讚!跟一個MIT學生寫的:

來源: lakeviewredhouse 2020-06-02 16:24:52 [] [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀: 次 (47545 bytes)
Letter in English | Yitao
 
Dear Yale Student,
 
You wrote a letter blaming your parents and relatives for being indifferent to the racism against the black community, accusing them for siding with White Supremacists, and you extended this accusation to the broader Chinese American Community. It is sad to see that even though you must be getting a good education at a very fine university, you are still so ill-informed and wrong.
 
I don’t know about your family. But most first-generation Chinese Americans came to the US, not with capital and power, but with ideals and industry, to pursue liberty and happiness through hard work and self-reliance. They built their American dreams, contributed to society, and sent ABCs like you to good schools. Since the first-generation Chinese Americans rarely complain or protest, there is a perception that they must be selfish and indifferent to social justice. This is a STEREOTYPE that they hope you, the new generation, could counter instead of perpetuating!
 
On the contrary, I believe you will find your fellow Chinese Americans, including your relatives, are among the most courageous and compassionate people.  That courage drove them to overcome difficulties unimaginable to you to come to the US, to fight stereotyping and racism, overcome challenges in a new language and culture, to become successful and responsible citizens. 
 
They are stories of success not failure, and should be the source of your pride not embarrassment. Their successes come from their values, which if you really care to understand, are exactly what is needed to advance your social justice causes in order to improve the lives of disadvantaged minorities.
 
The first value is societal responsibility. I hope I don’t need to translate this Chinese saying to you “天下興亡,匹夫有責” (any in case you can’t read Chinese: the rise and fall of a nation is the responsibility of every ordinary person.) This is a core Confucius value deeply ingrained into Chinese culture. Every Chinese American I have met deeply cares about the fate of this great country, and believes they have a role to play. Just recently during the COVID19 pandemic, many Chinese are contributing their time, money, and connections to donate PPEs for hospitals and local communities. Many of our fellow Chinese Americans volunteer community service to disadvantaged groups including blacks and Latinos. 
 
They not only help those in need, but also help them to help themselves (授人以魚不如授人以漁). That is why many Chinese Americans are involved in PTAs and School boards to help public schools to be more responsible and more competitive. This leads to another Chinese core value, self-reliance.
 
The first-generation Chinese Americans had very little to fall back on. They believe in hard work and self-reliance instead of government hand-outs. They also understand that in a humane society, some groups do need help and social safety programs are important. But to fundamentally lift the disadvantaged out of their bad situation is to let them become self-reliant, through better education and hard work and entrepreneurship.
 
Last but not least, American Chinese believe in creation, not destruction. We stand firmly by the black community against the atrocity and wrongs committed to them. But we don’t condone violence. There is no way that Chinese Americans will participate in rioting, not only because it is wrong, but also because it is totally counter productive to solving the problems.
 
To be clear, the wrongful death of George Floyd is outrageous. Every person, including every American Chinese, should demand justice in this case. Chinese Americans share some painful histories with blacks as victims of racism. But generalizing, moralizing, or victimizing will not solve problems. Rioting and violence will only make matters worse. If there is a way for Chinese Americans to make their unique contribution to social justice, sharing our cultural values is probably the one.  And we can and should do a better job at this. We need your help to let whites, blacks, browns to better understand Chinese Americans, not to box us in. 
 
Now a specific suggestion. When your parents say things that appear to be racist to you next time, ask them to stop. Don’t be afraid to educate them on equality and the other western values you learned at school, but also try to understand their values and where they are coming from. Between you and your parents, there should be no reason for being lost in translation. And by the way, don’t tell them we owe our freedom and rights to others. We don’t, we earned them.
 
You quoted Cathy Park Hong. While I am sure I am not as well-versed in Asian American poetry as you are, I can tell you Chinese Americans will NOT be in line to either be white or disappear. We are poised to have a stronger identity of our own, a more participative and contributing one in the American society. And as for which side we are on, we are on the side of equality, justice, and a greater America!
 
Regards,
Yitao

 

Author Bio: MIT educated engineer and MBA. Have lived in Asia, Europe, and the US,labored days and nights along side steel mill workers; “strategized” with executives at multinational companies; visited hundreds of factories in dozens of countries. I have seen first hand the winners and losers of globalization. I consider myself Chinese-American, intensely Chinese and intensely American.

 
翻譯 | 琥珀風箏
 

親愛的耶魯大學學生:

 

你寫了一封信,指責你的父母和親朋對針對黑人社區遭受的種族歧視漠不關心,指責他們站在白人至上主義者那一邊,並將這一指控擴大到更廣泛的華裔社區。這令人非常遺憾:雖然你在一所很好的大學接受著教育,但是你卻缺乏一些基本的認知。

 

我不了解你的家人,但是,大多數第一代華裔美國人不是通過資本和權力,而是憑借理想和勤奮來到美國,通過努力工作和自力更生,追求自由和幸福。他們建立了自己的美國夢,為社會做出了貢獻,並將像你一樣的在美國出生長大的華裔孩子送到了好學校。

 

由於第一代華裔美國人很少抱怨或抗議,因此社會上存在有一種偏見,認為華裔自私,對社會不公冷漠。這是一個有色眼鏡,希望新一代的你們能去打破這個陳見而不是固化它!

 

相反,我相信您會發現華裔美國人,包括您的許多親友,是最勇敢和最富有同情心的人。這種勇氣驅使他們克服了你們難以想象的困難來到美國,與刻板觀念和種族主義作鬥爭,克服了新的語言和文化中的挑戰,成為了成功和負責任的公民。

 

他們是成功的故事,而不是失敗的故事,應該讓你引以為豪,而不是尷尬。他們的成功來自於他們的價值觀。如果你真的很想了解的話,這些價值觀正是可以促進你的社會正義事業和改善弱勢少數民族生活所需的東西。

 

第一個價值觀就是社會責任。希望不需要翻譯你能看懂“天下興亡,匹夫有責”這句中文(假設你不會讀中文我用英文翻譯一下),指一個國家的興衰是每個普通人的責任。這是儒家深深植根於中國文化的核心價值。

 

我遇到的每一個華裔美國人都非常關心美國的命運,並相信個人可以發揮點滴作用。就在COVID-19大流行期間,許多華人在花時間、財力物力,聯係醫院和當地社區,捐贈個人防護設備。我們的許多華裔誌願為包括非裔和拉丁裔在內的弱勢群體提供社區服務。

 

他們不僅幫助有需要的人,而且還幫助他們自助(授人以魚不如授人以漁)。這就是為什麽許多華裔美國人參與PTA和學校董事會,幫助將公立學校建設成更負責和更具競爭力的地方。

 

這帶來了華人文化的另一個核心價值,自力更生。

 

第一代華裔移民生活缺少現成的依靠。他們相信努力工作和自力更生,而不是政府施舍。他們還了解,在文明人道的社會中,有些團體確實需要幫助,社會福利保障網也很重要。但是,要從根本上讓弱勢群體擺脫不利處境,需要通過接受更好的教育,努力工作和創業精神,使人變得自力更生。

 

最後一點是,在美華人相信創造,而不是破壞。我們堅決支持黑人社區,反對針對他們的殘暴和錯誤。但是我們不容忍暴力。華裔美國人反對騷亂,不僅是因為這是錯誤的,而且因為這種手段完全不解決問題。

 

需要明確的是,喬治·弗洛伊德(George Floyd)先生遭受的不幸是令人發指的。每個人,包括每個美國華人,都理當要求肇事人被繩之以法,給被害人正義。華裔美國人跟非裔一樣,也是種族主義的被害對象,有過痛苦的曆史。但是,占據道德高地來攻擊和自己想法不同的人,把社會簡單分為施暴和受害兩個群體,無法解決任何問題。一些人的暴亂和暴力行為,隻會使問題愈演愈烈。如果說華裔美國人能為社會正義做出自己最具特點的貢獻,那麽溝通和分享我們的文化價值觀可能就是其中之一。我們可以而且應該在此方麵做得更好。我們需要你們的幫助,讓白人,黑人,西裔等各種人更深入地了解華裔美國人,而不是加深刻板讓我們陷入困境。

 

給你一個小建議。當你遇到父母輩的人下次用種族歧視性的語言的時候,請不要猶豫當場讓他們停止這類語言。不要害怕對他們進行平權教育和用你們在學校學到的西方價值觀教育他們,但也要嚐試了解他們的價值觀以及成因。在你和你的父母之間,應該沒有任何理由產生溝通障礙。順便說一句,不要告訴他們我們華人自由和權利受恩與他人(像你文章裏所說的那樣)。你錯了,我們華人自由和權利是我們跟有同樣信念的人一道爭取的。

 

你引用了凱茜·帕克·洪(Cathy Park Hong)。雖然我肯定沒有你那樣精通亞裔美國人的詩歌,但我可以告訴你,華裔美國人既不是排隊在成為白人的路上也不是走向消失。我們會以更強大的華裔美國人形象為榮,將更加積極地參與社會建設和發揮更大的貢獻力。

 

如果要說我們站在哪一邊,我們站在平等,正義和更強大的社會一邊!

 

祝學業圓滿。

 

一濤

 
 

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讚,這才是我們ABC應該有的智慧 -滑冰的企鵝- 給 滑冰的企鵝 發送悄悄話 (0 bytes) () 06/02/2020 postreply 16:32:30

謝謝分享。抱走了。 -落英如雪- 給 落英如雪 發送悄悄話 落英如雪 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 06/02/2020 postreply 16:55:02

謝謝!給中文不太好的孩子們看看。 -lakeviewredhouse- 給 lakeviewredhouse 發送悄悄話 (0 bytes) () 06/02/2020 postreply 18:19:59

這個寫得也好! -看客2010- 給 看客2010 發送悄悄話 看客2010 的博客首頁 (0 bytes) () 06/03/2020 postreply 01:27:06

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