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When I'm out at the grocery store or maybe a restaurant or the park with my son -- he's six and a half --people will stop us and mention that they think that he's handsome.
当我和我六岁半儿子在杂货店或者餐馆或者公园里，人们经常说我儿子很英俊。
I agree.
我也认为是这样。
They'll use that opportunity to chop it up with him,and often when they're done talking with him, they'll mention that they think he's a smart and engaging little guy.
人们会利用这个机会与他交流，而当他们与他说完话后，都说他是一个聪明，充满魅力的小家伙。
When those people walk away, the thought that comes to my mind is that I hope they remember meeting him as a child when they see him again as a grown man.
当这些人离开时，我脑海中浮现的想法是，希望他们在我儿子长大后再次看到他时，还能记得他小时候的样子。
This thought comes to my mind because I've written two books about race and racism in the United States, and this kind of work can produce feelings of pessimism.
这个想法出现在我的脑海中，因为我写了两本关于美国的种族和种族主义的书，这让我会产生悲观的感觉。
One of the things that I've learned is that Americans have an orientation toward progress.
我知道，美国人有一种进步的精神。
In this context, what that means is that we often celebrate the distance between where we were and where we are now.
在这种情况下，这意味着我们经常庆祝过去和现在之间的差距和进步。
But that same orientation can blind us from the gap between where we are and where we could or should be.
但这种精神也会使我们看不到我们所处的位置与我们可以或应该达到的位置之间的差距。
The other thing I've learned about Americans is that we have a very, very narrow understanding of racism, mostly in the minds and hearts of people, usually old people --old people from the South.
我对美国人的另一个认识是，我们对种族主义的理解非常、非常狭窄，尤其是在人们的头脑和心中，通常体现在老人--来自南方的老人身上。
And this really narrow definition can constrain our opportunities to produce a more racially egalitarian society.
而这种真正狭窄的定义会限制我们产生一个更加种族平等的社会的机会。
We like to hunt for races and distance ourselves from people who say mean things about whole groups of people or who idealize the 1950s.
我们喜欢找到种族组织，与那些对整个群体说坏话的人或将1950年代理想化的人保持距离。
But the fact of the matter is that we might just need to look in the mirror.
但事实是，我们可能只是需要照镜子看看自己。
Now, I'm not saying that everyone here is a racist, but what I am saying is that everyone here has the capacity and perhaps even the propensity to live their life in a way, to make decisions, to rely on biases that reproduce racial inequality.
我不是说这里的每个人都是种族主义者，但我要说的是，这里的每个人都有能力，甚至可能有倾向性，以某种方式生活，做出决定，依赖再现种族不平等的偏见。
Some people say, “Well, you do all this work about racism. What's the answer?”
有些人说，"好吧，你做了这些关于种族主义的工作。你获得的答案是什么呢？"
And I say that the first thing we might need to do is to come to a shared understanding about what racism is in the first place.
我想说，我们可能需要做的第一件事是达成一个共同的理解是种族主义是什么。
History shows that racists have had the upper hand in deciding who the racists are and what racism is, and it's never them or the things that they do.
历史表明，在决定谁是种族主义者和什么是种族主义方面，种族主义者占了上风，而这从来都是他们或他们所做的事情。
But maybe if we come together and come to a shared and perhaps a precise definition of what racism is, we can work toward creating a society where mothers like me aren't in constant fear of their children's lives.
但是，也许如果我们走到一起，对什么是种族主义达成一个共同的、也许是精确的定义，我们就可以努力创造一个社会，让像我这样的母亲不再为她们孩子的生命而不断担心。
I'd like to dispel three myths about racism on our trek toward mutual understanding.
在我们走向相互理解的道路上，我想消除关于种族主义的三个误区。
First: it's true that the South has done its work to earn its reputation as the most racist region.
第一：南方的美国人确实做了许多，赢得了它作为最种族主义地区的声誉。
But there are other states and regions that are competing for the title.
但也有其他州和地区在竞争这个称号。
For example, if we look at the most segregated states in terms of where Black kids go to school, we'll see, sure, some are in the South.
例如，如果我们看一下在黑人孩子上学的地方是受隔离最严重的州，我们会看到，当然，是在南方有这样的现象。
There are some out west, in the Midwest and in the Northeast.
有一些在西部，在中西部和东北部。
They're where we live.
这些地方也是我们居住的地方。
Or if we look at states with the biggest racial disparities in terms of prison populations, we see that none of them are in the South.
或者，如果我们看一下在监狱人口方面种族差异最大的州，我们会发现它们都不在南方。
They're where we live.
那是我们生活的地方。
My colleague Rebecca Kreitzer and I looked at a standard battery of racial attitudes of prejudice, and we found that in the 1990s, states in the South dominated the most racially negative attitudes.
我的同事Rebecca Kreitzer和我研究了种族偏见态度的标准，我们发现，在20世纪90年代，南方各州有最多的种族负面态度。
But this geography has evolved, and things have changed.
但这种地理环境的演变导致情况发生了变化。
By 2016, we found that the Dakotas, Nebraska, states in the Midwest, in the Northeast, were competing for the "most prejudiced population" titles.
到2016年，达科他州、内布拉斯加州、中西部各州、东北部各州都在竞逐 “受偏见最多 ”称号。
Now, I'm not saying that one state is more racist than another, but what I am saying is that every state might have its own special brand of racism.
我不是说一个州比另一个州更种族主义，但每个州都可能有它自己特殊的种族主义特点。
And it doesn't have to be like this.
而且它不一定是这样的。
Most of the inequalities that we see in our day-to-day lives happen at the state and local level.
我们在日常生活中看到的大多数不平等现象都发生在州和地方一级。
What that means is that we don't have to go all the way to Congress to make change in our communities.
这意味着，我们不必要求国会去为我们的社区做出改变。
We can simply hold our city, our county, our state legislators to task to produce more equitable outcomes.
我们可以简单地要求我们的城市，我们的县，我们的州立法者负责产生更公平的结果。
Myth two: we're not that good at hunting for racists.
误区二：我们并不擅长捕获种族主义者。
Remember that time when the governor of Virginia did blackface, and people were like, "Oh, that's bad. I need to get that racist out of here"?
还记得弗吉尼亚州州长发怒那次吗，人们都说：“哦，很糟糕。我需要把那个种族主义者赶出这里”？
I was giving y'all the side-eye, and here's why.
我当时给了大家一个白眼，原因如下。
While people were going back to yearbooks to look for things that were obviously racist, fewer people were looking into the current-day policy stances of legislators who probably did blackface but didn't get caught.
当人们回到年鉴中去寻找那些明显的种族主义的东西时，很少有人去研究那些可能发怒但没有被抓到的立法者的现今政策立场。
So, how many of us might have supported a candidate who is willing to let neighborhoods secede from their district so that kids could go to all-white schools -- in the 21st century?
那么，在21世纪，我们中有多少人可能会支持一个愿意让邻里从他们的地区分离出来，以便孩子们可以去全白的学校的候选人？
Or how many of us might have supported a ballot measure that systematically reduced some groups' chances of voting?
或者我们中有多少人可能会支持一项系统地减少某些群体投票机会的投票措施？
Or how many of us might have focused on the behavior of Black mothers rather than doctors or health care systems and policies when we learn about the huge racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality?
或者当我们了解到产妇和婴儿死亡率的巨大种族差异时，我们中有多少人会关注黑人母亲的行为，而不是医生或医疗保健系统和政策？
It doesn't have to be like this. We could do something different.
我们不一定要按部就班。我们可以做一些不同的事情。
We could scrutinize the behaviors of the rule makers.
我们可以审视规则制定者的行为。
We could orient ourselves toward a more just society, and on our way there, we can't mystify practical policy solutions.
我们可以把自己建设一个更公正的社会上，而在这个过程中，我们不能把实际的政策解决方案神秘化。
Myth three: If you believe that when all the grandmas in Mississippi die that racism is going to go with them, you are in for a big disappointment.
误区三：如果你相信当密西西比州的所有老奶奶死后，种族主义也会随之消失，那么结果会让你大失所望。
We like to think that young people are going to do the hard work of eradicating racism, but there are some things that we should note.
我们认为年轻人会做消除种族主义的艰苦工作，但有一些事情我们应该注意。
We know that young folks, young white folks especially, like diversity, they appreciate it, they're looking for it.
我们知道，年轻人，尤其是年轻的白人，喜欢多样性，他们欣赏这些东西，也在在寻找它们。
But we also know that they don't live diverse lives.
但我们也知道，他们的生活并不多元化。
Research shows that the average white American literally has one black friend.
研究表明，平均每个美国白人都有一个黑人朋友。
And what that means is that most don't have any at all.
这意味着，大多数人根本就没有任何朋友。
Sociologists like Sarah Mayorga show that even when well-meaning white folks move to diverse neighborhoods, they don't necessarily have positive interactions, no less any with their neighbors who aren't white.
萨拉-马约尔加（Sarah Mayorga）等社会学家表明，即使是善意的白人搬到多元化的社区，他们也不一定有积极的互动，更不用说与非白人邻居的互动。
My research with Professor Christopher DeSante shows that when we ask white millennials their racial attitudes and policy preferences, that they're sometimes, just as in other times, even more racially conservative than boomers.
我和克里斯托弗-德桑特教授的研究表明，当我们询问千禧一代白人的种族态度和政策偏好时，他们有时，就像在其他时代一样，甚至显示出比潮人更保守的种族态度。
When we ask them about the things that are important to them, they don't have any particular sense of urgency around questions of racial inequality.
当我们问他们那些对他们来说很重要的事情时，他们对种族不平等问题没有任何特别的紧迫感。
How did we get like this?
我们怎么会变成这样？
Well, one of the things we might think about is how we raise our kids and equip them to solve the problems that we want them to solve.
值得思考的一个问题是，我们如何培养孩子，使他们有能力解决我们希望他们解决的问题。
Research shows that white parents in particular will either choose to not talk about issues of racism to their kids in order to protect them from a harsh racial reality or they instill colorblind lessons, and that can actually reinforce negative racial attitudes.
研究表明，白人父母选择不和他们的孩子谈论种族主义问题，以保护他们免受残酷的种族现实的影响，或者他们灌输无视肤色的思想，而这实际上会加强消极的种族态度。
So it's kind of like how some of your parents might have given you books about puberty so they didn't have to talk about the birds and the bees, and then you tried to connect all the dots and then you did it all wrong.
这有点像一些父母可能会给你推荐关于青春期的书籍一样，这样他们就不必谈论鸟类和蜜蜂，然后你试图把所有的点联系起来，然后你就做错了。
It's like that. It doesn't have to be like this. We can do better.
那样是对的。不一定要这样做的。我们可以做得更好。
We can have hard conversations with our kids so that they don't grow up like many of us did,
我们可以与我们的孩子进行对话，这样他们就不会像我们中的许多人那样长大，
thinking that talking about racism makes you a racist -- it doesn't -- and so that we can prevent them from making the same mistakes that we've seen in the past.
认为谈论种族主义会使你成为种族主义者--其实不会的--这样我们就可以防止他们犯下我们在过去看到的同样的错误。
Remember a long, long time ago in 2008, when we were all pining to live in a post-racial world?
还记得早在2008年，我们都憧憬着生活在一个后种族的世界里吗？
Well, I say that it's time for us to think bigger and dream bigger and think about what it would be like to live in a post-racist world.
现在是时候让我们想得更远，梦想更大的世界，想想生活在一个后种族主义的世界里会是什么样子。
But in order to do that, we'd have to come together to have a shared definition of racism -- not just in the matter of hearts and minds, but in systems, policies, rules, decisions made over and over again to marginalize some people --and agree to become anti-racists -- people who learn more and do better.
但为了实现这一梦想，我们必须齐心协力，对种族主义下一个共同的定义--不仅仅是在心灵问题上，而是在制度、政策、规则、一次又一次做出的使一些人被边缘化的决定上--并同意成为反种族主义者--学习更多、做得更好的人。
So we could ask harder questions of candidates about their stances on racial inequality before we throw our full weight behind them.
因此，我们可以向候选人提出更难的问题，在全力支持他们前，先了解他们对种族不平等的立场。
We could buycott or boycott businesses whose practices don't align with our values.
我们可以购买或抵制那些做法与我们的价值观不一致企业的产品。
We could talk to our kids about racism.
我们可以和孩子讨论种族主义问题。
We could figure out our state's special brand of racism and work to eradicate it.
我们可以找出本州独特的种族主义品牌，并努力根除它。
People made racial disparities, and people can unmake them.
人们制造了种族差异，当然也可以消除它。
And sure, it'll be hard, but the fact of the matter is, someone is depending on us to do nothing at all.
当然，这很难完成，因为事实是，很多人不为之努力而只想依赖着我们行动。
Thank you.
谢谢聆听。
