时代周刊:一所特许学校的种族争议（9）

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Ashenafi isn't in denial about racism¹; he says he had to labor², sometimes painfully, to gain the acceptance of his white neighbors and co-workers.

阿什纳菲并没有否认种族主义; 他说，为了获得白人邻居和同事的认可，他不得不付出劳动，有时甚至很痛苦。

But it is this sort of integration³, he contends, that makes people able to live in harmony.

但他认为，正是这种融合，才使人们能够和谐相处。

He sees the controversy⁴ at Mystic Valley as a product of America's broader divisions.

他认为神秘谷的争议是美国更广泛分歧的产物。

"Everyone is very sensitive, very extreme,” he says.

“每个人都非常敏感，非常极端，”他表示。

"I'm trying to teach my kids not to be too sensitive and to put scenarios⁵ in perspective.”

“我在努力教我的孩子们不要太敏感，要客观地看待各种情况。”

A few weeks Ago, Halloween was canceled at the public-school district in nearby Melrose, Mass.

几个星期前，马萨诸塞州梅尔罗斯附近的公立学区取消了万圣节活动。

The superintendent⁶ announced that generic⁷ "fall celebrations” would better advance the goals of "equity⁸ and inclusion.”

校长宣布，一般的“秋季庆祝活动”将更好地推进“公平和包容”的目标。

A backlash ensued, and Halloween was subsequently celebrated⁹ with such gusto at Mystic Valley that some liberal parents suspected it was an intentional¹⁰ swipe.

这一举动引发了强烈的反对，神秘谷随后热烈地庆祝万圣节，以至于一些自由派家长怀疑这是故意的。

It was an apt distillation¹¹ of the vexing¹² question facing American education today: to purge¹³ children's worlds of the things not everyone can share, or expose them all to the same thing, whether or not they can relate to it?

这恰如其分地提炼了当今美国教育面临的棘手问题：清理孩子们的世界，让他们知道并不是每个人都懂得分享，或者让他们接触同样的东西，不管他们是否与之相关？

And is there any neutral ground between the extremes?

在这两个极端之间有没有中间地带?

The answers to these questions may be existential for Mystic Valley.

对于神秘谷来说，这些问题的答案可能关乎生死存亡。

The school's lawsuit¹⁴ against DESE is pending¹⁵, and the state board recently denied it a waiver from the new cultural- responsiveness criteria¹⁶.

学校对DESE的诉讼悬而未决，而且州委员会最近拒绝了该校放弃新的文化反应标准。

Several Democratic state legislators are pressuring the school to change.

几位民主党州议员正在向学校施压，要求其做出改变。

Mystic Valley officials believe the internal DESE emails they uncovered prove that the fix is in and the state is determined¹⁷ to find a pretext¹⁸ on which to revoke¹⁹ its charter, which is up for renewal²⁰ in 2023.

神秘谷的官员认为，他们发现的DESE内部电子邮件证明，确实出现了问题，该州决心找到借口撤销其特许权，该特许权将于2023年续期。

It would be a brutal²¹ irony²², they say, if an institution with a track record of improving outcomes for children of color is shut down in the name of antiracism.

他们说，如果一个有改善有色人种儿童状况记录的机构以反种族主义的名义被关闭，这将是一个残酷的讽刺。

Rita Mercado, a Filipino-American government lawyer who lives in Melrose, is among the parents who believe in Mystic Valley's vision of inclusion.

住在梅尔罗斯的菲律宾裔美国政府律师丽塔·梅尔卡多(Rita Mercado)是相信神秘谷包容愿景的家长之一。

She sees a group of children from diverse backgrounds who are learning to get along without taking anyone's identity for granted.

她看到一群来自不同背景的孩子，他们正在学习如何相处，而不是将任何人的身份视为理所当然。

At an "American heritage” performance her son took part in when he was in kindergarten, "seeing 100 kids of different nationalities singing ‘This Land Is Your Land,' I remember thinking, This is what I envision America to be.”

在她儿子上幼儿园时参加的“美国传统”表演中，“看到100个不同国籍的孩子唱《这片土地是你的土地》，我记得当时想的是，这就是我想象中的美国。”

Mercado's son, now 7, wasn't aware of the town's Halloween kerfuffle when he wrote a letter to his penpal earlier in the fall.

梅尔卡多的儿子今年7岁，在秋天早些时候给笔友写信时，他并不知道镇上的万圣节骚乱。

Do you celebrate Halloween, the second-grader wanted to know, and if so, what do you do? Reading it, Mercado's heart swelled²³ with pride.

二年级的学生想知道，你们庆祝万圣节吗?如果庆祝，你们会做什么? 梅尔卡多读了信，心中充满了骄傲。

This sort of curiosity was instinctive²⁴ to him: he knew from school that not everyone celebrates Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Diwali, so it made sense to ask.

这种好奇心对他来说是一种本能：他从学校就知道，不是每个人都庆祝圣诞节、光明节或排灯节，所以才会问这个问题。

"Score one for these kids being more woke than me!” she says.

“这些孩子比我更清醒，给他们加一分! ”她说。

It's the adults who are still trying to figure it all out.

而成年人仍在试图弄清楚这一切。

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

7 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

8 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

10 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

11 distillation   

n.蒸馏，蒸馏法

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century.通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• The oil is distilled from the berries of this small tree.油是从这种小树的浆果中提炼出来的。

12 vexing   

adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• It is vexing to have to wait a long time for him. 长时间地等他真使人厌烦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lately a vexing problem had grown infuriatingly worse. 最近发生了一个讨厌的问题，而且严重到令人发指的地步。 来自辞典例句

13 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

14 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

15 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

16 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

17 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

18 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

19 revoke   

v.废除，取消，撤回

参考例句：

• The university may revoke my diploma.大学可能吊销我的毕业证书。
• The government revoked her husband's license to operate migrant labor crews.政府撤销了她丈夫管理外来打工人群的许可证。

20 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

21 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

22 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

23 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

24 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。