登录注册
社区应用 最新帖子 精华区 社区服务 会员列表 统计排行
主题 : 华裔坦承美国仍有歧视:永远的外国人
卡拉 离线
级别: 总版主

显示用户信息 
楼主  发表于: 2014-09-02   

华裔坦承美国仍有歧视:永远的外国人

来源: 侨报网
作者:王青
2014-09-02

【侨报网编译王青9月1日报道】《美国之音》近期就“美国人怎么看待中国人(U.S. public views of Chinese Americans)”这一话题进行了持续报道。本文是三份深度报道里的最后一份,文中提出,美国对华裔的歧视持续存在,但相较以往有所缓解。有华裔评论人士称,外界对华裔社区不同于一般社区的看法导致了对华裔的刻板印象与歧视。

文章称,7月4日在白宫举行的典礼上,美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barrack Obama)宴请了25名外国出生的美军士兵一同庆祝美国独立日。这些士兵出生在包括中国在内的15个国家。奥巴马称,这充分说明美国一直是一个移民国家。不过对于美国移民来说,一些人尽管享有公民身份,却总是感觉自己像外国人。

“外国”的含义

加利福尼亚大学(University of California)哈斯汀法学院(Hastings College of the Law)院长弗兰克•吴(Frank H. Wu,音译)说:“被问及从哪里来已成为我每天的例行公事。”

吴先生同时也是《赫芬顿邮报》(Huffington Post)的专栏作家。20世纪50年代末到20世纪60年代初,吴的父亲从台湾移民美国。身为第二代华裔移民,吴先生总是被人问起从哪儿来?对于这个问题吴先生的答案是:密歇根州底特律。

不过提问者总是对这个问题不满意,他们会摇着头继续说道:“不不,我的意思是你到底从哪儿来?”

意想不到的歧视总是很伤人。吴先生指出,这种交流有时是在不友好的形式下进行的,其中一个不友好的形式是:冷嘲热讽。一些人会说:“如果你不喜欢这里,你大可以从哪儿来,回哪儿去。”这时候吴先生的回答则是:底特律的情况也不见得有多好。

华裔居民有时候还会听见自己被称为“社会主义者”,并被认为对中国存在独特的忠诚。一份2012年公布的美国公众评价报告显示,25%的受访者认为,在美中两国发生争端时,华裔居民会支持中国。

华裔维权人士谢汉兰(Helen Zia)认为,对华裔社区的猜疑已不仅限于华裔居民对美国不忠的问题上。“从中国人初到美国(19世纪),他们就被认为是外来侵入者,要把美国人所热爱的东西全部都带走。这种印象一直没有改变。”她说。

对华裔居民的报告指出,72%的华裔受访者认为,针对华裔社区的歧视是一直存在的问题,只有24%不这么认为。另外,21%的华裔受访者表示,自己曾经有过被歧视的经历,另有10%的华裔居民曾被取过歧视性外号,这些外号都与中国有关。

美中关系的受害者

谢汉兰曾写过一本名为《亚裔美国梦》(Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People),解析亚裔在美国的生活状态。她认为,华裔居民能感觉到美国政界对华裔社区的“怨恨”。“只要美中关系遇冷,华裔居民就会被牵扯进来。”她说。

美中贸易关系就是一个鲜明的例证。美国工业人士抱怨,中国对手向美国出口的商品价格低廉,甚至低于“公平”价值,这迫使美国公司裁员。例如,2014年4月,加州大蒜产业领头人物比尔•克里斯多夫(Bill Christopher)表示,大约一半最具规模的大蒜包装公司在过去10年消失,一部分原因是中国出口到美国的大蒜价格太低,是不公平的“倾销”。

另外,如果美国政界人士与中国关系良好,也会面临国内舆论的反弹。例如,2012年,共和党人指责奥巴马在连任选举中,接受来自中国的捐助资金,这破坏选举法律。奥巴马团队则否认这一说法。

谢汉兰表示,政客一直相互指责对方接受来自中国的资金。在她看来,这是对公众情绪的一种操纵,使公众对任何一种中国“侵入”形成厌烦情绪。

美国人排外吗?

费城拉萨尔大学(LaSalle University)社会科学教授查尔斯•加拉格尔(Charles Gallagher)表示,大多美国人认为自己对少数族裔居民很宽容,但事实上,他们并没有意识到,自己已经对华裔的刻板印象习以为常。“这就是为什么公众自认对华裔的态度宽容,而华裔自身感知的接受度并非如此。”

芝加哥华人咨询服务处(Chinese American Service League)主席博妮•王(Bernie Wong,音译)表示,近几年对于华裔社区的歧视问题有所好转。以前,很多人认为,华裔不是在商店工作,就是餐馆员工,现在,很多华裔在公司上班事业成功。“在这种情况下,整体态度有所改变。”她说。

华人咨询服务处建立于1978年,那个时候华裔几乎没有集体发声的习惯,也甚少参与市政厅或大公司的活动。“现在,我们已加入芝加哥商会,并被邀请参与政府各个层次的活动,发出华裔的声音。”她说。

另外,王女士发现,针对一些种族歧视事件,华裔也开始行动起来。“在以前的华裔社区,这种情况并不普遍。”

加拉格尔也认为,全美范围内对华裔的歧视问题也有所缓解。“我们不应该忽视偏见仍然存在,但如果你看看过去50年的进程,你会发现,在美国对华裔的态度越来越开放了。”

http://news.uschinapress.com/2014/0902/990794.shtml
评价一下你浏览此帖子的感受

精彩

感动

搞笑

开心

愤怒

无聊

灌水
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”  -----  Henry David Thoreau
卡拉 离线
级别: 总版主

显示用户信息 
沙发  发表于: 2014-09-02   
Chinese Americans: Discrimination in US Still a Problem, but Improving
Source: VOA
Author:Michael Lipin
September 01, 2014 8:00 AM

WASHINGTON —At a White House ceremony on July 4, President Barrack Obama hosted 25 foreign-born members of the U.S. military in celebrating the anniversary of American independence.  Representing 15 different countries, including China, Obama called the group a vivid reminder that America is and always has been a nation of immigrants.


Shoppers at a food store in New York City's Manhattan Chinatown

Despite their American citizenship, some immigrants to the United States report that they still are treated like foreigners.  For example, Chinese American commentators say, for their community, looking different than the norm leads to stereotyping and discrimination.

In this last of three reports on U.S. public views of Chinese Americans, VOA looks at how discriminatory attitudes, while persistent, appear to be on the decline. - Editor




What it means to be 'foreign'

"It is a daily occurrence to be asked where you are from," says Frank H. Wu, chancellor of the University of California Hastings College of the Law.


Wu, who writes about Asian American issues for the Huffington Post, is the son of parents who immigrated to the United States from China via Taiwan in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"When people ask, I explain that I’m from Detroit, Michigan," he says. "But, people shake their heads and say: 'No, no. What I mean is, where are you really from?' The addition of just one word speaks volumes about who truly belongs to this country."

Unintended discrimination can be hurtful. Wu says such interactions sometimes also take on less friendly forms.

One of them, he says, is the heckler’s jeer. “Some people say: ‘If you don't like it here, then you can go back to where you came from!’  And my reply always is: 'Well, things aren't that much better in Detroit.'"

Wu says Chinese Americans also hear some members of U.S. society calling them “communists,” with secret loyalties to China.

A 2012 survey of U.S. public opinion found that 25 percent of respondents believed that Chinese Americans would be more likely to support China than the United States in disputes between the two countries.



The report by the Committee of 100, a New York-based group of prominent Chinese Americans, said only 67 percent of respondents thought ethnic Chinese U.S. citizens would support the United States.

Helen Zia, a Chinese American rights activist and former journalist, says suspicions of her community go beyond disloyalty.


"From the beginnings of Chinese people being in the United States (in the 19th century), they were perceived as alien invaders that were here to take away everything we love about America," she says. "That has been an abiding archetype."

In a separate 2012 survey of Chinese Americans, 72 percent of respondents said discrimination against their community was a problem, while 24 percent said it was not a problem.

  


The study by U.S. polling company Pew Research Center found that among Chinese Americans who believed discrimination was an issue, 16 percent called it a "major" problem while the other 56 percent described it as a "minor" one.

​Pew also said 21 percent of Chinese American respondents reported experiencing discrimination personally, while 10 percent reported being called offensive names because of their country of origin.




Politicizing the stereotype

Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, says Chinese Americans also see resentment toward their community in national politics.

"Whenever U.S.-China relations get chilly, Chinese Americans get pneumonia," she says.

U.S.-Chinese trade is one example.  Some U.S. industries complain that their Chinese rivals import products to the United States at prices below "fair" value, forcing U.S. companies to lay off workers.


Vendor at food market in New York City's Manhattan Chinatown (October 2013)

​In April, a leading figure in California's garlic industry, Bill Christopher, told the San Francisco Chronicle that half of the state's biggest garlic packers have disappeared in the last decade, in part because of what he called the unfair "dumping" of cheaper Chinese garlic in the United States.

Zia says such criticism of Chinese trade practices can be so harsh that it amounts to a portrayal of Chinese imports as "evil."

U.S. political figures also have faced a domestic backlash for being perceived as too cozy with China.

In 2012, Republicans accused President Barack Obama, a Democrat, of violating election laws by accepting cash donations from China for his successful re-election campaign. The Obama campaign denied breaking such laws.

Zia says politicians have been accusing each other of being "corrupted" by Chinese money. She says the accusation is another manipulation of the public's aversion to any kind of Chinese "invasion" of the United States.

Are Americans xenophobic?

Charles Gallagher, a sociology professor at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, says most Americans see themselves as tolerant toward minorities.

​In a 2009 survey by the Committee of 100, members of the public gave Chinese Americans a favorability score of 80 out of 100. But, Chinese Americans who participated in the survey said they believed the score was only 64.



"People typically do not realize they are being insensitive to Chinese Americans by stereotyping them," Gallagher says. "I think that explains the difference (in the favorability scores reported by the public and perceived by Chinese Americans)."

Positive trend

The head of a Chinese American organization in Chicago says she has seen a decline in discriminatory views of her community in recent years.

Chinese American Service League president Bernie Wong says many people used to see ethnic Chinese residents primarily as store and restaurant workers.

  

Chinese Americans celebrate Chinese New Year in Chicago's Chinatown on February 17, 2013

​"Now, there are many Chinese Americans who are in the corporate world and very successful in investing in new businesses," Wong says. "So the whole attitude has shifted."

Wong says that when her organization started in 1978, Chinese Americans who wanted to deal with city hall or big corporations had no collective voice.

"Today, we are recognized by Chicago's chamber of commerce and invited by every level of government to sit on various committees that would like to have diverse representation," she says.

Wong says her organization is aware of some recent cases of Chinese Americans complaining of racial harassment.

"But, I must say that is not as prevalent in our community (as before). When cases happen, we work with Chicago's Commission on Human Relations to resolve them," she says.


Chinese American children in Chicago, June 2014

"We also educate and connect community members to other cultures to open their minds, so that we don’t always assume that people look at us negatively."

Sociologist Gallagher sees a nationwide improvement in attitudes. "One should not discount the prejudice that still takes place, but if you look at the progress in the last 50 years, there is greater tolerance toward Chinese Americans in the United States."

http://www.voanews.com/content/chinese-americans-discrimination-in-us-still-a-problem-but-improving/1955153.html
[ 此帖被卡拉在09-02-2014 16:51重新编辑 ]
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”  -----  Henry David Thoreau
描述
快速回复

验证问题:
3 * 6 = ? 正确答案:18
按"Ctrl+Enter"直接提交