大学英语精读第三版（第五册）学习笔记（原文及全文翻译）——8B - Conflict in Black and White（黑人与白人的冲突）

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Unit 8B - Conflict in Black and White

Conflict in Black and White

Lewis. Levine & Lucinda S. Hughey

Black and white. In the United States these two colors have been the source of racial conflict since the early 1600s. It was at that time that the first black people were kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery to sea captains eager to make a profit in the human trade market. Those slaves who survived the long and difficult voyage across the ocean were then resold in America to wealthy landowners. These white landowners possessed large amounts of farmland and were in need of cheap labor to help them raise their crops. Of course farm machinery like today's did not exist, making farm work extremely laborious and difficult. Slaves were forced to labor all day under a hot sun, much like work horses and mules.

To eliminate feelings of guilt and to justify their actions, slave owners found it easier to think of their slaves as "nonhuman" beings. To the white slave owner, those first Africans resembled monkeys as much as "men," with their dark skin color, bushy hair, and broad-shaped noses. The slave owner viewed these different physical features as "inferior." Furthermore, the slave owner perceived of these newly arrived slaves as "ignorant" since they neither spoken nor understood English. Slaves were considered by their owner as his property, like cattle or furniture, and if his slaves did not obey him, he would "fix" them so that they would. He was their "master," "superior" to them, and it was his job to teach them to "know their place."

If a man wants to keep his property, he does not allow it to go free. He does not want it to be independent and strong, but rather, submissive and powerless. Knowledge is one kind of power. In many states, it was illegal to teach a slave how to read or write, for if slaves could read and write, they could also make their own "freedom papers." They might even read about other slave revolts and unite together to fight for their freedom. Slave owners obviously did not want their property to run away or fight back. Consequently, they tried to intimidate their slaves and keep them illiterate. From childhood, slaves were taught that they were nothing, that they would always be nothing. Blacks, it was also believed, were naturally not as intelligent as white people. Therefore, it was not worth the trouble to try to educate them. Whites gave their slaves poorly constructed cabins with dirt floors and then said that black people were dirty by nature. Blacks, they said, did not deserve nice houses because they could not keep their own cabins clean. Owners did not give their slaves any rewards or money for their labor and often beat them when they failed to do their work. They then accused blacks of being lazy, shiftless, and incompetent. These attitudes about blacks helped slave owners to justify the system of slavery and soon developed into stereotypes about an entire race of people.

It is not surprising then that these conditions created strong feelings of hatred and hostility in blacks toward whites. They also caused fear and hostility in whites toward blacks, since whites were afraid that blacks would someday rebel. Most blacks were simply afraid of white people's power and mistreatment, and only some slaves tried to escape or did things to harm their owners. These actions, in turn, reinforced the owners' belief that black people were unreliable and untrustworthy. Often whites found excuses for "lynching", and torturing blacks. Justice, it was clear, could not exist without equality, and equality could not exist with stereotypes of racial inferiority. Conflict between the two races increased as the stereotypes became more widespread and the mistreatment continued.

These racial stereotypes were in direct contradiction to the fundamental principles of the Constitution of the United States. The United States had been founded on the ideas that "all men are created equal" and that there should be "liberty and justice for all." People had come to the U. S. from all around the world in search of freedom. How could they call their country “the land of the free” when people actually had the right to own other human beings? Clearly, the concepts of freedom and slavery were in direct conflict with each other.

By the mid-1820s, the states in the North had banned slavery. In the South, however, many states still insisted that people had the right to own slaves. Upon the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November of 1860, almost 100 years after the United States had become an independent nation, some of the states in the South seceded from the Union, declaring themselves independent from the rest of the U. S. A. These southern states called themselves The Confederacy, a confederation of independent states, each with its own separate government. The Confederacy would no longer accept policies made by some distant politician from "up North." The separation of the South was equivalent to a declaration of war. In 1865 the Civil War, (also known as the “War between the States”) finally came to an end, but not before hundreds of thousands of men had died. The North had defeated the South, and slavery was banned in all parts of the United States.

Although the Civil War was officially over, the hostility and tension between blacks and whites and North and South persisted. During the period of "Reconstruction" that followed (1865-1877), the federal government gave black men some of the freedoms and privileges that white men had always enjoyed. Eventually, however, various states, particularly those in the South, enacted new laws to keep "the nigras in their place." These laws specified that blacks could not go to school with whites, that they could not eat at the same restaurants, that they could not vote unless their grandfathers had voted, that they could not use the same public rest rooms or waiting rooms at bus and train stations or drink from the same water fountains. Blacks continued to receive inferior accommodations and unequal treatment, since whites were still the ones who made the laws and held the power.

Although blacks had "freedom" in a legal sense, most of them still did not have any education or economic independence. Consequently, they were helpless to participate significantly in the political process to try to improve their status. Except for farm work, most former slaves had no skills. As a result, many blacks went back to work for the same white people who used to be their masters. Not many blacks could buy their own land or accumulate enough money to become economically independent. Instead they worked on the whites' land and gave to or shared with the owner the crops or money earned from the crops. In the South, "sharecropping" had become a way of life for many blacks. By 1900, thirty-five years after the end of the Civil War, conditions in the South had changed little for black people.

参考译文——黑人与白人的冲突

黑人与白人的冲突

刘易斯·莱文，露辛达·S.哈非

黑人与白人。在美国，自17世纪初期以来，这两种肤色一直是种族冲突的根源。当时，第一批黑人在非洲遭到绑架并作为奴隶卖给了急于要在人口交易市场上获利的海船船长们。那些在横跨大洋的漫长而艰难的航行中幸存下来的奴隶们随后又在美洲被转卖给了富有的农场主们。这些白人农场主拥有大量耕地，需要廉价劳动力来帮助他们种庄稼。当然，那时候并没有今天这样的农业机械，这就使得农活极为吃力和艰难。奴隶们被迫终日在烈日下像牛马一样地劳动。

为了消除负罪感并证明自己的行为正当，奴隶主们发现比较容易的办法是不把他们的奴隶当人看。在白人奴隶主看来，那些第一批运来的非洲人肤色漆黑，头发厚密，鼻子宽宽的，实在是一半像“人”，一半像猴子。奴隶主们认为这些不同的体格特征是“低下的”。此外，奴隶主们认为这些新到的奴隶“愚昧无知”，因为他们既不会说也听不懂英语，奴隶们像牛或家具一样被他们的主人认为是自己的财产。如果奴隶们不服从他，他就“惩罚”他们，使他们就范。他是他们的“主人”，比他们“优越”，他的职责就是教会他们“安分守己”。

如果一个人想保住自己的财产，他就不会让它自由。他不会要他独立和强大，恰恰相反，他只想让它顺从和无力。知识就是一种力量。在很多州，教奴隶读书写字是非法的，因为如果奴隶们能读会写，他们也就能做出自己的“自由证书”来。他们甚至还可能读到别的奴隶起义的事，从而团结起来为争取他们的自由而斗争。奴隶主显然不希望他们的财产——奴隶们逃走或反抗。因此，他们竭力恐吓他们的奴隶，并使他们一直处于文盲状态。奴隶们从小就受到训诫，他们是些微不足道的人，而且永远如此。人们还相信，黑人天生就不如白人聪明。因此不值得费神设法教育他们。白人让奴隶们住在简陋的、泥土地面的小屋里，然后便说黑人天生就肮脏。他们说，黑人不配住好房子，因为他们连自己的小屋都不能保持干净。奴隶主对奴隶的劳动并不付什么报酬或钱，而且经常在他们干不完活时打他们。然后他们便指责黑人懒惰无能、得过且过。这种对待黑人的态度帮助奴隶主使奴隶制度合法化，而且很快发展成为看待整个种族的一成不变的信条。

既然这样，那以上这些情况造成了黑人对白人的强烈仇恨和敌意就不令人惊奇了。这些情况也造成了白人对黑人的恐惧和敌意，因为白人担心黑人有朝一日会反叛。大多数黑人只是害怕白人的权势和虐待，只有一些奴隶试图逃走或做出伤害其主人的事。这些行为反过来又强化了奴隶主认为黑人不可靠、不值得信赖的信念。白人常常找借口对黑人处以“私刑”和施以酷刑。很清楚，没有平等便不可能有公正，而只要有种族低下的成见便不可能有平等。随着这些成见的蔓延和虐待的持续，两个种族之间的冲突便愈演愈烈了。

这些成见直接违背了美国宪法的基本原则。美国的立国思想是“人人生而平等”，应让“所有的人享有自由和公正”。人们从世界各地来到美国寻求自由。如果实际上人们有权占有别的人，他们怎能把自己的国家称作“自由之邦”呢？显然，自由的观念与奴役的观念相互是直接冲突的。

到19世纪20年代中期，北方各州已废除了奴隶制。然而在南部，很多州仍坚持认为人们有权拥有奴隶。1860年11月，在美国成为一个独立国家差不多100年之后，亚伯拉罕·林肯刚刚当选为总统，南方的一些州便退出了联邦，宣布它们独立于美利坚合众国的其余部分。这些南方州自称“邦联”，即独立州联合体，各州拥有自己独立的政府。邦联将不再接受远在“北方’的某位政客制定的政策。南方的分离等于是宣战。1865年，南北战争（亦称“州际战争”）终于结束，但成千上万的人已死于这场战争。北方打败了南方，奴隶制在美国各地都被废除。

虽然南北战争已正式结束，但黑人与白人、北方与南方之间的敌意和紧张状态依然持续着。在随后的南部“重建”时期（1865—1877），联邦政府把白人一直享有的一些自由和权利给予了黑人。然而，最终各州，尤其是南方的各州还是制定了一些让“黑鬼安分守己”的新法律。这些法律明确规定，黑人不能同白人一起上学，不能同白人在同一家餐馆用餐，不能参加投票，除非祖父参加过投票，不能同白人使用同一间公共厕所、公共汽车站和火车站的候车室，不能在同一处喷泉或饮水器饮水。黑人继续得到低下的住处和不平等的对待，因为制定法律者和掌权者仍然是白人。

虽然从法律意义上讲，黑人享有“自由”，但是他们中的大多数人仍然受不到任何教育，仍然得不到经济上的独立。其结果是，他们无法真正参与争取改善其自身地位的政治进程。除了干农活之外，大多数昔日的奴隶都没有技术。因此，许多黑人又回到原来的白人主子那儿为他们干活。没有多少黑人买得起土地或能攒起足够的钱做到经济上独立。他们只能在白人的土地上干活，把收获的庄稼或出售庄稼挣来的钱交给主人或与主人均分。在南方，“收益分成”已成为许多黑人的一种生活方式。到1900年，在南北战争结束35年之后，南方黑人的状况变化甚微。

Key Words:

conflict    ['kɔnflikt]

n. 冲突，矛盾，斗争，战斗

vi. 冲突，争

eliminate        [i'limineit]      

v. 除去，剔除; 忽略

machinery     [mə'ʃi:nəri]     

n. (总称)机器，机械

extremely       [iks'tri:mli]     

adv. 极其，非常

ignorant ['ignərənt]     

adj. 不知道的，无知的，愚昧的

superior  [su:'piəriə]     

n. 上级，高手，上标

adj. 上层的，上好

justify     ['dʒʌstifai]     

vt. 替 ... 辩护，证明 ... 正当

source    [sɔ:s]      

n. 发源地，来源，原始资料

guilt        [gilt]

n. 罪行，内疚

cattle      ['kætl]    

n. 牛，家畜，畜牲

consequently ['kɔnsikwəntli]

adv. 所以，因此

beat        [bi:t]

v. 打败，战胜，打，敲打，跳动

n. 敲打，

shiftless  ['ʃiftlis]   

adj. 无计谋的，不中用的，无能的

incompetent  [in'kɔmpitənt]

adj. 无能力的，不称职的，不能胜任的 n. 没有能力

intelligent       [in'telidʒənt]  

adj. 聪明的，智能的

justify     ['dʒʌstifai]     

vt. 替 ... 辩护，证明 ... 正当

property ['prɔpəti]

n. 财产，所有物，性质，地产，道具

submissive     [səb'misiv]     

adj. 服从的，顺从的，柔顺的

independent  [indi'pendənt]

adj. 独立的，自主的，有主见的

n. 独立

intimidate      [in'timideit]    

vt. 威胁，恐吓，胁迫

fundamental  [.fʌndə'mentl]

adj. 基本的，根本的，重要的

n. 基本原理

constitution    [.kɔnsti'tju:ʃən]      

n. 组织，宪法，体格

hatred    ['heitrid] 

n. 憎恶，憎恨，怨恨

widespread    ['waidspred]  

adj. 分布(或散布)广的，普遍的

hostility   [hɔs'tiliti]

n. 敌意，敌对状态，公开战争

rebel       ['rebəl]   

n. 叛徒，起义者，反叛者

adj. 造反的，

unreliable      ['ʌnri'laiəbl]   

adj. 不可靠的

      

conflict    ['kɔnflikt]

n. 冲突，矛盾，斗争，战斗

vi. 冲突，争

untrustworthy      

adj. 靠不住的；不能信赖的

inferiority       [in.fiəri'ɔriti]   

n. 自卑，低劣

confederacy   [kən'fedərəsi] 

n. 同盟，联邦，共谋 Confederacy：（美国南

eventually      [i'ventjuəli]    

adv. 终于，最后

independent  [indi'pendənt]

adj. 独立的，自主的，有主见的

n. 独立

hostility   [hɔs'tiliti]

n. 敌意，敌对状态，公开战争

inferior   [in'fiəriə] 

adj. 次等的，较低的，不如的

tension   ['tenʃən] 

n. 紧张，拉力，张力，紧张状态，[电]电压

election   [i'lekʃən] 

n. 选举

politician [.pɔli'tiʃən]     

n. 政治家，政客

separate ['sepəreit]      

n. 分开，抽印本

adj. 分开的，各自的，

equivalent      [i'kwivələnt]   

adj. 等价的，相等的

independence       [.indi'pendəns]     

n. 独立，自主，自立

legal       ['li:gəl]    

adj. 法律的，合法的，法定的

accumulate    [ə'kju:mjuleit] 

vt. 积聚，累加，堆积

vi. 累积

participate      [pɑ:'tisipeit]   

vt. 分享

vi. 参加，参与

helpless  ['helplis] 

adj. 无助的，无依靠的

except     [ik'sept]  

vt. 除，除外

prep. & conj.

independent  [indi'pendənt]

adj. 独立的，自主的，有主见的

n. 独立

status     ['steitəs] 

n. 地位，身份，情形，状况

consequently ['kɔnsikwəntli]

adv. 所以，因此

参考资料：

1. 大学英语精读(第三版) 第五册: unit8B Conflict in Black and White(1)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
2. 大学英语精读(第三版) 第五册: unit8B Conflict in Black and White(2)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
3. http://www.kekenet/daxue/201701/46745shtml
4. http://www.kekenet/daxue/201701/46745shtml
5. http://www.kekenet/daxue/201701/46745shtml

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