【英语语言学习】种族问题

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

 

Race is a delicate and complicated subject in this country. Jacqueline Jones confronts it head on in her new book " A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama's America." Jones, who teaches history at the University of Texas, uses the stories of six Americans to illustrate¹ her point - that race is just that, a myth.

 

One of those Americans is Boston King. He was a fugitive² slave and evangelical preacher in late 18th century South Carolina. He freed himself by fleeing to British-occupied Charleston. But there too, he found themselves exploited, this time by the British. Even free blacks in Charleston were seen as a commodity - digging trenches³, loading ammunition⁴, washing clothes for officers in the military. And this, Jacqueline Jones says, is the point.

 

JACQUELINE JONES: It is the most vulnerable people who do face this kind of oppression. It is people who lack rights, and also who lack advocates. I think that certainly characterizes Boston King's fate. He was a person of color. He had no rights in colonial and revolutionary South Carolina, and so his labor⁵ could be appropriated with impunity⁶. It was not because he was of a certain race or a certain temperament⁷, or because he lacked intelligence. It was because he was uniquely vulnerable among all these different groups during this period.

 

MARTIN: Forgive me if this becomes a circular argument, but wasn't he made vulnerable by the color of his skin?

 

JONES: Certainly, that was a factor. And in some cases skin color became a stigma⁸ of sorts. But there is a vast spectrum⁹ of skin colors represented in this region of the world. Some people are very dark skinned and free. Some people are light-skinned and bound laborers¹⁰ as indentured¹¹ servants were in colonial Virginia and elsewhere. Indians too were considered to have very dark skin. They were not Christians¹². They did not speak English. And yet there were factors that prevented their mass enslavement in British North America, and those factors were their organization in nation or confederations and the fact that they were, in many cases, armed.

 

MARTIN: I want to talk about Eleanor Eldridge, because her experience is so particular. She lived and thrived really, in some ways, at the end of the Industrial Revolution. But whites and blacks were competing for the same jobs, and she was ambitious and she was successful - and that was threatening to the white community around her.

 

JONES: Yes. She lived in Providence¹³, Rhode Island for much of her life, in the first half of the 19th century. Now, Eleanor Eldridge belied¹⁴ the stereotype¹⁵ of African-Americans in New England at the time. Many white people were promoting the idea of all African-Americans were poor because they were naturally poor, they were...

 

MARTIN: Unambitious, lazy even.

 

JONES: ...unambitious and they were destined¹⁶ to remain poor. Eleanor Eldridge was a very savvy¹⁷ businesswoman, and a vester(ph), and at times she overextended herself in terms of buying real estate. And then she found herself victimized by creditors¹⁸ who went after her and compliant¹⁹ judges and sheriffs who repossessed her property. However, she fought back in a very dramatic way. She had a large number of employers who were her patrons and were willing to vouch²⁰ for her in court, willing to help her pay for legal defense²¹. And in the process, she managed to continue to thrive. But one of the ironies²² here is that one of the stereotypes²³ also at the time held that black people were predatory, that they would not rest until they had taken jobs from white people. Well, these are very contradictory²⁴ notions. But this episode, I think, reminds us that these racial mythologies²⁵ are contradictory and they can be very malleable²⁶ to suit the times.

 

MARTIN: What do you think is important about these parts of American history that perhaps hasn't been brought to light before?

 

JONES: I think we're so used to talking about race - race relations, racial prejudice, a post-racial society - that we forget that race is a myth. Race is not real.

 

MARTIN: But even, Jackie, as you know, President Obama gave a prominent speech on race in 2008. He said the word race at least a half a dozen times. We are limited by our language to some degree. What do we use instead of that word?

 

JONES: It is a tremendous challenge to, on the one hand, recognize that the effects of prejudices still linger in dramatic form - shape our society today - but on the other hand remind ourselves that by using the word race, we reify the notion, we reify the idea that somehow there are these differences based on a form of biological determinism. It is very much embedded²⁷ in our vocabularies. But what I'm asking - and I know it seems unreasonable²⁸ that people forego the use of the word all together - but I am asking people to think about what it means and when we use the word, we're really talking about a particular set of power relations.

 

MARTIN: Jacqueline Jones is a professor of Southern history at the University of Texas Austin. Her new book is called "A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama's America." Jackie, thanks so much for talking with us.

 

JONES: Thank you.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

MARTIN: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.

1 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

2 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

3 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

4 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

7 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

8 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

11 indentured   

v.以契约束缚（学徒）( indenture的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Africans became indentured servants, trading labor for shelter and eventual freedom. 非洲人成为契约上的仆人，以劳力交换庇护及最终的自由。 来自互联网
• They are descendants of indentured importees. 他们是契约外来工的后代。 来自互联网

12 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

13 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

14 belied   

v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎

参考例句：

• His bluff exterior belied a connoisseur of antiques. 他作风粗放，令人看不出他是古董鉴赏家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her smile belied her true feelings. 她的微笑掩饰了她的真实感情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

16 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

17 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

18 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

20 vouch   

v.担保；断定；n.被担保者

参考例句：

• They asked whether I was prepared to vouch for him.他们问我是否愿意为他作担保。
• I can vouch for the fact that he is a good worker.我保证他是好员工。

21 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

22 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

25 mythologies   

神话学( mythology的名词复数 )； 神话（总称）； 虚构的事实； 错误的观点

参考例句：

• a study of the religions and mythologies of ancient Rome 关于古罗马的宗教和神话的研究
• This realization is enshrined in "Mythologies." 这一看法见诸于他的《神话集》一书。

26 malleable   

adj.(金属)可锻的;有延展性的；(性格)可训练的

参考例句：

• Silver is the most malleable of all metals.银是延展性最好的金属。
• Scientists are finding that the adult human brain is far more malleable than they once thought.科学家发现成人大脑的可塑性远超过他们之前认识到的。

27 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

28 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。