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To evade his criticism, I wanted to side with him. I was about to admit the injustice of Affirmative Action. But he went on, his voice hard with accusation. "It's all very simple this year. You're a Chicano. And I am a Jew. That's the only real difference between us."
为了逃避他的指责，我想支持他的看法。我要承认平权法案的不公平。但是他一直说着，他的声音严厉而充满谴责。“今年的情况很简单。你是奇卡诺人（墨西哥裔美国人)，而我是个犹太人。这才是我们之间唯一的真正区别。”
His words stung me: there was nothing he was telling me that I didn't know. I had admitted everything already. But to hear someone else say these things, and in such an accusing tone, was suddenly hard to take. In a deceptively calm voice, I responded that he had simplified the whole issue. The phrases came like bubbles to the tip of my tongue: "new blood"; "the importance of cultural diversity"; "the goal of racial integration." These were all the arguments I had proposed several years ago—and had long since abandoned. Of course the offers were unjustifiable. I knew that. All I was saying amounted to a frantic self-defense. I tried to find an end to a sentence. My voice faltered to a stop.
他的话刺痛了我：他所告诉我的我都知道。我已经承认了这一切。但是听到其他人说这些事情，并以这样谴责的语调，突然让我很难接受。我用装出来的平静的声音回应他,说他简化了整个问题。那些词语就像泡沫般跳到我的舌尖上：“新生力量”，“文化多元化的重要性”，“种族融合的目标”。这些都是我几年前提出的观点——很早之前就被摒弃了。这些工作邀约当然不公平。我知道的。我所说的那些只不过是慌乱的自我防卫。我试着结束自己的话。我的声音颤抖着停止了。
"Yeah, sure," he said. "I've heard all that before. Nothing you say really changes the fact that Affirmative Action is unfair. You see that, don't you? There isn't any way for me to compete with you. Once there were quotas to keep my parents out of certain schools; now there are quotas to get you in and the effect on me is the same as it was for them."
“对，当然，”他说，“那些我以前就听过了。你所说的并未真正改变平权法案是不公平的这个事实。你知道的，不是吗？我根本就没办法和你竞争。曾经因为限额使我的父母不能上某些学校；如今因为限额让你可以去某些学校工作，这对我的影响与当时对他们的影响是相同的。”
