Unit-1A-Case-of-Severe-Bias課文翻譯綜合教程四

Unit-12-A-Case-of-SevereBias”課文翻譯綜合教程四Unit12ACaseof"SevereBias"

PatriciaRaybon1ThisiswhoIamnot.Iamnotacrackaddict.Iamnotawelfaremother.Iamnotilliterate.Iamnotaprostitute.Ihaveneverbeeninjail.Mychildrenarenotingangs.Myhusbanddoesn'tbeatme.Myhomeisnotatenement.NoneofthesethingsdefineswhoIam,nordotheydescribetheotherblackpeopleI'veknownandworkedwithandlovedandbefriendedoverthesefortyyearsofmylife.2NordoesitdescribemostofblackAmerica,period.3YetintheeyesoftheAmericannewsmedia,thisiswhatblackAmericais:poor,criminal,addicted,anddysfunctional.Indeed,mediacoverageofblackAmericaissoone-sided,soimbalancedthatthemostvictimizedandhurtingsegmentoftheblackcommunity—asmallsegment,atbest—ispresentednotastheexceptionbutasthenorm.Itisaninsidiouspractice,alltheuglierforitsblatancy.4Inrecentmonths9Ihaveobservedasteadyofferingofmediareportsoncrackbabies,gangwarfare,violentyouth,poverty,andhomelessness—andinmostcases,thepeoplefeaturedinthephotosandstorieswereblack.Atthesametime,articlesthatdiscussotheraspectsofAmericanlife—fromhomebuyingtomedicinetotechnologytonutrition—rarely,ifever,showblacksplayingapositiverole,orforthatmatter,anyroleatalL5Dayafterday,weekafterweek,thismessage—thatblackAmericaisdysfunctionalandunwhole—getstransmittedacrosstheAmericanlandscape.Sadly,asaresult,Americaneverlearnsthetruthaboutwhatisactuallyawonderful,vibrant,creativecommunityofpeople.6MostblackAmericansarenotpoor.Mostblackteenagersarenotcrackaddicts.Mostblackmothersarenotonwelfare.Indeed,insheernumbers,morewhiteAmericansarepoorandonwelfarethanareblack.YetoneneverwoulddeducethatbywatchingtelevisionorreadingAmericannewspapersandmagazines.7WhydotheAmericanmediainsistonplayingthismyopic,inaccuratepicturegame?Inthisgame,whiteAmericaisalwayswholeandlovelyandhealthy,whileblackAmericaisusuallysickandpatheticanddeficient.Rarely,indeed,isblackAmericaeverdepictedinthemediaasfunctionalandself-sufficient.Thefreepress,indeed,asthemaininterpreterofAmericancultureandAmericanexperience,holdsthemirroronAmericanreality－somuchsothatwhatthemediasayisis,evenifit'snotthatwayatall.Themediaareguiltyofaseverebiasandtheproblemscreamsoutforcorrection.Itisworsethansimplylazyjournalism,whichisbadenough;itisinaccuratejournalism.8ForblackAmericanslikemyself,thisisn'tjustanissueofvanity一ofwantingtobeseeninagoodlight.Norisitamatterofclosingone'seyestotheveryrealproblemsoftheurbanunderclass一whichundeniablyisdisproportionatelyblack.Tobesure,problemsbesettingtheblackunderclassdeservetheutmostattentionofthemedia,aswellastheunderstandingandconcernoftherestofAmericansociety.Butiftheirproblemsconsistentlyarepresentedastheonlyrealityforblacks,anyotherexperienceknownintheblackcommunityceasestohavevalidity,ortobereal.Inthisscenario,millionsofblacksarerelegatedtoasortoftwilightzone,wherewhoweareandwhatweareisn'tbasedonfactbutanimageandperception.That'swhatitfeelsliketobeablackAmericanwhoselifestyleisoutsideoftheaberrantbehaviorthatthemediapresentasthenorm.Formanyofus,lifeisacuriousseriesofencounterswithwhitepeoplewhowanttoknowwhyweare“different”fromotherblacks一when,infact,mostofusareonly“different”fromthenowcommonnegativeimagesofblacklife.Sopervasivearetheseimagesthattheyaren'tjustperceivedasthenorm,they'reacceptedasthenorm.Iamreminded,forexample,ofthecontroversialSpikeLeefilmDotheRightThingandthecriticismbysomemoviereviewersthatthefilm’sghettoneighborhoodisn'tpopulatedbyaddictsanddrugpushers一andthusisnotatruedepiction.Infact,millionsofblackAmericansliveinneighborhoodswherethemostcommonsightsarechildrenplayingandcoupleswalkingtheirdogs.Inmyowninner-cityneighborhoodinDenver一anareathatthelocalpressconsistentlydescribesas“gangterritory”一Ihaveyettoseearecognizable“gang”memberorany“gang”activity(drugdealingordrive-byshootings),norhaveIbeenthevictimof“gangviolence”.YettostudentsofAmericanculture—inthecaseofSpikeLee'sfilm,themoviereviewers－ablack,inner-cityneighborhoodcanonlybeonethingtobereal:drug-infestedanddysfunctioning.Isthismyegotalking?Inpart,yes.Forthemillionsofblackpeoplelikemyself一ordinary,hard-working,law-abiding,tax-payingAmericans一themedia'sblindnesstothefactthatweevenexist,letalonetoourcontributionstoAmericansociety,isabittercuptodrink.Andasself-reliantasmostblackAmericansare—becausewe'vehadtobeself-reliant—eventhestrongestamongusstillcraveaffirmation.Iwantthat.Iwantitformychildren.Iwantitforallthebeautiful,healthy,funny,smartblackAmericansIhaveknownandlovedovertheyears.AndIwantitfortherestofAmerica,too.IwantAmericatoknowus-allofus—forwhowereallyare.Toseeusinallofourcomplexity,oursubtleness,ourartfulness,ourenterprise,ourspecialness,ourloveliness,ourAmerican-ness.ThatistherealportraitofblackAmerica一thatwe’restrongpeople,survivingpeople,capablepeople.Thatmaybethebest-keptsecretinAmerica.Ifso,it,stimetoletthetruthbeknown.“強(qiáng)烈偏見(jiàn)”之實(shí)話實(shí)說(shuō)

帕特里夏?雷本我不是通常想象的那種黑人。我不是吸食強(qiáng)效純可卡因的癮君子。我不是靠救濟(jì)來(lái)生活的母親。我不是文盲。我不是妓女。我從沒(méi)蹲過(guò)大牢。我的孩子們沒(méi)有混跡黑幫。我老公不會(huì)對(duì)我家暴。我家不住廉租房。這些都不能用來(lái)界定我，也不能描述我40年生命中認(rèn)識(shí)、共事、熱愛(ài)、交往的任何其他黑人。大多數(shù)美國(guó)黑人也與此無(wú)關(guān)。就這么回事。然而美國(guó)新聞媒體眼中的美國(guó)黑人恰恰如此：貧窮，有犯罪傾向，吸毒，與社會(huì)格格不入。千真萬(wàn)確，媒體關(guān)于美國(guó)黑人的報(bào)道如此片面，如此失衡，黑人群體中受傷最深、同時(shí)也是害人最深的那些人——那頂多是一小部分人——被描述成常態(tài)，而非例外。這真是用心險(xiǎn)惡，這種做法因其肆無(wú)忌憚而格外丑陋。最近幾個(gè)月，我觀察到一系列媒體報(bào)道，主題是毒癮嬰兒1、幫派混戰(zhàn)、行為暴虐的年輕人、貧困以及無(wú)家可歸。多數(shù)情況下，報(bào)道和配圖中的主角都是黑人。與此同時(shí)，關(guān)于美國(guó)生活的其他方面一一從買(mǎi)房置地到醫(yī)藥領(lǐng)域，從技術(shù)發(fā)展到營(yíng)養(yǎng)健康一一極少見(jiàn)到甚至可以說(shuō)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)到黑人扮演積極正面的角色，甚至可以說(shuō)，壓根見(jiàn)不到他們扮演任何角色。日復(fù)一日，周復(fù)一周，這樣的信息，即美國(guó)黑人與主流社會(huì)格格不入、非病即殘，傳遍美國(guó)各地。很遺憾，這樣的結(jié)果就是美國(guó)從來(lái)就無(wú)法認(rèn)識(shí)到黑人實(shí)際上是優(yōu)秀、生機(jī)勃勃、創(chuàng)意無(wú)限的人民。大多數(shù)美國(guó)黑人不窮。大多數(shù)黑人青少年不是吸食強(qiáng)效純可卡因的癮君子。大多數(shù)黑人母親不靠救濟(jì)過(guò)活。事實(shí)上，單純就數(shù)量而言，生活拮據(jù)、靠救濟(jì)度日的美國(guó)白人比黑人更多。但是如果光看電視或閱讀報(bào)章雜志，人們永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)得出這個(gè)結(jié)論。但是，為什么美國(guó)媒體堅(jiān)持玩這種鼠目寸光、錯(cuò)漏百出的圖片游戲？在這種把戲中，美國(guó)白人永遠(yuǎn)健康向上、可愛(ài)動(dòng)人、全面發(fā)展，而美國(guó)黑人永遠(yuǎn)疾病纏身、可憐巴巴、缺陷多多。千真萬(wàn)確，媒體筆下的黑人極少是有用之才，自給自足。千真萬(wàn)確，作為美國(guó)文化和美國(guó)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的主要詮釋者的自由媒體，高舉反映美國(guó)現(xiàn)實(shí)的明鏡，以至于他們說(shuō)什么就是什么，即便事實(shí)真相大相徑庭。媒體帶有強(qiáng)烈偏見(jiàn)，這個(gè)問(wèn)題亟待糾正。這個(gè)問(wèn)題就是：這是比懶惰的新聞報(bào)道更嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題，新聞報(bào)道懶惰消極已經(jīng)夠糟糕了，現(xiàn)在的問(wèn)題是，這是失實(shí)的新聞報(bào)道。對(duì)于像我自己這樣的美國(guó)黑人，想被人看得起不僅僅是個(gè)虛榮心的問(wèn)題。這也不僅僅是對(duì)城市下層社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)問(wèn)題視而不見(jiàn)的問(wèn)題。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，這個(gè)下層社會(huì)中黑人比例畸高