fine black hair—and their daughters were dark like their father. 一个肤色黝黑，直黑发的男人，他们的女儿和他们的父亲一样黑。

1 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

2 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

3 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

4 inordinately   

adv.无度地，非常地

参考例句：

• But if you are determined to accumulate wealth, it isn't inordinately difficult. 不过，如果你下决心要积累财富，事情也不是太难。 来自互联网
• She was inordinately smart. 她非常聪明。 来自互联网

5 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

6 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。