An article in the Yale Alumni Magazine told the story of Clyde Murphy, a black man who was a member of the Class of 1970. Clyde was a success story. After Yale and a law degree from Columbia, Clyde spent the next 30 years as one of America's top civil rights lawyers. He was also a great husband and father. But despite his success, personally and professionally, Clyde's story had a sad ending.
耶鲁校友杂志上的 一篇文章讲述了克莱德·墨菲的故事, 他是1970 届的一位黑人校友。 克莱德的人生很成功。 从耶鲁毕业,并取得了 哥伦比亚大学法学学位后, 克莱德花了 30 年的时间, 成为了美国顶级的民权律师。 他还是一个出色的丈夫和父亲。 但是尽管他在 个人和事业上都有所成就, 他的故事却有一个悲伤的结尾。
In 2010, at the age of 62, Clyde died from a blood clot in his lung. Clyde's experience was not unique. Many of his black classmates from Yale also died young. In fact, the magazine article indicated that 41 years after graduation from Yale, the black members of the Class of 1970 had a death rate that was three times higher than that of the average class member. It's stunning.
在 2010 年, 他 62 岁的时候, 克莱德因为肺部血塞而去世。 克莱德的经历并不特殊。 他在耶鲁的很多黑人同学 也都英年早逝。 事实上,那篇文章写到, 在从耶鲁毕业 41 年后, 1970 届黑人毕业生的死亡率 比同届平均死亡率 高了三倍。 这很令人震惊。
America has recently awakened to a steady drumbeat of unarmed black men being shot by the police. What is even a bigger story is that every seven minutes, a black person dies prematurely in the United States. That is over 200 black people die every single day who would not die if the health of blacks and whites were equal.
美国刚刚意识到 持续发生的 赤手空拳的男性黑人 被警察枪击的事件。 但更令人惊讶的是, 每七分钟, 美国就有一个黑人英年早逝。 也就是说,每天有 超过 200 个黑人死亡, 如果黑人和白人的健康条件 相同的话,他们本不会死去。
For the last 25 years, I have been on a mission to understand why does race matter so profoundly for health. When I started my career, many believed that it was simply about racial differences in income and education. I discovered that while economic status matters for health, there is more to the story. So for example, if we look at life expectancy at age 25, at age 25 there's a five-year gap between blacks and whites. And the gap by education for both whites and blacks is even larger than the racial gap. At the same time, at every level of education, whites live longer than blacks. So whites who are high school dropouts live 3.4 years longer than their black counterparts, and the gap is even larger among college graduates. Most surprising of all, whites who have graduated from high school live longer than blacks with a college degree or more education.
过去的 25 年里, 我肩负着一项使命, 去了解为什么种族 对健康有这么重大的影响。 在我的职业生涯初期, 许多人认为这仅仅是 源于种族之间 收入和教育水平的差异。 我发现经济地位确实会影响健康, 但是事情并没有这么简单。 比如,25 岁时候的预期寿命 在白人和黑人之间, 有 5 年的差距。 黑人和白人之间的教育差距 比种族差距还要大。 同时,在每一个教育水平, 白人都比黑人活得更久。 所以高中退学的白人 比同样状况的黑人能多活 3.4 年。 大学毕业生之间的差距 甚至更大。 最令人惊讶的是, 高中毕业的白人 也比大学毕业或者 有更高学位的黑人 活得更久。
So why does race matter so profoundly for health? What else is it beyond education and income that might matter?
那么为什么种族 对健康的影响这么大? 除了教育和收入, 还有什么其他的影响因素吗?
In the early 1990s, I was asked to review a new book on the health of black America. I was struck that almost every single one of its 25 chapters said that racism was a factor that was hurting the health of blacks. All of these researchers were stating that racism was a factor adversely impacting blacks, but they provided no evidence. For me, that was not good enough.
20 世纪 90 年代早期, 我审阅了一本关于 非裔美国人健康状况的新书。 我很惊讶书中的 25 个章节中, 每一章都有提到 种族歧视 是威胁黑人健康的元素之一。 所有的研究人员 都声称种族歧视 对黑人的健康有害, 但是他们没有拿出证据。 对于我来说,这还不够。
A few months later, I was speaking at a conference in Washington, DC, and I said that one of the priorities for research was to document the ways in which racism affected health. A white gentleman stood in the audience and said that while he agreed with me that racism was important, we could never measure racism. "We measure self-esteem," I said. "There's no reason why we can't measure racism if we put our minds to it."
几个月后, 我在华盛顿特区的一个会议上讲话, 我说研究的一个重点 应该是记录种族歧视 是如何影响健康的。 一个白人男士从观众群中站起来, 说他虽然同意 种族歧视的问题的确很重要, 但我们永远无法衡量种族歧视。 “我们能够衡量自尊心,”我说, “如果我们重视起来, 也应该能够衡量种族歧视。”
And so I put my mind to it and developed three scales. The first one captured major experiences of discrimination, like being unfairly fired or being unfairly stopped by the police. But discrimination also occurs in more minor and subtle experiences, and so my second scale, called the Everyday Discrimination Scale, captures nine items that captures experiences like you're treated with less courtesy than others, you receive poorer service than others in restaurants or stores, or people act as if they're afraid of you. This scale captures ways in which the dignity and the respect of people who society does not value is chipped away on a daily basis.
所以我付诸行动, 并研究出了三个度量方法。 第一个是捕捉明显的歧视现象, 比如被不公平地开除 或者被警察拦截。 但是歧视也会有 更轻微和间接的方式, 所以第二个度量方法, 叫做“日常歧视度量”, 包含了 9 类指标, 涉及如下经历, 像你没有被礼貌地对待, 你在餐厅或者商店 得到了较差的服务, 或者人们似乎害怕你。 这个度量方法涵盖了 不被社会重视的人的 尊严和受到的尊重 如何被不断削弱。
Research has found that higher levels of discrimination are associated with an elevated risk of a broad range of diseases from blood pressure to abdominal obesity to breast cancer to heart disease and even premature mortality. Strikingly, some of the effects are observed at a very young age. For example, a study of black teens found that those who reported higher levels of discrimination as teenagers had higher levels of stress hormones, of blood pressure and of weight at age 20. However, the stress of discrimination is only one aspect.
研究表明, 歧视的等级越高, 很多疾病的发病率也越高, 从高血压到肥胖症, 到乳腺癌和心脏病, 甚至过早死亡。 令人惊讶的是,有些影响 在生命的早期就开始显现。 比如,一项关于 黑人青少年的研究发现, 那些报告受到高度歧视的青少年, 压力激素水平, 血压 和体重在 20 岁的时候 都会显著升高。 但是, 种族歧视造成的压力 只是其中的一部分。
Discrimination and racism also matters in other profound ways for health. For example, there's discrimination in medical care. In 1999, the National Academy of Medicine asked me to serve on a committee that found, concluded based on the scientific evidence, that blacks and other minorities receive poorer quality care than whites. This was true for all kinds of medical treatment, from the most simple to the most technologically sophisticated. One explanation for this pattern was a phenomenon that's called "implicit bias" or "unconscious discrimination." Research for decades by social psychologists indicates that if you hold a negative stereotype about a group in your subconscious mind and you meet someone from that group, you will discriminate against that person. You will treat them differently. It's an unconscious process. It's an automatic process. It is a subtle process, but it's normal and it occurs even among the most well-intentioned individuals.
种族歧视也在很大程度上 影响着健康的其他方面。 比如,在医疗保健中 也存在种族歧视。 1999 年,国家医药局 邀请我加入一个委员会, 该委员会基于科学证据发现, 黑人和其他有色人种 接受的医疗服务 普遍比白人要差。 这涵盖了各种医疗服务, 涉及到从最简单 到最复杂的医疗科技。 对这种现象的一个解释 是一个被称作“潜在偏见” 或者“无意歧视”的现象。 几十年来,社会心理学家经研究发现, 如果你在潜意识中对某一个群体 有不好的印象, 然后你遇见一个属于那个群体的人, 你就会对那个人产生歧视。 你会将他们区别对待。 这个过程是无意识和自发产生的。 这是一个微妙的过程, 但是这很正常, 即使是最无恶意的人 也会有这种反应。
But the deeper that I delved into the health impact of racism, the more insidious the effects became. There is institutional discrimination, which refers to discrimination that exists in the processes of social institutions. Residential segregation by race, which has led to blacks and whites living in very different neighborhood contexts, is a classic example of institutional racism. One of America's best-kept secrets is how residential segregation is the secret source that creates racial inequality in the United States. In America, where you live determines your access to opportunities in education, in employment, in housing and even in access to medical care. One study of the 171 largest cities in the United States concluded that there is not even one city where whites live under equal conditions to blacks, and that the worst urban contexts in which whites reside is considerably better than the average context of black communities. Another study found that if you could eliminate statistically residential segregation, you would completely erase black-white differences in income, education and unemployment, and reduce black-white differences in single motherhood by two thirds, all of that driven by segregation. I have also learned how the negative stereotypes and images of blacks in our culture literally create and sustain both institutional and individual discrimination.
但是我研究种族歧视 对健康的影响越深入, 就发现这种影响的潜在性越高。 还有社会性的歧视, 这是存在于 社会机构中的歧视。 居住区域上的种族隔离, 使白人和黑人生活在 非常不同的社区背景下, 这是社会性歧视很典型的例子。 美国最不为人知的秘密之一 就是居住区域上的隔离 实际上是造成 美国社会种族不平等的重要原因。 在美国,你所住的地方 决定了你能接受到的 教育机会、就业机会、 住房条件,甚至医疗服务。 一项覆盖美国 171 个大城市的研究 总结出,没有一个城市 白人和黑人的生活条件是平等的, 白人居住的最差的环境 也比黑人社区的平均条件要好。 另一个研究发现, 如果你能够消除 居住区域上的隔离, 就能够完全消除白人和黑人之间 收入、教育和就业的区别, 并能够将白人和黑人 单亲妈妈数量上的差异 缩小三分之二。 这些都是由种族隔离造成的。 我还了解到, 我们文化中 对黑人的负面印象 是如何创造并维持了 社会和个人的歧视。
A group of researchers have put together a database that contains the books, magazines and articles that an average college-educated American would read over their lifetime. It allows us to look within this database and see how Americans have seen words paired together as they grow up in their society. So when the word "black" appears in American culture, what co-occurs with it? "Poor," "violent," "religious," "lazy," "cheerful," "dangerous." When "white" occurs, the frequently co-occurring words are "wealthy," "progressive," "conventional," "stubborn," "successful," "educated." So when a police officer overreacts when he sees an unarmed black male and perceives him to be violent and dangerous, we are not necessarily dealing with an inherently bad cop. We may be simply viewing a normal American who is reflecting what he has been exposed to as a result of being raised in this society.
一群研究人员创立了一个数据库, 包含了一个拥有 本科学位的普通美国人 一生中读过的书籍、杂志和文章。 我们能够使用这个数据库 来了解美国人 在他们的社区里长大时 所接触的文字。 当“黑人”这个词出现在美国文化中, 一起出现的是什么? “贫穷”, “暴力”, “信仰宗教”, “懒惰”, “幽默”, “危险”。 当“白人”这个字眼出现的时候, 经常一起出现的词汇是 “富有”, “有上进心”, “传统”, “执坳”, “成功”, “有教养的”。 所以当一个警察 看见一个赤手空拳的黑人时, 会把他看作是暴力和危险的。 这个警察并不一定 从本质上就是怀有恶意的。 我们看到的可能只是 一个普通的美国人, 在自己的社会经历影响下 而做出的 本能的反应。
From my own experience, I believe that your race does not have to be a determinant of your destiny. I migrated to the United States from the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia in the late 1970s in pursuit of higher education, and in the last 40 years, I have done well. I have had a supportive family, I have worked hard, I have done well. But it took more for me to be successful. I received a minority fellowship from the University of Michigan. Yes. I am an affirmative action baby. Without affirmative action, I would not be here.
根据我自己的经历, 我相信你的种族 决定不了你的命运。 我在 20 世纪 70 年代晚期 从加勒比海岛国圣卢西亚 移民到美国, 为了追求高等教育。 在过去的 40 年里, 我过得还不错。 我有一个支持我的家庭, 我努力工作, 我生活得挺好的。 但是我需要付出 更多代价来取得成功。 我在密歇根大学 接受了一个有色人种的奖学金, 没错,我因平权法案而受益, 没有平权法案, 我不会站在这里。
But in the last 40 years, black America has been less successful than I have. In 1978, black households in the United States earned 59 cents for every dollar of income whites earned. In 2015, black families still earn 59 cents for every dollar of income that white families receive, and the racial gaps in wealth are even more stunning. For every dollar of wealth that whites have, black families have six pennies and Latinos have seven pennies.
但是在过去的 40 年里, 很多非裔美国人过得远不如我。 1978 年,美国黑人的家庭收入 是白人家庭的 59%。 2015 年, 黑人家庭的收入 依旧是白人家庭的 59%, 资产上的种族差距更令人吃惊。 黑人家庭资产占 白人家庭资产的 6%, 拉丁美洲裔家庭资产占 白人家庭资产的 7%。
The fact is, racism is producing a truly rigged system that is systematically disadvantaging some racial groups in the United States. To paraphrase Plato, there is nothing so unfair as the equal treatment of unequal people. And that's why I am committed to working to dismantle racism.
事实上, 种族歧视 正在产生一个不公平的系统, 使美国的一些有色人种处于劣势。 借用柏拉图的话说, 没有什么比公平对待 地位不平等的人更不公平的事情。 这也是为什么我坚定地 致力于消除种族歧视。
I deeply appreciate the fact that I am standing on the shoulders of those who have sacrificed even their lives to open the doors that I have walked through. I want to ensure that those doors remain open and that everyone can walk through those doors. Robert Kennedy said, "Each time a man" -- or woman, I would add -- "stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples can build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
很多人甚至 以自己的生命为代价, 来打开我所踏入的大门, 我很感激自己能站在 这些人的肩膀上。 我想要保证这些门依旧敞开, 每个人都能够走过那些门。 罗伯特·肯尼迪曾说: “每一次,一个男人”—— 或者女人—— “为了一个理想献身, 或为改善别人的生活而奋斗, 或为抵抗不公平而抗议, 他传达了一丝希望, 然而这一丝丝希望能够聚成洪流, 消除压迫和抵抗的阻碍。”
I am optimistic today because all across America, I have seen ripples of hope. The Boston Medical Center has added lawyers to the medical team so that physicians can improve the health of their patients because the lawyers are addressing the nonmedical needs their patients have. Loma Linda University has built a gateway college in nearby San Bernardino so that in addition to delivering medical care, they can provide job skills and job training to a predominantly minority, low-income community members so that they will have the skills they need to get a decent job. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Abecedarian Project has figured out how to ensure that they have lowered the risks for heart disease for blacks in their mid-30s by providing high-quality day care from birth to age five. In after-school centers across the United States, Wintley Phipps and the US Dream Academy is breaking the cycle of incarceration by providing high-quality academic enrichment and mentoring to the children of prisoners and children who have fallen behind in school. In Huntsville, Alabama, Oakwood University, a historically black institution, is showing how we can improve the health of black adults by including a health evaluation as a part of freshman orientation and giving those students the tools they need to make healthy choices and providing them annually a health transcript so they can monitor their progress. And in Atlanta, Georgia, Purpose Built Communities has dismantled the negative effects of segregation by transforming a crime-ridden, drug-infested public housing project into an oasis of mixed-income housing, of academic performance, of great community wellness and of full employment. And finally, there is the Devine solution. Professor Patricia Devine of the University of Wisconsin has shown us how we can attack our hidden biases head on and effectively reduce them. Each one of us can be a ripple of hope.
现在我很乐观, 因为纵观整个美国, 我已经看见了这一丝丝希望。 波士顿医疗中心 把律师引入了他们的医疗团队, 从而改善病人的健康, 因为律师能够向病人 提供非医药类的帮助。 洛马林达大学在附近的圣伯纳迪诺 成立了一个附属大学, 除了提供医疗保健, 他们还向有色人种和 低收入人群 提供技能和职业培训, 以便他们能够获得 一份体面工作所需要的技能。 在北卡罗来纳教堂山大学, 一个初学者项目已经发现了 如何通过在一个黑人 从出生到 5 岁这段时期, 为其提供高质量的护理, 从而降低他在 35 岁左右时的 心脏病发病几率。 在美国的幼儿托管中心, 温特利·菲普斯和美国造梦学院 正在通过向犯罪人员的孩子 和跟不上学习进度的孩子 提供高质量的教育和辅导, 以减轻犯罪行为对下一代的影响, 在阿拉巴马州的亨兹维尔, 欧克伍德大学, 一所传统的黑人学校, 同样为我们展示了 如何提高黑人的健康状况。 他们把健康评估 当成新生入学指导的一部分, 并给学生他们需要的工具 来做出有益健康的选择, 并每年向他们提供健康成绩单, 帮助他们跟踪自己的进度。 在佐治亚州亚特兰大, “目标社区”通过把 一个充满犯罪和毒品的 公共住房计划, 转变成一个结合了 混合收入住房, 学术水平, 社区健康, 和就业率的绿洲, 消除了种族隔离的影响。 最后, 还有戴文的方案。 威斯康星大学的 帕特里夏·戴文教授 向我们展现了如何 消除我们潜在的偏见, 并有效减轻它们。 我们每一个人 都可以成为一丝希望。
This work will not always be easy, but former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall has told us, "We must dissent. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the hatred and from the mistrust. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better."
这不一定会很简单, 但是最高法院 前法官瑟古德·马歇尔 跟我们说过:“我们一定要反对。 我们一定要反对冷漠。 我们一定要反对不作为。 我们一定要反对仇恨和不信任。 我们一定要反对, 因为美国能做得更好, 因为美国除了做得更好, 没有其他选择。”
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(鼓掌)