美國(guó)白人種族暴亂

亞瑟·H.加里森

When a video was made public of four Minneapolis police officers on top of the face-down body of George Floyd， showing one officer with his knee on Floyds neck， choking him in the light of day， thousands of people in dozens of cities revolted for more than seven days.

The expression on the officers face displayed the problem of indifference to black life that dates back to the policies adopted by America as it rose from the ashes of the Civil War.

For 45 years after 1865， America entered the Second Industrial Revolution， which brought the rise of corporate industry and the robber barons1 who would lead the way to the American Century2. But while America built itself economically and internationally， it adopted and entered the golden age of Jim Crow.

One aspect of that golden age was the use of violence to destroy the advances blacks made during the Reconstruction era3. The paradox of American exceptionalism and greatness is that it melded the idea of individual freedom and government for the people， and not the other way around; with a multigenerational social policy4 that blacks by law （in the day） and by the Klan5 （at night） were prevented from growing with America.

Adult thinking acknowledges two things are true at the same time： America is a great nation based on great and noble principles， and it became great with the intentional adoption of the structural policy of racism.

This history of Jim Crow enforced by the Klan provides context for a hard truth： In America， race riots are used to settle social discontent. The origin of race rioting begins with southern whites， resenting black advancement， attacked them to disenfranchise6 them of both the vote and economic prosperity.

Race riots were not born in the 1960s; they were born in the 1870s. The Meridian， Mississippi race riot of 1871， the Colfax Massacre in Louisiana in April 1873， the New Orleans riot of July 1866， the Memphis， Tennessee riot of May 1866， the Charleston， South Carolina riot of September 1876 and the Wilmington， North Carolina race riot of 1898， to name a few， occurred under the passive and sometimes direct hand of the local police.

The result： The ability of the former slaves to create intergenerational wealth—the key to all success in a capitalist nation—was systematically destroyed for generations.

From the late 1890s through the 1920s， white race riots continued. In the 1921 Greenwood Riot， the entire black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa， Oklahoma， which was known as the black Wall Street， was burned to the ground. And in the Rosewood massacre of 1923， the entire neighborhood of Rosewood， Levy County， Florida was similarly destroyed.

These and other white race riots （Red Summer7 of 1919） not only took black lives and wiped whole black neighborhoods off the face of the earth， they ended black economic wealth that could be passed to subsequent generations. It also caused displacement of black expertise and talent， thwarting its concentration and increase.

This economic decimation8 of black wealth and social stability was made worse by the Great Depression9 and blacks being denied full access to the various New Deal10 programs of the 1930s and the benefits of the GI Bill11 in the 1940s. Thus， during the first four decades of the American Century， blacks were subjected to white race riots and social policies that destroyed their wealth.

The point is that while whites were allowed to create intergenerational wealth and form wealthy communities both before and after the world wars， blacks were， as a matter of policy， prevented from doing the same. The policy outcome of a century of Jim Crow is systemic racism.

One result of this policy outcome is the design of modern urban America. The modern American urban structure of neighborhoods—how they look and how they are designed—is the result of racial neighborhood exclusions （early 1900s）， legal restrictive covenants （1920–1948）， followed by racially restrictive covenants， in fact （1948–1968）， and the FHA12 policies of red lining13 of black neighborhoods through the FHA （1934–1968）， in conjunction with the practices of blockbusting14， real estate value manipulation， and racial steering by the insurance and real estate industry.

These Jim Crow policies concentrated blacks into urban neighborhoods during the Second Great Migration15.

This concentration and isolation was institutionalized through the policy choices of investment in public highways over public transportation; the isolation of neighborhoods by limiting the public transportation connection between these communities and the suburbs where middle-class jobs were being placed; the use of highways and street design to break connections between communities; and the policy of public education funding being tied to property values.

These policies explain the modern physical design and poverty concentration within various American neighborhoods. The legacy of these policies， along with the crime control policies of the 1980s and 1990s， explain and define the concept of structural， systemic racism and the resulting events in Baltimore， Ferguson， Minneapolis， Los Angeles， and other metropolitan cities over the past four decades.

Margaret Thatcher said America is exceptional because it is the result of specific decisions made， not by a long march of thousands of years of history. She， of course， was correct.

光天化日之下，喬治·弗洛伊德臉朝下被明尼阿波利斯市四名警察按在地上，其中一名警察用膝蓋跪壓弗洛伊德頸部致其窒息，這一視頻曝光后，數(shù)十個(gè)城市的成千上萬(wàn)民眾掀起了抗議活動(dòng)，至今已逾一周。

該名警察的面部表情傳遞出這樣的信息：黑人的生命無(wú)關(guān)緊要，這一問(wèn)題可以追溯至美國(guó)從內(nèi)戰(zhàn)之廢墟中崛起時(shí)所采取的一系列政策。

1865年后的45年里，美國(guó)步入了第二次工業(yè)革命時(shí)期。其間，公司制生產(chǎn)制造業(yè)得以興起，即將領(lǐng)頭進(jìn)入“美國(guó)世紀(jì)”的強(qiáng)盜資本家得以壯大。但是美國(guó)在進(jìn)行經(jīng)濟(jì)建設(shè)和向國(guó)際化邁進(jìn)的同時(shí)實(shí)行種族隔離，并步入了種族歧視的黃金時(shí)代。

這一黃金時(shí)代的一個(gè)特點(diǎn)就是利用暴力摧毀黑人在“重建時(shí)期”取得的各種進(jìn)步?！懊绹?guó)例外論”及“美國(guó)偉大說(shuō)”之悖論就在于，它將個(gè)人自由和政府為民的思想融合于而非對(duì)立于其世代沿襲的社會(huì)政策，即黑人（白天）受制于法律、（晚上）受制于三K黨，不準(zhǔn)與美國(guó)共發(fā)展。

理智地看，以下兩點(diǎn)均為事實(shí)：美國(guó)是一個(gè)建立于偉大、高尚原則之上的偉大國(guó)度，其走向偉大的同時(shí)也在有意實(shí)施結(jié)構(gòu)性種族主義政策。

這段由三K黨施加的種族歧視歷史導(dǎo)致了一個(gè)殘酷的事實(shí)：在美國(guó)，種族暴亂被用來(lái)解決社會(huì)不滿。種族暴亂源自南方白人，他們因憤恨黑人進(jìn)步而攻擊黑人，以剝奪他們的選舉權(quán)和經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展權(quán)。

種族暴亂并非始于20世紀(jì)60年代，而是19世紀(jì)70年代。在此僅舉幾例，1871年密西西比州默里迪恩市的種族暴亂、1873年4月路易斯安那州的“科爾法克斯大屠殺”、1866年7月新奧爾良市的暴亂、1866年5月田納西州孟菲斯市的暴亂、1876年9月南卡羅來(lái)納州查爾斯頓市的暴亂、1898年北卡羅來(lái)納州威爾明頓市的種族暴亂等等，都是在當(dāng)?shù)鼐煜麡O應(yīng)對(duì)、有時(shí)是直接插手的情況下發(fā)生的。

結(jié)果就是：昔日黑奴創(chuàng)造累世財(cái)富的才能，即在資本主義國(guó)度獲取一切成功的鑰匙，被世世代代地、系統(tǒng)性地摧毀了。

從19世紀(jì)90年代末到20世紀(jì)20年代，白人種族暴亂一直沒(méi)有中斷。在1921年的“格林伍德暴亂”中，人稱“黑人華爾街”的俄克拉荷馬州塔爾薩市黑人居住區(qū)格林伍德被完全焚毀;在1923年的羅斯伍德大屠殺事件中，佛羅里達(dá)州萊維縣的羅斯伍德社區(qū)也以類似方式被夷為平地。

這些暴力事件，連同其他白人種族暴亂（如1919年的“紅色夏季”），不僅奪走了黑人的生命，將多個(gè)黑人居住區(qū)從地球上徹底抹去，還終結(jié)了黑人本可以傳給后代的經(jīng)濟(jì)財(cái)富，也讓黑人的專長(zhǎng)和才華被取代，使其無(wú)法再匯集、增長(zhǎng)。

這一系列事件是對(duì)黑人財(cái)富和社會(huì)穩(wěn)定的經(jīng)濟(jì)剿殺。“大蕭條”爆發(fā)后，20世紀(jì)30年代“新政”推行的各項(xiàng)計(jì)劃及40年代《退伍軍人權(quán)利法案》出臺(tái)的各項(xiàng)優(yōu)惠政策都將黑人拒之門外，這讓情況進(jìn)一步惡化。所以，在“美國(guó)世紀(jì)”的前40年，黑人一直經(jīng)受著白人的種族暴亂，受制于摧毀其財(cái)富的社會(huì)政策。

問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵在于，在兩次世界大戰(zhàn)之前和之后，白人可以創(chuàng)造累世財(cái)富、建立富裕社區(qū)，而同時(shí)，黑人從政策層面就被禁止這樣做。系統(tǒng)性的種族歧視——這就是百年來(lái)種族歧視的政策產(chǎn)物。

該政策產(chǎn)物帶來(lái)的一個(gè)結(jié)果便是現(xiàn)代美國(guó)城市的設(shè)計(jì)格局。居住區(qū)種族排外制度的實(shí)行（20世紀(jì)初期），法律約束協(xié)議的實(shí)施（1920—1948），隨之而來(lái)的事實(shí)上的種族約束協(xié)議的推行（1948—1968），美國(guó)聯(lián)邦住房管理局針對(duì)黑人居住區(qū)的“紅線”政策的實(shí)施（1934—1968），連同誘騙白人房產(chǎn)主削價(jià)拋售房地產(chǎn)，操控房地產(chǎn)價(jià)值，保險(xiǎn)和房地產(chǎn)業(yè)按客戶種族進(jìn)行購(gòu)買引導(dǎo)等手段的施行，造就了現(xiàn)代美國(guó)城市居住區(qū)結(jié)構(gòu)——居住區(qū)的外觀與格局。

這些種族歧視政策促使黑人在“第二次大遷徙”中集中入住城市居住區(qū)。

投資公路建設(shè)而非公共交通的政策選擇，通過(guò)限制城內(nèi)黑人社區(qū)與分布著中產(chǎn)階級(jí)工作崗位的郊區(qū)之間實(shí)現(xiàn)公交銜接而形成居住區(qū)隔離，利用公路和街道規(guī)劃來(lái)切斷社區(qū)之間的聯(lián)通，將公立教育撥款政策與不動(dòng)產(chǎn)價(jià)值掛鉤，這一切都使得黑人的聚集與隔離以制度的形式固定下來(lái)。

上述政策的實(shí)施解釋了各式各樣的美國(guó)居住區(qū)內(nèi)部現(xiàn)代格局的由來(lái)和貧窮聚集的原因。這些政策連同20世紀(jì)八九十年代犯罪治理政策所產(chǎn)生的影響，解釋并明確了結(jié)構(gòu)性、系統(tǒng)性種族主義的概念，以及過(guò)去40年來(lái)巴爾的摩、弗格森、明尼阿波利斯、洛杉磯等大城市發(fā)生的暴力事件。

瑪格麗特·撒切爾曾言，美國(guó)之所以是例外的，是因?yàn)樗翘囟Q策的產(chǎn)物，而這些決策并非由長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)千年的歷史進(jìn)程作出。無(wú)疑，她的話是正確的。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)?單位：中華女子學(xué)院）

1 robber baron（用非法或不道德手段攫取大量錢財(cái)?shù)模?qiáng)盜貴族、強(qiáng)盜資本家。 ?2 美國(guó)世紀(jì)，指20世紀(jì)中期以來(lái)這段時(shí)期，美國(guó)的政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化、軍事影響力與日俱增，1991年蘇聯(lián)解體后更是成為世界唯一超級(jí)大國(guó)。該詞于1941年由《時(shí)代周刊》共同創(chuàng)辦人亨利·盧斯（Henry Luce）最先提出。

3重建時(shí)期，在美國(guó)歷史上指1865年至1877年這段解決南北戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)遺留問(wèn)題的時(shí)期。 4 meld （sth） with sth（使）融合，合并，結(jié)合。 ? 5三K黨，美國(guó)奉行白人至上、歧視有色族裔的最悠久、最龐大的種族主義組織。全稱為Ku Klux Klan，其中Ku Klux二詞來(lái)源于希臘文Ku Kloo，意為集會(huì)，Klan是種族。因三個(gè)詞頭都是K，因而得名。 ?6 disenfranchise剝奪（某人）的權(quán)利（尤指選舉權(quán)）。

7紅色夏季，指1919年夏季至初秋美國(guó)發(fā)生的一系列血腥種族騷亂。騷亂在多達(dá)34個(gè)城市發(fā)生，以白人襲擊非洲裔美國(guó)人為主，導(dǎo)致大量人員傷亡。

8 decimation大批殺死（某地區(qū)的動(dòng)物、植物或人），大大削弱。 ?9大蕭條，指1929年至1933年發(fā)源于美國(guó)并波及整個(gè)資本主義世界的經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)。 ?10新政，指1933年富蘭克林·羅斯福（小羅斯福）就任美國(guó)總統(tǒng)后實(shí)行的一系列經(jīng)濟(jì)政策。 ?11 = GI Bill of Rights，也稱Servicemens Readjustment Act，《退伍軍人權(quán)利法案》，美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)1944年頒布，旨在向二戰(zhàn)后的退伍軍人提供就業(yè)安置和教育資助等服務(wù)，以幫助其更好地適應(yīng)平民生活。

12 = Federal Housing Administration美國(guó)聯(lián)邦住房管理局，是“大蕭條”時(shí)期羅斯?？偨y(tǒng)為了經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇推行“新政”的產(chǎn)物之一。 ?13 red lining紅線（政策），是帶有強(qiáng)烈種族歧視色彩的美國(guó)法規(guī)，指聯(lián)邦政府機(jī)構(gòu)、地方政府及銀行、保險(xiǎn)等私營(yíng)部門用紅線標(biāo)示或圈定少數(shù)族裔特別是黑人集中的居住區(qū)，對(duì)其居民不予提供貸款、抵押、保險(xiǎn)等商品或服務(wù)，或提高服務(wù)門檻和價(jià)格。該詞最早出自1934年美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)的《國(guó)民住房法案》（National Housing Act）。 ?14 blockbusting美國(guó)一個(gè)同種族歧視和階級(jí)歧視有關(guān)的特殊用語(yǔ)。有些房產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人在有較高收入的或是白種的居民當(dāng)中制造緊張氣氛，說(shuō)有窮人或黑人即將搬到這個(gè)住宅區(qū)居住，因此這里的房?jī)r(jià)會(huì)變賤，居民聽(tīng)到了，就會(huì)趕緊在房?jī)r(jià)下跌前把房子削價(jià)賣給經(jīng)紀(jì)人。 ?15第二次大遷徙，發(fā)生在美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條之后的1940年至1970年間，大約500余萬(wàn)非洲裔美國(guó)人從美國(guó)南部遷徙到東北部、中西部和西部的工業(yè)區(qū)，成為高度城市化人口。

Anti-Racism Quotes and Sayings

“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesnt matter which color does the hating. Its just plain wrong.”

― Muhammad Ali

“My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me dont dip on nobodys side. Me dont dip on the black mans side nor the white mans side. Me dip on Gods side， the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.”

― Bob Marley

“No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racist make them.”

― Elie Wiesel

“Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society.”

― Steven Patrick Morrissey