评论
打印
My parents gave me an extraordinary name: Baratunde Rafiq Thurston.
我的父母给我取了一个特别的名字：巴拉顿·拉菲克·瑟斯顿。
Now, Baratunde is based on a Yoruba name from Nigeria, but we're not Nigerian.
巴拉顿是尼日利亚籍约鲁巴人的名字，但我们不是尼日利亚人。
That's just how black my mama was.
我妈妈就是这么黑。
"Get this boy the blackest name possible. What does the book say?"
“给这个男孩取个最黑的名字吧！书上是怎么说的？”
Rafiq is an Arabic name, but we are not Arabs.
拉菲克是阿拉伯名字，但我们不是阿拉伯人。
My mom just wanted me to have difficulty boarding planes in the 21st century.
我妈就是不想让我在21世纪好好坐飞机。
She foresaw America's turn toward nativism. She was a black futurist.
她预料到了美国会奉行本土主义，她是一位黑人预言家。
Thurston is a British name, but we are not British.
瑟斯顿是英国姓氏，但我们不是英国人。
Shoutout to the multigenerational, dehumanizing economic institution of American chattel slavery, though.
而瑟斯顿这个姓隔空致敬了美国奴隶制中世代延续的、没人性的经济制度。
Also, Thurston makes for a great Starbucks name. Really expedites the process.
此外，瑟斯顿很适合星巴克员工。这真的推动了历史进程。
My mother was a renaissance woman.
我母亲是一位多才多艺的女性。
Arnita Lorraine Thurston was a computer programmer,
她叫阿尼塔·罗琳·瑟斯顿，她曾是一位电脑程序员、
former domestic worker, survivor of sexual assault, an artist and an activist.
一位家政人员、一位性侵幸存者、一位艺术家、一位活动家。
She prepared me for this world with lessons in black history, in martial arts, in urban farming,
为了让我适应这个世界，她教我黑人历史、武术、城市农业，
and then she sent me in the seventh grade to the private Sidwell Friends School,
七年级时，她又送我去私立学校西德威尔友谊中学就读，
where US presidents send their daughters, and where she sent me looking like this.
美国总统的女儿们也在这里上学，而她把我送进去时，我是这样子的。
I had two key tasks going to that school: don't lose your blackness and don't lose your glasses. This accomplished both.
我在这里上学有两个主要任务：黑皮肤不能丢、眼镜不能丢。两个任务都圆满完成。
Sidwell was a great place to learn the arts and the sciences, but also the art of living amongst whiteness.
西德威尔友谊中学是学习艺术和科学的好地方，也是在白人堆里学习生存之艺术的好地方。
That would prepare me for life later at Harvard,
为我后来在哈佛生活做好了准备，
or doing corporate consulting, or for my jobs at "The Daily Show" and "The Onion."
为我做企业咨询做好了准备，为我在“每日秀”和“洋葱报”工作做好了准备。
I would write down many of these lessons in my memoir, "How to Be Black,"
在回忆录《如何做一名黑人》中，我记录了许多这方面的经验。
which if you haven't read yet, makes you a racist, because you've had plenty of time to read the book.
如果你还没读过这本书，那就是种族歧视，因为你有大把的时间去读这本书。
But America insists on reminding me and teaching me what it means to be black in America.
但是美国一次又一次地提醒我、教会我：在美国做一名黑人意味着什么。
It's December 2018, I'm with my fiancé in the suburbs of Wisconsin.
2018年12月，我和未婚妻在威斯康星州的郊区。
We are visiting her parents, both of whom are white, which makes her white.
我们去看望她的父母，两位都是白人，所以我未婚妻也是个白人。
That's how it works. I don't make the rules.
就是这么简单，规则不是我编的。
She's had some drinks, so I drive us in her parents' car, and we get pulled over by the police.
因为她喝了点酒，所以我负责开她父母的车，警察示意我们靠边停车。
I'm scared. I turn on the flashing lights to indicate compliance.
我好害怕。我打开双闪，表示服从指令。
I pull over slowly under the brightest streetlight I can find in case I need witnesses or dashcam footage.
我慢慢地靠边停车，停在我所能找到的最亮的街灯下，以防我需要目击证人或者要看行车记录仪里的视频。
We get out my identification, the car registration, lay it out in the open, roll down the windows,
我们拿出了我的身份证和车辆登记表，我把文件都摊开，并摇下了车窗，
my hands are placed on the steering wheel, all before the officer exits the vehicle.
把双手放在方向盘上，一直到这位警官离开。
This is how to stay alive. As we wait, I think about these headlines
这样才能保命。等待的过程中，我想起一些新闻标题：
"Police shoot another unarmed black person" -- and I don't want to join them.
“警察又射杀了一名手无寸铁的黑人”，我可不想成为下一个。
The good news is, our officer was friendly. She told us our tags were expired.
还好这位警官很友善。她告诉我们车检标识过期了。
So to all the white parents out there,
我想对所有的白人父母说：
if your child is involved with a person whose skin tone is rated Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or darker
如果你们的孩子与黑人走得很近，就是肤色跟巨石强森一样黑或者比他还黑的黑人，
you need to get that car inspected, update the paperwork every time we visit.
那你们就要好好做车检，每次我们来访前及时更新车辆文件。
That's just common courtesy. I got lucky. I got a law enforcement professional.
这是起码的礼貌。我算是个幸运儿。因为我的职业就是执法。
I survived something that should not require survival.
我从白人看来平常的事情中幸存下来。
And I think about this series of stories -- "Police shoot another unarmed black person"
我就此想到了一大堆报道：“警察又射杀了一名手无寸铁的黑人”，
and that season when those stories popped up everywhere.
那段时间，这样的报道随处可见。
I would scroll through my feed and I would see a baby announcement photo.
就在我翻看社交平台的时候，我看到一张婴儿出生公告，
I'd see an ad for a product I had just whispered to a friend about yesterday.
我看到一个商品广告，这个商品昨天刚跟朋友私下聊过。
I would see a video of a police officer gunning down someone who looked just like me.
我看到一个视频：一位警官枪杀了一名像我一样的黑人。
And I'd see a think piece about how millennials have replaced sex with avocado toast.
我还看到一篇时事短评，关于千禧一代如何用鳄梨吐司取代性。
It was a confusing time. Those stories kept popping up,
真是一段令人困惑的时期。这类新闻不断涌现，
but in 2018, those stories got changed out for a different type of story,
而在2018年这些都变成了另一种类型的新闻，
stories like, "White Woman Calls Cops On Black Woman Waiting For An Uber." That was Brooklyn Becky.
比如说，“白人女性报警举报黑人女性等优步。”报警的是布鲁克林贝基。
Then there was, "White Woman Calls Police On Eight-Year-Old Black Girl Selling Water." That was Permit Patty.
还有，“白人女性报警举报8岁黑人小女孩卖水。”报警的是珀米特帕蒂。
Then there was, "Woman Calls Police On Black Family BBQing At Lake In Oakland." That was now infamous BBQ Becky.
还有，“白人女性报警举报黑人家庭在奥克兰湖边烧烤。”报警的是臭名昭著的BBQ贝基。
And I contend that these stories of living while black are actually progress.
我认为这些黑人生活的新闻实际上代表着进步。
We used to find out after the extrajudicial police killings.
我们过去总是在警察法外杀人事件后才知道。
Now, we're getting video of people calling 911.
现在，我们看到的是人们打911报警的视频。
We're moving upstream, closer to the problem and closer to the solution.
我们向前进步了，离问题更近了，离解决办法也更近了。
So I started a collection of as many of these stories as I could find.
然后，我就开始收集这类事件，能找到多少，我收集多少。
I built an evolving, still-growing database at baratunde.com/livingwhileblack.
baratunde.com/livingwhileblack网站上，我建立了一个持续更新、持续扩大的数据库。
Seeking understanding, I realized the process was really diagramming sentences to understand these headlines.
在理解的过程中，我发现这其实是通过分析句子来理解这些标题的过程。
And I want to thank my Sidwell English teacher Erica Berry and all English teachers.
感谢我在西德威尔中学的英语老师埃里卡·贝里及所有英语老师。
You have given us tools to fight for our own freedom.
是你们教会了我争取自由的方法。
What I found was a process to break down the headline and understand the consistent layers in each one:
我发现了把标题分解的过程，以及理解每个相同层次部分的意思：
a subject takes an action against a target engaged in some activity,
主体针对目标的行为而采取行动，
so that "White Woman Calls Police On Eight-Year-Old Black Girl"
所以“白人女性报警举报8岁黑人小女孩卖水，”
is the same as "White Man Calls Police On Black Woman Using Neighborhood Pool"
和“白人男性报警举报黑人女性使用邻居水池”是一样的，
is the same as "Woman Calls Cops On Black Oregon Lawmaker Campaigning In Her District." They're the same.
和“白人女性报警举报俄勒冈州黑人立法者参与区内竞选”，也是一样的。这些标题都是一样的。
Diagramming the sentences allowed me to diagram the white supremacy
将这些句子进行分解处理，使我能够图解出白人至上模式，
which allowed such sentences to be true, and I will pause to define my terms.
也使这些句子成立，我想先对术语定义做个介绍。
When I say "white supremacy," I'm not just talking about Nazis or white power activists,
当我说“白人至上”的时候，不仅仅是指纳粹分子，或者是白人权利活动家，
and I'm definitely not saying that all white people are racist.
当然，我也绝不是说所有白人都会种族歧视。
What I'm referring to is a system of structural advantage that favors white people over others in social, economic and political arenas.
我指的是在社会、经济和政治领域偏向白人的结构体系。
It's what Bryan Stevenson at the Equal Justice Initiative calls the narrative of racial difference,
这正是布莱恩·史蒂文森在司法公正倡议中关于种族差异陈述，
the story we told ourselves to justify slavery and Jim Crow and mass incarceration and beyond.
也是我们为了给奴隶制、吉姆·克劳、大规模监禁等正名而讲给自己听的故事。
So when I saw this pattern repeating, I got angry, but I also got inspired to create a game,
所以，当看到这个模式反复出现时，我非常气愤，但我也因此获得灵感，发明了一个游戏，
a game of words that would allow me to transform this traumatic exposure into more of a healing experience.
这个文字游戏能让我将创伤体验转变成治愈体验。
I'm going to talk you through the game.
我给你们介绍一下这个游戏。
The first level is a training level, and I need your participation.
第一关是训练环节，我需要大家的参与。
Our objective: to determine if this is real or fake. Did this happen or not?
我们的目标是：判断真假。是否真的发生了这种事？
Here is the example: "Catholic University Law Librarian Calls Police On Student For 'Being Argumentative.'"
看看这个例子：“天主教大学法律图书管理员报警举报学生‘太爱争辩’”。
Clap your hands if you think this is real.
如果觉得这是真的，请鼓掌。
Clap your hands if you think this is fake.
如果觉得这是假的，请鼓掌。
The reals have it, unfortunately,
不幸的是，这是真的，
and a point of information, being argumentative in a law library is the exact right place to do that.
关键是在法律图书馆里雄辩四方，正是在对的地方做对的事情啊。
This student should be promoted to professor.
应该把这个学生晋升成教授。
Training level complete, so we move on to the real levels.
好了，训练环节结束，我们进入实战环节。
Level one, our objective is simple: reverse the roles.
第一关，我们的目标很简单：角色反转。
That means "Woman Calls Cops On Black Oregon Lawmaker" becomes "Black Oregon Lawmaker Calls Cops On Woman."
也就是，“白人女性举报俄勒冈州黑人立法者参加区内竞选”变成“俄勒冈黑人立法者报警举报白人女性”。
That means "White Man Calls Police On Black Woman Using Neighborhood Pool" becomes "Black Woman Calls Police On White Man Using Neighborhood Pool."
“白人男性报警举报黑人女性使用邻居水池”变成“黑人女性报警举报白人男性使用邻家水池”。
How do you like them reverse racist apples?
角色反转，你们感觉怎么样？
That's it, level one complete, and so we level up to level two,
就这样，第一关结束，我们升级到第二关，
where our objective is to increase the believability of the reversal.
我们的目标是增加角色反转的可信度。
Let's face it, a black woman calling police on a white man using a pool isn't absurd enough,
面对现实吧，“黑人女性报警举报白人男性使用邻家水池”还不够荒谬，
but what if that white man was trying to touch her hair without asking,
但如果白人男人问都没问就试图碰她的头发呢？
or maybe he was making oat milk while riding a unicycle, or maybe he's just talking over everyone in a meeting.
或者他正在一边骑独轮车，一边准备燕麦奶呢？又或许他只是在会议中谈论每个人。
We've all been there, right? Seriously, we've all been there.
我们都经历过那种场景，是吧？说真的，我们都经历过那种情况。
So that's it, level two complete. But it comes with a warning: simply reversing the flow of injustice is not justice.
就这样，第二关通关。不过，还有一则警告：仅仅调转不公平的矛头并不是公平的做法。
That is vengeance, that is not our mission,
那是报复，不是我们的任务，
that's a different game so we level up to level three, where the objective is to change the action,
那是别的游戏了，所以我们升级到第三关，这一关的目标是：改变行动，
also known as "calling the police is not your only option OMG, what is wrong with you people!"
也就是“报警并非唯一的选择，天哪，你们到底是怎么了？”
And I need to pause the game to remind us of the structure.
现在，游戏要暂停一下，我要提醒大家注意句子结构。
A subject takes an action against a target engaged in some activity.
主体针对目标的行为而采取行动。
"White Woman Calls Police On Black Real Estate Investor Inspecting His Own Property."
“白人女性报警举报黑人地产投资者视察自家产业”。
"California Safeway Calls Cops On Black Woman Donating Food To The Homeless."
“加州西夫韦超市报警举报黑人女性向流浪汉捐赠食物”。
"Gold Club Twice Calls Cops On Black Women For Playing Too Slow."
“高尔夫球俱乐部两次报警举报黑人女性打球太慢”。
In all these cases, the subject is usually white, the target is usually black, and the activities are anything,
在所有这类例子中，主体一般是白人，而目标一般是黑人，其中遭举报的行为多种多样，
from sitting in a Starbucks to using the wrong type of barbecue to napping to walking "agitated" on the way to work,
如坐在星巴克、使用的烧烤架类型不对、打盹、“焦虑地”走在上班的路上，
which I just call "walking to work."
我觉得这就是“步行上班”而已。
And, my personal favorite, not stopping his dog from humping her dog,
还有，我最喜欢的一则：男方未阻止自家狗狗与女方狗狗交配，
which is clearly a case for dog police, not people police.
这显然就得找专门管狗的警察，而不是找管人的警察。
All of these activities add up to living. Our existence is being interpreted as crime.
所有这样那样的活动叠加起来，就是生活。我们的存在被视为犯罪。
Now, this is the obligatory moment in the presentation where I have to say, not everything is about race.
现在，讲到这里我必须说的是，并不是一切都与种族有关的。
Crime is a thing, should be reported, but ask yourself,
犯罪是问题，应该报警；但扪心自问，
do we need armed men to show up and resolve this situation, because when they show up for me, it's different.
我们需要武装人员出面来解决上述这些问题吗，因为武装人员出面的话，对我来说，就不一样了。
We know that police officers use force more with black people than with white people,
我们知道，警察对黑人使用的武力比对白人使用的武力要多，
and we are learning the role of 911 calls in this.
我们也越来越明白拨打911报警在其中的作用。
Thanks to preliminary research from the Center for Policing Equity,
多亏了警务公平中心的初步调查，
we're learning that in some cities,
我们了解到，在某些城市
most of the interactions between cops and citizens is due to 911 calls, not officer-initiated stops,
大部分警民之间的接触都是因为有人拨打了911报警，而不是警察主动出警制止的，
and most of the violence, the use of force by police on citizens, is in response to those calls.
而且警察对平民使用的大多数暴力和武力，都是因报警电话而起。
Further, when those officers responding to calls use force,
此外，当警官以武力来给报警电话一个交待时，
that increases in areas where the percentage of the white population has also increased,
这种情况会越来越多，特别是在白人比例上涨的地区，
aka gentrification, aka unicycles and oat milk, aka when BBQ Becky feels threatened,
也叫作贵族化，独轮车、燕麦奶、也就是BBQ贝基觉得受到威胁时，
she becomes a threat to me in my own neighborhood, which forces me and people like me to police ourselves.
她在我的社区对我来说也是一个威胁，逼我和像我一样的人监督管制我们自己。
We quiet ourselves, we walk on eggshells,
我们沉默不语，我们如履薄冰，
we maybe pull over to the side of the road under the brightest light we can find
警察示意我们靠边停车时，我们会停在所能找到的最亮的街灯下。
so that our murder might be caught cleanly on camera,
这样，若是我们被杀害，监控视频才可能清晰地记录下来，
and we do this because we live in a system in which white people can too easily call on deadly force to ensure their comfort.
我们之所以这么做，是因为在我们生存的体系里，白人可以轻易地呼叫致命武力来保障自己的舒适生活。
The California Safeway didn't just call cops on black woman donating food to homeless.
加州西夫韦超市不仅报警了，举报黑人女性向流浪汉捐赠食物。
They ordered armed, unaccountable men upon her.
还叫来了令人无法解释的武装人员。
They essentially called in a drone strike.
实际上，还有无人机空袭。
This is weaponized discomfort, and it is not new.
这是武器化的不适，这也不是什么新闻了。
From 1877 to 1950, there were at least 4,400 documented racial terror lynchings of black people in the United States.
从1877年到1950年，至少有4400个记录在案的黑人在美国遭受种族恐怖私刑的内容。
They had headlines as well. "Rev. T.A. Allen was lynched in Hernando, Mississippi for organizing local sharecroppers."
标题也是：“神父T.A.艾伦因组织地方佃农，在密西西比赫尔南多被处以私刑”。
"Oliver Moore was lynched in Edgecomb County, North Carolina, for frightening a white girl."
“奥利弗·摩尔吓唬白人小女孩，在北卡罗来纳州埃吉科姆县被处以私刑”。
"Nathan Bird was lynched near Luling, Texas, for refusing to turn his son over to a mob."
“内森·伯德拒绝将儿子交给暴徒，在德州庐陵附近被处以私刑”。
We need to change the action, whether that action is "lynches" or "calls police."
我们要改变行动，不管是“处以私刑”，或是“打报警电话”。
And now that I have shortened the distance between those two, let's get back to our game, to our mission.
既然我已经缩短了两者之间的距离，让我们回到游戏、回到我们的任务中去吧。
Our objective in level three is to change the action.
在第三关，我们的目标是改变行动。
So what if, instead of "Calls Cops On Black Woman Donating Food To Homeless," that California Safeway simply thanks her.
如果加州西夫韦超市没有报警投诉“黑人女性向流浪汉捐赠食物”，而只是向她表示感谢，会怎么样呢？
Thanking is far cheaper than bringing law enforcement to the scene.
一句感谢比把执法人员叫到现场要省钱省事。
Or, instead, they could give the food they would have wasted to her, upped their civic cred.
或者，他们可以把本会浪费的食物送给她，提升自己的公民信誉。
Or, the white woman who called the police on the eight-year-old black girl,
而那位看到8岁黑人小女孩卖水的白人女性，
she could have bought all the inventory from that little black girl, support a small business.
她本可以买下给人小女孩所有的水，照顾小女孩的小生意。
And the white woman who called the police on the black real estate investor,
因黑人地产投资者而打电话报警的白人女性，
we would all be better off, the cops agree, if she had simply ignored him and minded her own damn business.
如果直接忽略他、管好自己的事情，那我们都会过得更好，警察也不会有异议。
Minding one's own damn business is an excellent choice, excellent choice. Choose it more often.
管好自己的事是非常机智的选择，建议多这样选。
Level three is complete, but there is a final bonus level, where the objective is inclusion.
第三关完成，还有最后的奖励关，奖励关的目标是包容。
We have also seen headlines like this: "Powerful Man Masturbates In Front Of Young Women Visiting His Office."
我们也曾看到过这样的标题：“年轻女子到访办公室，强壮男子在其面前打飞机”。
What an odd choice for powerful man to make. So many other actions available to him.
强壮男子的选择真奇怪。明明还有那么多其他选择呢。
Like, such as, "listens to," "mentors," "inspired by, starts joint venture, everybody rich now."
比如说，“倾听”、“指导”、“受到鼓舞、创办合资企业、那现在大家都富裕了”。
I want to live in that world of everybody rich now, but because of his poor choice, we are all in a poorer world.
我就想生活在一个人人富裕的世界里。但是因为他选错了，所以我们都生活在贫穷的世界中。
Doesn't have to be this way.
本来不必如此。
This word game reminded me that there is a structure to white supremacy,
这个文字游戏提醒了我，白人至上有固定结构，
as there is to misogyny, as there is to all systemic abuses of power.
就像厌女症有固定结构，就像所有的系统滥用权力也有固定结构。
Structure is what makes them systemic.
固定结构使其系统化。
I'm asking people here to see the structure, where the power is in it,
我请在座的各位看看其中的固定结构，其中的权力在哪里，
and even more importantly to see the humanity of those of us made targets by this structure.
更重要的是，看看我们中用这些结构“发起攻击”的人的人性。
I am here because I was loved and invested in and protected and lucky,
我能站到这里，是因为有人爱我、投资我、保护我，我很幸运，
because I went to the right schools, I'm semifamous, mostly happy, meditate twice a day, and yet, I walk around in fear,
因为我上了好学校，我有点名气，我很开心，每天冥想两次，即使这样，我还在恐惧中生活，
because I know that someone seeing me as a threat can become a threat to my life, and I am tired.
因为我知道，任何认为我是个威胁的人对我来说也是个威胁，我累了。
I am tired of carrying this invisible burden of other people's fears,
我厌倦了，因为别人的恐惧而背负这个看不见的负担，
and many of us are, and we shouldn't have to, because we can change this, because we can change the action,
我们很多人都厌倦了，我们本不需要背负这样的负担，因为我们可以改变现状，我们可以改变行动，
which changes the story, which changes the system that allows those stories to happen.
从而改变新闻，以此改变允许那些新闻发生的系统。
Systems are just collective stories we all buy into.
各种体系不过是我们所相信的各种新闻的汇集。
When we change them, we write a better reality for us all to be a part of.
若我们改变各种体系，我们就能为自己书写更美好的现实篇章。
I am asking us to use our power to choose. I am asking us to level up.
我恳请大家使用自己的选择权。我邀请大家一起通关升级。
Thank you. I am Baratunde Rafiq Thurston.
谢谢大家。我是巴拉顿·拉菲克·瑟斯顿。
