VOA慢速英语2018 哈佛被指控歧视亚裔美国人（在线收听）

Harvard Accused of Discriminating Against Asian-Americans

A United States federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, is hearing a discrimination case against the oldest university in the country.

马萨诸塞州波士顿市的一家联邦法院正在审理一起控告该国最古老大学的歧视案。

The nonprofit organization Students for Fair Admissions first took legal action against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2014. It says the school discriminates against Asian-Americans seeking admission.

非营利性的“大学生公平入学”组织于2014年首次对马萨诸塞州剑桥市的哈佛大学提起法律诉讼。该组织表示，哈佛大学歧视申请入学的亚裔美国人。

The legal action accuses Harvard of holding Asian-American students to higher requirements than students of other races. It says the university uses “racial balancing” policies that unlawfully limit how many Asian American students it accepts.

这起诉讼控告哈佛大学对亚裔学生维持高于其他种族学生的入学要求。它称该大学采用“种族平衡”政策，非法限制所录取的亚裔学生人数。

The organization argues that race should not be considered when deciding which students to accept. The use of “racial classifications and preferences” is “unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional,” the group says on its website.

该组织辩称，在学生录取的决定中不应该考虑种族因素。该组织在其网站上表示，使用“种族分类和偏好”是“不公平、不必要的，并且违反了宪法。”

It accuses the school of discriminating against Asian-Americans seeking admission by giving them a “personal rating.”

它指控该校通过“个性评分”歧视亚裔美国人。

Lawyers for Students for Fair Admissions said these ratings seek to measure personal qualities such as “courage” and “likeability.” Such qualities are measured subjectively, leaving the process open to discrimination, the lawyers argued.

“大学生公平入学”组织的律师表示，这些评分旨在衡量“勇气”和“喜好度”等个人品质。律师们认为，这类品质是主观衡量的，使得这一过程容易受到歧视。

The group says it has more than 20,000 members, including students, parents and others.

该组织称其有20万成员，包括学生、家长等人。

Harvard denies using discriminatory practices in its admissions process. The Ivy League school says it uses race as one of many things it considers in admissions decisions. It believes considering race can help create a mixed community “where students from all walks of life” can learn with and from each other.

哈弗大学否认在招生过程中采用歧视性做法。这所常春藤联盟学校表示，它将种族作为招生决策过程中考虑的众多因素之一。该校认为，考虑种族可以帮助建立一个由不同种族组成的社区，各种学生能够相互学习。

Education and employment policies that consider race are known as affirmative action. Supporters say these policies can help make up for historic, widespread racial discrimination of minority groups. Critics have long argued that affirmative action is unfair to white people and Asian-Americans who outperform other groups on academic measures.

在教育和就业政策中考虑种族因素被称为平权运动。支持者称这些政策可以帮助弥补少数族群受到的历史性和广泛性的歧视。批评者长期以来一直认为，平权行动对学业成绩优于其他群体的白人和亚裔来说是不公平的。

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard several cases about affirmative action in recent years.

美国最高法院最近几年审理了几起关于平权行动的案子。

The Supreme Court’s most recent decision on the subject approved limited use of race in the admission process. That 2016 decision came from a lawsuit against the University of Texas that accused the school of discriminating against white students.

最高法院就此问题做出的最新裁决批准了种族因素在录取过程中的有限使用。2016年做出的这一裁决来自一起控告德克萨斯大学歧视白人学生的诉讼。

Harvard leaders have said the school only considers race in the way earlier Supreme Court cases have ruled is permitted.

哈佛大学的领导人表示，该校只会照最高法院已经裁决允许的方式考虑种族因素。

The university has also noted that its share of Asian-Americans has grown in recent years, reaching 23 percent of the latest first year class.

该校还指出其亚裔学生比例近年来有所增长，亚裔在最近入学的一年级学生中达到了23%的比例。

Harvard reports that 15.2 percent of its most recent first year class is African-American. Hispanic or Latino students make up 12.3 percent, while 1.9 percent are Native American. That leaves a remaining group of mainly white students at under 50 percent.

哈佛大学报告称，最新入学的一年级学生中，非洲裔美国人占到了15.2%，西班牙裔或拉美裔学生占到了12.3％，而美洲原住民占到了1.9%。这使得以白人为主的其它群体所占的比例低于了50%。

President Donald Trump’s administration supports the argument against Harvard.

川普政府支持反哈佛大学的观点。

In July, the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing government guidelines meant to increase student diversity at U.S. schools. The guidelines were developed during the presidency of Barack Obama. The guidance stated that schools could consider race in admissions decisions as long as the policies did not violate Supreme Court decisions.

今年7月，川普政府宣布退出旨在增加美国学校学生多样性的指导方针。这些指导方针是在奥巴马任内制定的。这些方针指出，只要政策不违反最高法院裁决，学校就可以在录取决定中考虑种族因素。

The U.S. Justice Department said it was withdrawing the guidelines because it considered them “unnecessary or outdated.” Civil rights groups criticized the move and some university officials said they would continue their efforts toward mixed student populations as before.

美国司法部称退出这些指导方针是因为它们是“不必要的或者过时了。”民权组织批评此举，一些大学官员表示，他们将会像以前一样，努力建立一个由多种族组成的学生群体。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

classification – n. the process of putting people or things into groups by their type, size, etc, or one of these groups

preference – n. the feeling of liking something or someone more than another person or thing

courage – n. the ability to do something without being afraid

subjective – adj. influenced by someone else’s beliefs or feelings instead of facts

affirmative action – n. the practice of improving the educational and job opportunities of members of groups that have not been treated fairly in the past because of their race, sex, etc.