[2009.2.12] Much still to do 任重而道远

The NAACP at 100
NAACP成立一百周年记

Much still to do
任重而道远

Feb 12th 2009 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition

But America’s oldest civil-rights outfit is redefining its role
美国历史最久的民权组织正在重新定义其角色

AP Zealous Jealous

DURING the summer of 1908, riots raged through Abraham Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Illinois. The quiet removal of two black men who had been held in prison as suspects in two separate attacks on white people enraged the white community. They took out their anger on black residents and black-owned businesses and properties. The riots went on for two days and simmered for longer; seven people were killed and some $200,000 worth of damage was done.

1908年夏，骚乱席卷亚伯拉罕•林肯的家乡－伊利诺斯州的斯普林菲尔德市。在两起针对白人的攻击事件后，执法官将两名作为嫌疑犯而被捕入狱的黑人青年从市监狱偷偷转移了出去，此举激怒了城里的白人群体，他们将怒火发泄到黑人居民和他们所拥有的商铺和财产。骚乱持续了整整两天，其影响则延续更久，其间共有7人遇害，财产损失总计达 200,000美元。

The following February, partly in response to the Springfield riots, a group of Jewish, white and black activists met in New York to found the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) whose aim was, and remains, to ensure “the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination”.

次年2月，受此次骚乱所推动，一群犹太人、白人和黑人激进分子相聚纽约，共同创建了全国有色人种协进会（NAACP），其目标是确保”所有人在政治、教育、社会和经济方面享受到同等的权利，消除种族仇恨和种族歧视”。自协会成立，这一目标多少年来始终未变。

The NAACP celebrated its centenary on February 12th. It has played a leading role in bringing down racial barriers, notably in overturning Jim Crow laws and in its work on the 1954 case of Brown v Board of Education, which brought about the desegregation of America’s schools. But the changes in America since then have also brought challenges. America now has its first black president; evidence, to some, that the NAACP’s work is done.

2月12日，NAACP度过了其百岁生日。在过去的年代，它在消除种族隔阂方面扮演了积极角色，其在推翻《杰姆•克劳法（Jim Crow laws）》和1954年布朗诉教育委员会案中的表现尤其令人印象深刻，正是后者正式废止了美国学校里的种族歧视。然而许多年过去了，今天的美国社会发生了许多变化，NAACP也开始面临着新的挑战。美国现在有了第一位黑人总统，对于某些人来说，这似乎意味着NAACP的使命已经结束。

Benjamin Jealous, who recently took over as the NAACP’s youngest ever president, at 36, disagrees. “There are still a lot of things to be angry about,” he declares. “Young black people in the US are the most incarcerated people in the world. They understand, by virtue of their situation and that of their peers, that the movement for civil rights in this country is very much needed and groups that played critical roles in removing the shackles that bound our forefathers and foremothers still play a role today.” The statistics back him up. The unemployment rate for black Americans is 12.6% compared with 6.9% for white Americans; their life expectancy five years less; and black infant mortality rates are twice the national average.

但是，NAACP新上任的最年轻的主席Benjamin Jealous并不这么看，他说：”今天仍有许多事情需要纠正。美国的黑人青年是这个世界上最受压制的人。他们明白，拿自己的境况与同龄人比较就可以看出，这个国家仍然需要民权运动，仍然需要有某些组织来领导他们破除那些曾经捆绑过我们祖先的镣铐。”统计数据也能说明这一点。在美国，黑人的失业率为12.6%，而白人为6.9%，黑人的平均寿命也要比白人短五年，黑人婴儿的死亡率更是全国平均水平的两倍。

Mr Jealous’s youth may help him with another challenge. In the 1960s the NAACP boasted around half a million members. Membership has since dropped to less than 300,000, out of a population of some 41m African-Americans. Many people think that a generational divide, which has seen those who have grown up in a more integrated America become increasingly estranged from the organisations and leaders who fought for their rights, is to blame.

Jealous的年龄优势或许可以帮助他应对另一个挑战。上世纪六十年代，NAACP的会员人数号称50多万，此后下降到了不足30万，考虑到非裔美国人4100万的总人口，这样的数字显然无法令人满意。有人将原因归结为代际分化，即随着在一个更加融合的美国社会里长大，今天的年轻人对于社团组织和那些为他们的权利而奋斗的领袖们日益疏离。

In a segregated America, the NAACP’s role in helping the black community was undeniable. But that has changed: a recent Gallup poll revealed that nearly 70% of Americans, the highest number it has ever recorded on this issue, believe that relations between black and white Americans “will eventually be worked out”. And these days it is Hispanics, who also face big inequalities, that make up the largest minority, not blacks. The NAACP’s approach is shifting accordingly; the black minority needs allies. Mr Jealous, in fact, reckons his task is now about “organising a plurality”. If the NAACP is going to regain its former pre-eminence “the way that we talk about issues, the way that we build coalitions and the nature of the struggle at this moment” must be “in universal terms”. That Mr Jealous is the son of a white father and a black mother may help him.

在一个隔离化的美国，NAACP在帮助黑人群体方面的作用无可置疑。但是今天这一点已经改变。最近的盖洛普调查显示，近70%的美国人相信黑人和白人之间的关系”将最终达成和解”，这一比例是历届类似调查中最高的。在今天的美国社会，同样面临明显不平等对待的西班牙裔构成了这个国家最大的少数人种，而不是黑人。为此，NAACP的策略也在相应调整，黑人群体需要同盟。事实上，Jealous就认为他目前的任务就是”推动多元化”。如果NAACP打算再现前辈的辉煌，”此时我们沟通的方式，我们构建同盟的方式以及我们斗争的方式”就必须是”普适而一致的”。Jealous的父亲是白人，母亲是黑人，这样的出身对于他推进多元化或许会有帮助。

The work of the organisation, though, has not changed so very much. Mr Jealous says his main concerns are still the quality of schools, the jobs market and the quality of the justice system. But activism, too, must now be colour-blind.

虽然整个协会的工作并未有太大的变化，Jealous说他的主要关注点仍然是学校质量、就业市场以及司法公正，但是，曾经的黑人民权份子，现在也要开始超越种族界限了。

译者：michael_xgw           http://www.ecocn.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=17251&extra=page%3D1