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149 英国种族骚乱意味着什么？
What's Behind British Race Riots?
Laurie Kassman
Oldham, England
11 Jul 2001 17:07 UTC
In the past several weeks, at least three English cities have 1)erupted in 2)riots between police and groups of South Asian and white youths.
The community 3)nestles up against the city of Manchester. It 4)thrived for decades on its textile mills and mining operations. The steady work attracted 5)immigrants, mostly from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Kashmir. They lived near where they worked. Their communities became 6)ethnic 7)ghettos. South Asians represent about 15 percent of Oldham's population of 250,000.
Today the mills are gone. Job opportunities are 8)scarce. England's unemployment rate averages less than five percent. But in Oldham, the jobless rate for South Asian residents tops 15 percent.
Oldham's South Asian youth talk of 9)alienation, 10)isolation, 11)frustration, and 12)desperation.
Last May, a fight between a South Asian and a white sparked several nights of rioting that injured scores of police officers and rioters. The violence sent shock waves through both communities.
Deputy Mayor Riaz Ahmad's home was firebombed during the riots. He acknowledges that communication between the South Asian and white communities had broken down years ago. "Politicians, police, community leaders, council, everyone accepts that we made mistakes," he said. "Everyone accepts that we have a problem. We have acknowledged the problem. We are trying to understand the problem and hopefully we will come up with the solutions. So we are trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else."
But the problem is different, depending on whom you talk with.
South Asian teens say nobody is listening. Youth leader Barinu Rashid says the police respond too slowly when violence is reported against his community. Few people, he says, see the police as a source of protection. "We have, a lot of us, tried to make communication with the police, but they have refused and this 13)reiterates the views and the 14)mentality of the youth that the police do not want to know," he said.
Police chief Eric Hewitt, a 57-year-old white who grew up in Oldham, sees the problem as one of drugs and 15)gangs in the South Asian communities, and lots of young people with lots of time on their hands. "Fifty percent of the Asian population is under the age of 16," he noted. "Exceptionally high 16)unemployment rate. Exceptionally high under-achievement rate at schools. When you look at that, most of them living in what are recognized as socially 17)deprived areas, then that of itself highlights there is a problem there, a social problem of itself. And that is the kind of policing environment we have got."
Mr. Hewitt agrees on the need for confidence-building measures between the police and the South Asian community. But he acknowledges there are only 12 Asians among his 412 police officers.
Asian community leaders describe the problem 18)in terms of alienation and 19)polarization.
Sharif Salim, who runs a South Asian neighborhood center, says few attempts have been made to bridge the cultural divide between South Asians and whites. So, both communities end up talking past each other instead of talking with each other. "Instead of planning to avoid events, they react to it and the sooner the communication starts, the sooner the youth are heard, the sooner the elders are heard then you break down 20)barriers," he said. "At the moment there are no bridges. We have to build bridges between the Oldham's communities."
Asian leaders also accuse Oldham's newspaper, the Oldham Chronicle, of fueling tensions through 21)racial bias because it reports more on Asian violence against whites than the reverse. The newspaper 22)circulates mostly within the white community.
Editor Jim Williams says he was shocked by the accusations and is taking a look at how to change that perception. "Possibly we were becoming part of the problem simply by publicizing what was happening. We were reporting these attacks," he said.
Mr. Williams acknowledges that news about the South Asian communities was gathered mostly through telephone interviews or police information. He has no Asian reporters and is reluctant to send white 23)staffers into the ghettos because he fears for their safety. Mr. Williams says he is trying to recruit some Asian staffers to provide a more balanced 24)coverage.
Oldham leaders on both sides of the racial divide agree on the urgent need to 25)foster 26)integration.
Sharif Salim says the job was made more difficult by politicians using anti-immigrant 27)rhetoric to gain votes during last June's 28)general elections. "The politicians who raised the issue of 29)asylum seekers gave an excuse for the National Front, the racist Nazi followers an excuse to explode in a place like Oldham, which was a breeding ground with poverty, lack of development," he said. "And it just needed a little 30)fuse, a match."
Residents were shocked when the extreme right-wing British National Party's support in Oldham 31)soared after it campaigned for immigrants to be sent home.
Now community leaders, the police and the politicians are calling for 32)forums and 33)outreach projects to integrate schools and sports and increase cross-cultural communication to ease tensions.
Oldham Deputy Mayor Ahmad says a review is underway to map out strategies for the future. "We want to reach the silent majority, people who have not spoken in the past, people who did not riot," he said. "It is very easy to go and speak to the rioters. They made their points. But what about the rest of the population?" The deputy mayor recognizes he has little time to waste. He says the situation remains 34)volatile and could ignite again soon.
(1) erupt[I5rQpt]vt.喷出vi.爆发
(2) riot[5raIEt]n.暴乱, 骚动, 暴动v.骚乱, 放纵, 挥霍, 参加骚动
(3) nestle[5nes(E)l]vi.舒适地坐定, 偎依vt.抱, 安置
(4) thrive[WraIv]v.兴旺, 繁荣, 茁壮成长, 旺盛
(5) immigrant[5ImI^rEnt]adj.(从外国)移来的, 移民的, 移居的n.移民, 侨民
(6) ethnic[5eWnIk]adj.人种的, 种族的, 异教徒的
(7) ghetto[5^etEJ]n.犹太人区
(8) scarce[skeEs]adj.缺乏的, 不足的, 稀有的, 不充足的
(9) alienation[eIlIE5neIF(E)n]n.疏远, 转让
(10) isolation[aIsE5leIF(E)n]n.隔绝, 孤立, 隔离, 绝缘, 离析
(11) frustration[frQ`streIFEn]n.挫败, 挫折, 受挫
(12) desperation[despE5reIF(E)n]n.绝望
(13) reiterate[ri:5ItEreIt]vt.反复地说, 重申, 重做
(14) mentality[men5tAlItI]n.智力, 精神, 心理, 思想情况
(15) gang[^AN]n.(一)伙, (一)群
(16) unemployment[QnIm5plCImEnt]n.失业, 失业人数
(17) deprive[dI5praIv]vt.剥夺, 使丧失
(18) in terms of adv.根据, 按照, 用...的话, 在...方面
(19) polarization[ 9pEJlEraI`zeIFEn; -rI`z- ]n.极化(作用),两极化,分化
(20) barrier[5bArIE(r)]n.(阻碍通道的)障碍物, 栅栏, 屏障
(21) racial[5reIF(E)l]adj.人种的, 种族的, 种族间的
(22) circulate[5s:kjJleIt]v.(使)流通, (使)运行, (使)循环, (使)传播
(23) staffer[`stB:fE(r); `stA-]n.编辑, 职员
(24) coverage[5kQvErIdV]n.复盖
(25) foster[5fRstE(r); (?@) 5fC:rstEr]vt.养育,鼓励, 抱(希望) n.养育者, 鼓励者
(26) integration[9IntI`^reIFEn]n.综合
(27) rhetoric[5retErIk]adj.花言巧语的
(28) general election n.大选
(29) asylum[E5saIlEm]n.庇护, 收容所, 救济院, 精神病院
(30) fuse[fju:z]n.保险丝, 熔丝v.熔合
(31) soar[sC:(r)]v.高飞, 高丛, 滑翔, 剧增n.高飞范围, 高涨程度
(32) forum[5fC:rEm]n.论坛, 法庭, 讨论会
(33) outreach[`aJtri:tF]v.到达顶端, 超越
(34) volatile[5vRlEtaIl; (?@) -tl]adj.挥发性的, 可变的, 不稳定的
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