正文
兩周前收到一個美國同事轉來的EMAIL，解釋在今年美國總統競選中存在的種族歧視現象(見下邊所附)。這是一個令人很“不舒服”的議題，但這個問題在美國的確仍然存在。
媒體對總統競選中出現的種族歧視現象的報導非常小心。在第三次總統辯論中，奧巴馬指出有人在麥凱恩的競選集會中，喊“Kill him”。而在場的佩林沒有做出任何製止的反應。在電視中報導中，僅見到媒體播出一個白人在麥凱恩的競選集會中對麥凱恩說，“I'm mad. I'm really mad." 雖然沒有人問/解釋他說的MAD 的原因是什麽，想來不少人都知道這裏的潛台詞，就是因為看到美國選民今年選舉一位黑人總統的可能性。
兩周前，我們在當地意大利節日的集會中設置了為奧巴馬助選的桌子，散發競選資料，鼓勵選民登記。有人告訴我們，聽到有一個路過的女人恨恨地“祝願”極端的事情會發生。待我們試圖找到這個人，以報告給保安部門時，她已消失在人群中了。想想看，這是一個大多是由天主教信徒參加的集會呀。
美國國家廣播電台(NPR)的上周五播出了一個節目，York Voters Express Post-Election Hopes, Fears. 有的選民表示他們在擔心，不論誰當選為美國下屆總統，11月5日會發生什麽。這場選舉，真是對美國政府，人民，及美國憲法和民主製度的一次空前考驗。
NPR:這是與在York地區，賓夕法尼亞州的選民關於種族與其在2008年總統大選中的作用的一係列談話的第四次報告。Steve Inskeep and Michele Norris在9月份第一次與15個選民談話。 這一次，他們又增加了兩個人。他們計劃在選舉後再次與這些選民會晤-白人，黑人和棕色人組成的混合-來自這個在大選中處於搖擺狀態的州。
如果這個國家由一名黑人來領導，國家會有什麽不同？如果奧巴馬輸給麥凱恩的話，人們將如何反應？NPR請了15個來自York，賓夕法尼亞州地區的選民，討論種族和總統競選，試圖探討超過選舉投票本身的問題。 對話超出了選舉本身。許多請來的選民-許多是黑人，白人，拉美裔和來自南亞-他們對不管哪一個候選人當選總統後可能發生的事表示擔心。
“不管本次選舉結果如何，我認為這個國家都會永遠改變，”一位白人退休教師Blanche Hake說，他將投奧巴馬的票。 當問及如果奧巴馬當選為總統後國家將會發生什麽變化時，Hake說：“我想黑人自己...學校的孩子們，他們將會有一個效仿的典範。”
Leah Moreland 則有很不同的答案。Moreland坐在離Hake幾英尺遠的地方;兩個女人通過婚姻有關聯。Moreland支持麥凱恩。
“我不想聽上去象是一個種族主義者，我也不是種族主義者，” Moreland 說。“但我覺得如果我們選奧巴馬入主白宮的話，將會一片混亂。我覺得很多黑人會覺得這是要回報的時候(payback time)。我曾說過，我說， '你知道，以前，當一個白人走來的時候，黑人不得不離開人行道。’我覺得這將會逆轉。我真的覺得令人不快的事會發生。”Moreland說，她不認為所有的黑人都會“要回報。” “我不是在談論你，我不是在談論他們。我指的是在街上找麻煩的人。選一個黑人入主白宮-如果他贏的話，他贏的話，我會生活在他的總統職權下，每一件事。我仍然會和想成為我的朋友的任何黑人做朋友，一切。 但我真的覺得將是一段調整的時間。我真的覺得這樣。我希望我錯了。我希望我錯了。”
Michael Smith，一個坐在房間另一邊的黑人男子，雙手緊緊地抱住胸部。他扳起頭，慢慢地向空中伸出食指。 “我真的理解你的話，”他說。“我想你所指的恐懼，隻是變革。我們將很高興或興奮，顯得生氣勃勃， 有積極性的事實本身，是因為我們是樂於表達-expressionable 的人。”但是Moreland 似乎指的是不同類型的情感展示。 Smith 在談論慶祝：歡呼，在街上跳舞，伸出五指擊掌 。Moreland談的是混亂，暴力，打破窗戶，把人推下人行道-而不是快樂。
一個32歲的戲劇老師Cal Weary說，他擔心如果奧巴馬獲勝後白人的怨恨。Weary 是一個加入共和黨的黑人，投過兩次布什的票。今年， 他支持奧巴馬。“我想你越擔心壞的事情發生就越害怕。我討厭這樣說，但讓[奧巴馬]不會勝利試試。”Weary說。他說，他“更害怕喬六包-Joe Six-Packs 在奧巴馬贏得總統選舉後“要回報-payback。”Weary說，如果奧巴馬失去了選舉，黑人可能就不接受選舉結果是合法的。 “我保證，”Weary說。“我想即使是沒有那樣投入的黑人也會有被剝奪的感覺，'我們是如此接近，現在我們沒有得到它，我很生氣。’"
Margie Orr，另一個黑人，提出了另一個恐懼-一個令人生畏的，自從奧巴馬成為入主白宮的認真的競爭對手以來就一直在悄悄地流傳的恐懼。“你知道我最害怕的是什麽？我最害怕的言論就是一直在麥凱恩的集會中聽到的。”她說。“我為奧巴馬和他的家人擔心。對於那些在這些集會上說的事情，好像他們想找來光頭仔， [三K 黨] ，這樣他們就可以殺害奧巴馬。”“我擔心如果奧巴馬被白人殺害，什麽事情會在美國的這些地方發生。這是我的恐懼。這是我的恐懼。這也應該是你的恐懼。”
( Michele Norris 在這裏插話說，“Un-comfortable stuff。”.)
盡管選民們帶著惶恐的心情接近大選，也有很大的期待。但是，無論11月4日的選舉是什麽結果，許多York 的選民在關注11月5日會是怎樣。
錄音:http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=96086423&m=96090102
White Privilege
From: Dr. Gxxxxn
Sent: Fri 10/10/2008 16:33
To: Undisclosed recipients
Subject: White PrivilegeLately, people have been saying, "Gee Billi's become such a radical angry black man--and what's all this talk about white privilege.."//For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological, and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can be like John McCain and have no one question your character, when get engaged to your 2nd wife before your divorce is final from your first wife, who you divorced because she became handicapped---although she waited for you while you were a prisoner of war.
White privilege is when you can graduate 394th in a class of 397 from the Naval Academy--- when your father is an admiral, like John McCain, and have nobody question your intelligence or motivation---whereas a black man can graduate with honors from Columbia, then go onto be a constitutional law scholar at Harvard and be scrutinized for being too intellectual---and out of touch with the people--even though he worked his way through school, and rose from the ranks of the enlisted personnel.
White privilege is when you can lie and say you can't go on the David Letterman show because you have to rush to Washington to help with the bailout---when actually you're doing another television show across town---and have no one question your integrity.
White privilege is when you can sing, "Bomb bomb Iran" publicly and have people not question your judgement.
White privilege is when you can be attacked by terrorist from Afghanistan, and declare war on Iraq because of it and destroy one of the oldest civilizations on earth, and feel totally justified.//White privilege is blaming America's lack of response to Hurricane Katrina on the Hurricane victim's inability to help themselves.
White privilege is raping, pillaging, stealing and cheating American Indian tribes out of their land---then giving them a patch of dirt by the side of the freeway in California, Arizona and New Mexico that is so barren it won't even grow bacteria--and then when they build casinos and start making money---those state governments have the audacity to want some of the money.
White privilege is when you can dress like Cindy McCain and have people not think your a blind drag queen who recently escaped from Drug Rehab.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.//White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a "light" burden。
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.
---yeah--- I'm pretty angry.
• 如果O8被種族分子掛了，白等比佩林強的可不是一點半點。 -CinYon- ♂ (0 bytes) (14 reads) 10/26/08
• dou -可親可近- ♀ (0 bytes) (3 reads) 10/26/08
謝謝分享看法。
McCain cannot defeat Obama, according to the poll statistics (too large a gap to catch), but racism can:
by assassination or by Bradley effect, one is blatent racism, and the other is invisible racism.