词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Race Terms

AA: This is Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- as delegates in South Africa discuss racism¹, we discuss the language of race.

RS: About thirteen percent of Americans are African American. They are now rivaled in number by Hispanics, who can be of any race. Asians have reached four percent of the population.

AA: Still, as of last year's Census², the great majority of Americans identified themselves as "white."

TAPE: CUT ONE -- BING

"I call myself Euro-American in some of my classes, and my students get really offended by that."

RS: Janet Bing is a linguistics³ professor at Old Dominion⁴ University in Virginia. She has worked on diversity training at her school, to help different people learn to get along. In her words, "We're all ethnic⁵ in some sense."

TAPE: CUT TWO -- ARDITTI/BING

AA: "Race and ethnicity -- what is the difference?"

BING: "We tend to use race for color, I think, more, and ethnicity for culture, but in fact the two can't be separated, just like language and culture can't be separated."

AA: And when a particular group lacks much power, she says, whatever term is used for that group eventually becomes negative.

TAPE: CUT THREE -- BING/ARDITTI

BING: "For example the term 'Negro' was the polite term actually when I was a child, but it's associated with a group that had very little power or status in this society, and so the term became negative. So people wanted a more positive term and they changed it to 'black,' and now it's 'African American' or 'Afro-American.'"

AA: "Now what about the term 'people of color'?"

BING: "Well, at the university level, it is THE term, the polite term. At least at the university where I teach, we have a lot of international people and a lot of blacks and a lot of Asian Americans. They refer to themselves as 'people of color.' I think it's a unifying⁶ term for them."

RS: Although "Caucasian" and "Anglo" are a couple of terms used for white Americans, mostly they're just called "white." But a professor who teaches courses on race and ethnicity has noticed a change.

TAPE: CUT FOUR -- MODEL

"Actually in social science now you will see the term 'European American' used somewhat more, or sometimes we will say 'non-Hispanic white.'"

AA: Sue Model [moe-DELL] at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

TAPE: CUT FIVE -- MODEL

"From my perspective as a sociologist⁷, I think it is unfortunate that words like 'racism' have come to have the more general meaning of any kind of disadvantage associated with a wide variety of racial or ethnic mixtures, when in fact I think the difference in experience is primarily between people of African origin and others."

RS: To many people, "diversity" simply means racial diversity. This past week, however, a court ruling challenged that view.

AA: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that it's unconstitutional for the University of Georgia to award "bonus points" to any non-white applicant⁸. The judges wrote: "We assume that there is value in having a racially-diverse student body, but racial diversity alone is not necessarily the hallmark of a diverse student body."

RS: They noted⁹ that a white student from a disadvantaged rural area in Appalachia may well have more to offer the university than a non-white applicant from an affluent¹⁰ family. But Sue Model says its unlikely that a white student would face the same kind of scrutiny¹¹ that non-whites sometimes face.

TAPE: CUT SIX -- MODEL

"It is very unlikely that anyone is going to be very closely watching that Appalachian when she or he goes to buy a record or goes into a five-and-dime store, to make sure that he or she doesn't walk out with something."

RS: Sue Model says part of the problem with language is that it really hasn't kept up with change in America.

TAPE: CUT SEVEN -- MODEL

"I think that unfortunately what is happening is that language is confusing us, that in our attempt to be inclusive, that in a sense we are more inclusive by using let's say a word like 'racism' instead of a word like 'anti-African Americanism,' which would be much more specific. We could use many, many more words to describe the various ways that different groups could be defined or could relate to one another than we have. Our language is impoverished¹² relative to the diversity, if I could use that word, of our experience."

RS: And that's all for Wordmaster this week. With Avi Arditti, I'm Rosanne Skirble.

MUSIC: "You Don't Bring Me Floriculturally Diverse Polyfragrant Soilistically Challenged Multipetaled Victims of Pesticidal Food Chain Chauvinism"/The Capitol Steps

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 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

4 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

7 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

8 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

11 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

12 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》