【英语语言学习】种族歧视

RACHEL GARLINGHOUSE: A lot of people like to tell us that kids don't notice race until they're much older. That's not true. My 2-year-old...

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

GARLINGHOUSE: ...when she had recently turned two had told us things like, I'm brown and you're pink. So maybe they don't notice race, but they definitely notice color. I mean children learn their colors at very early ages and they can see that we don't match.

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

 

That is the voice of Rachel Garlinghouse. She and her husband, both white, adopted three kids who happen to be African-American. Transracial, as its known, has been in the headlines as of late after MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry made a quip Mitt¹ Romney's adopted black grandson. She later apologized for the remark. But the cable news kerfuffle drew new attention to the bias² against mixed-race adoptions³.

 

As the adoptive mother of three young black kids - ages 5, 3 and almost 1, Rachel Garlinghouse told me she has to make a real effort to fill in the spaces of her children's black identities.

 

Rachel Garlinghouse is our Sunday Conversation.

 

GARLINGHOUSE: My kids love transportation - the trash truck and the school bus and things like that.

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

GARLINGHOUSE: So we talked about Rosa Parks and how Rosa Parks rode a bus and what happened when she was discriminated⁴ against. So we take the opportunities we can based on their interests at the time. They need to know their history as African-Americans. They are not white and we should not pretend that they are white.

 

MARTIN: So because of that, I mean that's just the reality of your situation. As a result, have you recognized that there are limitations to what you can be for your kids?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I think that part of being a transracial adoptive parent is being humble⁵ and being realistic. I'm not black, I will never be black and my children will never be raised with black parents. Therefore, there are certain things that we need to do to help supplement that. So, for example, we hired an African-American female Christian⁶ mentor⁷ for our girls. So she comes in, serves as a positive role model for our children,

 

And then we also have neighbors who are an African-American retired⁸ couple who have adopted three children when they were younger. And we use them as kind of our go-to people to talk about things like discrimination and just being adoptive parents in general.

 

MARTIN: You hired a mentor. What were those conversations like? How did you explain it? What did you want?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I mean I think that we did it purposefully because we wanted successful black Christian female to have a close, tight-knit relationship with our girls. And in order to make that happen, we did have to hire someone. It's not like most people have a lot of free time to just come hang out with our family. But it's just been so positive because not only have I made a friend but my girls have developed a close relationship with this young woman.

 

I pray she stays at school close to us for many years to come because now I feel like I don't know what we would do without her.

 

MARTIN: Has it ever been frustrating⁹ for you and your husband at the beginning of this process, perhaps when you realized that you alone are not sufficient as parental¹⁰ figures?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I think at times I feel my childs'(ph) loss for the biological family members. At the heart of it, of course, you never want a biological family separated. But when it happens, you do the best job that you can. but I'm not their biological parent so we've just tried to embrace the fact that we have three open adoptions. It's complicated. It's bittersweet. But it's been well worth it.

 

MARTIN: What's the town like where you live? You live in the Midwest outside St. Louis. Is it a racially diverse place?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: Yes, it is. We have a university in our town, a large university. So it brings a lot of diversity to the area. We're also a traveling family so our kids have been to the Civil Rights Museum, things like that. So though people may argue that our kids are a little young for those things, we again, want to normalize those activities within our household.

 

MARTIN: Did you go to a lot of civil rights museums before you had these kids?

 

(LAUGHTER)

 

MARTIN: I mean, how has this changed your own life, your own experience in how you see the world?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I've always been interested. I was an English major, so I've always been interested in African-American literature and African-American experience. But what's changed dramatically for us for certain is that now when we go somewhere, we get double-takes everywhere we go. Because people try to figure our family out. Why are these two white parents out with these three black kids?

 

You have to look at discrimination in a whole new way because maybe, myself, I've never been completely discriminated against because of my race. But now because we are a transracial family, we face more discrimination. So it's an interesting position to be in and every day is a surprise, really. We never know what's going to come our way.

 

MARTIN: Can you give an example of that, of a time when you have felt, as a family, discriminated against in some way?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: Sure. Absolutely. We were traveling once and we stopped at a restaurant to get some food and every single person in the restaurant was staring at us. And I don't even remember specifically where we were, I believe somewhere in the South. And Steve and I felt incredibly uncomfortable. And our children didn't really notice. We only had the two girls at the time and they were just eating and being children. I just thought I really don't know how to react.

 

Or we get a lot of questions about stereotypes¹¹, maybe surrounding African-Americans. So we have been asked were their parents on drugs, for example. So those questions are very hurtful to her children - if not detrimental¹² to them.

 

MARTIN: What do you hope for your kids? They're going to get older. There's going to be, I imagine, more situations that are challenging for them where they think about their race in relationship to you, as being different. How do you hope that they see themselves and are able to manage those situations?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I mean I hope that first and foremost, any person sees themself(ph) for themselves. We are a Christian family so I want them to see themselves as a child of God who has a wonderful purpose for their life. Whatever that might be, I hope they're able to fulfill¹³ it.

 

I do anticipate that we're going to, as the children get older - especially my youngest, who is a black boy, who is going to be a black man - that I'm very fearful of what he is going to experience in his future. But I also know that we will remain strong as a family, continue to utilize¹⁴ our resources and hopefully, they will grow up to be strong, confident black people.

 

MARTIN: Can you say more about the specific fears you have for your son?

 

GARLINGHOUSE: I'm, of course, fearful that, you know, just the things of he's going to be followed in a mall, where I've never had that experience. Or he's going to get pulled over and we're going to have to teach him what to do in that situation. I think anyone who watches the news or is a family of color, as we are, knows that those fears are very, very real. And we are going to have to handle ourselves carefully. And we're going to have to educate our son in the best way that we can.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

MARTIN: Rachel Garlinghouse, she's the author of "Come Rain or Come Shine: A White Parents Guide to Adopting and Parenting Black Children." Thanks so much for talking with us, Rachel.

 

GARLINGHOUSE: Thank you for having me.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

MARTIN: You're listening to NPR News.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 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。

3 adoptions   

n.采用，收养( adoption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Adoption agencies are always so open to alternative family adoptions. 领养中介机构永远都对领养家庭敞开。 来自电影对白
• The number of adoptions has grown in the past year. 去年，收养子女的数字增加了。 来自互联网

4 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

5 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

11 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》

12 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

13 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

14 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。