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为什么美国人如此分裂?

时间:2016-06-29 15:09:52

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(单词翻译)

AS IT IS 2016-06-20 Why Are Americans So Divided? 为什么美国人如此分裂?

Mike from Florida got right to the point.

Calling into C-SPAN TV Thursday, Mike said he did not like the gun control bill supported by that morning’s special guest, Rhode Island Congressman1 David Cicilline.

“Where to start? First of all, it is not your job to keep Americans safe,” Mike said. “It is your duty to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights…You are playing on people’s emotions. We know what your intentions are.”

Mike suggested that Congressman Cicilline really wanted to take away guns from America’s 100 million gun owners.

Cicilline said that isn’t the case.

“My most important responsibility is to keep people safe and honor the Constitution,” he said. “I think you can do both things.”

Doug McAdam is a Stanford University sociology professor who co-wrote a book on divided America.

“People are so convinced that their opinions are righteous and that others aren’t just wrong, but morally suspect,” he said.

McAdam’s opinion is that most Americans are not so divided. He said most people share moderate views on the top issues facing the nation.

But increasingly, he said, the people calling C-SPAN and writing strong opinions on Facebook and Twitter are very conservative or very liberal.

Response to 2001 Attacks and Orlando Shootings

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., Democrats2 and Republicans in Congress gathered for a moment of silence and to sing “God Bless America.”

But the response was not quite as unified3 after the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12. The gunman claimed his allegiance to the Islamic State as he killed 49 people and wounded another 53.

Some Democrats walked out as a moment of silence began Monday in the U.S. Capitol for victims of the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

Cicilline was one of the Democrats who walked out. He said he was angry that such events are not followed by action to make future killings4 less likely.

Back in Revolutionary Times

Divisions in America are nothing new.

In the 1770s, there were divisions in America between “loyalists’’ to Britain and those who wanted to end English rule. From 1861-1865, the Southern and Northern U.S. states fought a deadly civil war.

During the 1960s and 1970s, there were bitter fights over civil rights for African-Americans and the U.S. war with Vietnam.

But there are differences in modern-day America.

Paul Stekler is a professor at the University of Texas who is working on a nine-part film series about divisions in America.

He said Americans watch cable TV news and read stories that support their own political views. They often live in communities where most people belong to the same political party.

Robert Thompson is director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.

He said it used to be angry Americans had fewer ways to express their anger. You could write a letter to your local newspaper, but if it got a few responses that would be unusual.

“Now, we all get to show how angry we are,” Thompson said. “We can go on the Internet and proclaim our anger to the entire world.”

?President Barack Obama, in his final State of the Union address in January, said one of his few regrets as he began his final year as president is continued divisions in America.

“Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise, or when even basic facts are contested, or when we listen only to those who agree with us,” Obama said.

The presidential campaign has only added to the divisions. Republican Donald Trump5 refers to Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, as “crooked Hillary.” Clinton said Trump is “temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified” to be president.

Calls to Unify6 After Orlando

Both candidates, however, expressed their strong support for the gay community after the Orlando attack. And most Americans have also come together to support those affected7 by the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Spencer Cox is a Republican Lieutenant8 Governor in the western state of Utah. He spoke9 at a ceremony to honor victims of the Orlando attacks. He apologized for not being kind to people he went to school with who were “different,” and whom he later learned were gay.

Cox told the crowd “my heart has changed,” largely because he got to know gay people.

“May we try to listen more and talk less? May we forgive someone that has wronged us? And perhaps, most importantly, try to love someone that is different than us. For my straight friends, might I suggest starting with someone who is gay.”

On a JetBlue flight, passengers and crew tried to comfort a woman traveling to the funeral of her grandson killed at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub.

As they left the plane, passengers and crew stopped to offer her sympathy.

“Every single person stopped to speak to her, and not a single person was impatient at the slower deplaning process,” wrote flight attendant Kelly Davis Karas on her Facebook Page.

There was also news coverage10 of people waiting in long lines in Orlando to donate blood for those injured in the shooting.

But there was one very hateful response.

Roger Jimenez is a pastor11 of the Verity12 Baptist Church in northern California. He praised the mass shooting, saying the Bible warns about homosexuality.

“Orlando is a little safer tonight,” Jimenez said. “The tragedy is more of them didn’t die.”

The Sacramento City Pastors13 Fellowship, representing 700 ministers, responded. They said the message from Jimenez goes against the Bible’s teachings and that their “hearts are broken” at the “cowardly act” by the shooter.

Words in This Story

intention -- n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve

allegiance – n. loyalty14 to a person, country, group

moment of silence – n. a short remembrance for people who lost their lives

convince – v. to cause someone to believe that something is true

response – n. something that is said or written as a reply to something

gay nightclub – n. an entertainment place that draws gay people

proclaim – v. to say or state something in public

grind – v. to slow

comfort – v. to cause someone to feel less worried, upset

deplane – v. to leave an airplane

cowardly – adj. describing someone afraid to do what is right or expected


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1 Congressman TvMzt7     
n.(美)国会议员
参考例句:
  • He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。
2 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 unified 40b03ccf3c2da88cc503272d1de3441c     
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的
参考例句:
  • The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
  • The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
4 killings 76d97e8407f821a6e56296c4c9a9388c     
谋杀( killing的名词复数 ); 突然发大财,暴发
参考例句:
  • His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
  • The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
5 trump LU1zK     
n.王牌,法宝;v.打出王牌,吹喇叭
参考例句:
  • He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
  • The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手,作为他的王牌。
6 unify okOwO     
vt.使联合,统一;使相同,使一致
参考例句:
  • How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢?
  • It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。
7 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
8 lieutenant X3GyG     
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员
参考例句:
  • He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
  • He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官,递上了一张简短的便条进去。
9 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
10 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
11 pastor h3Ozz     
n.牧师,牧人
参考例句:
  • He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
  • We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师:教会的事是由五位执事管理的。
12 verity GL3zp     
n.真实性
参考例句:
  • Human's mission lies in exploring verity bravely.人的天职在勇于探索真理。
  • How to guarantee the verity of the financial information disclosed by listed companies? 如何保证上市公司财务信息披露真实性?
13 pastors 6db8c8e6c0bccc7f451e40146499f43f     
n.(基督教的)牧师( pastor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers? 我们有没有尊敬牧师、宣教士,以及主日学的老师? 来自互联网
  • Should pastors or elders be paid, or serve as a volunteer? 牧师或长老需要付给酬劳,还是志愿的事奉呢? 来自互联网
14 loyalty gA9xu     
n.忠诚,忠心
参考例句:
  • She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
  • His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

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