Half century ago, when Dr. King delivered the greatest speech of mankind, the America was in a time of turbulence, discrimination, hatred, and prejudice against people of color and disadvantaged. Thanks to tireless efforts by numerous civil rights fighters, and measures such as affirmative action and political correctness, the social injustice and systematic discrimination experienced in the sixties have been declared history. The best vindication of the success of civil rights movement was in January 20, 2009, when Obama swore in as the first African American president. While the movement continues to evolve, the fictional ascendance of Donald Trump to the 2016 republican presidential nominee suddenly throws a huge bucket of cold water to this seemingly unstoppable utopia. His signature anti-Hispanic, anti-Muslim rhetoric does not seem to deter republican voters to stamp their seal of approval under his name in the primary presidential ballot. What’s wrong with this picture? For sure, it does not matter if you like him or not, Donald Trump brings the current stage of civil rights movement to yet another altitude. Other than his golden hairdo, extravagant lifestyle, and mega personality, the only element the mainstream media, the political parties, and the general public share is the notionthat his explosive rise is a representation of deep angers in grass roots America. So exactly what are the angers?Let’s start the discussion by examining three controversial events.
In 2005,former Harvard president Larry Summers said the following in a conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce.
「So my best guess, to provoke you, of what'sbehind all of this is that the largest phenomenon, by far, is the general clash between people's legitimate family desires and employers' current desire forhigh power and high intensity, that in the special case of science andengineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of thevariability of aptitude, and that those considerations are reinforced by whatare in fact lesser factors involving socialization and continuing discrimination. I would like nothing better than to be proved wrong, because I would like nothing better than for these problems to be addressable simply by everybody understanding what they are, and working very hard to address them.」[1]
Simply put, Summers implied that there are differences in sexes in special fields such as science and engineering, and discriminationis a lessor factor when determining under representation of women in those areas. It’s obvious that he was careful about his choice of words. Although Summers said nothing other than expressing his own opinion, he faced avalanche of criticism following the speech. A female attendee immediately left the conference. The mass media cast doubt on his perceptiona bout woman’s ability in STEM. Finally,the acclaimed Harvard president had to issue extensive apology.
In April2014, the LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling made national headlines when aprivate telephone conversation between him and his girlfriend was revealed. The conversation contained controversial language about the great Magic Johnson. Despite the fact that the girlfriend is a Hispanic herself, Sterling was not able to escape nightmare including lifetime ban from NBA, a hefty fine, and loss of ownership for the Clippers. Ironically, UCLA rejected a $3 Million giftf rom Sterling. [2]
In August 2015, while commenting Donald Trumpin the View, Kelly Osbourne said: "If you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?". Then she continued:"In the sense that … you know what I mean? But I'm saying that in L.A.,they always … ". A co-host interrupted her before she finished. Horrified, the poor girl retracted her statement 4 hours after the show.[3] However, her tearful apology was not enough to calm the racial attacks that followed.
Larry Summers, Donald Sterling, and Kelly Osbourne are all victims of political correctness, an invisible perception and restriction that require people to actand talk a certain way. Let me just be clear, I am all for equal human right regardless race and sex. Meanwhile, we the society not only must permit people to be independent thinkers, but also tolerate and encourage unconventional thinking even if it challenges the political correctness. In pursuing equal treatment of male and female, we must respect nature differences between men and women, physically and mentally. In judging fairness in face of adversary, we must vigorously protect citizens' rights for free speech and put the right for privacy before any political correctness. In defining a person’s character, we must allow unintentional deviation of his/her behavior under circumstances and refuse to rush to fallacious conclusions.
Political correctness has strangled the country for a long time. It prohibits a free-minded society and creates deep anger in the general public. The acceptance of Donald Trump validates the America people’s disapproval of such correctness and eagerness to break the net forged around it. 2016 is the year to confront the force of absurdness dictating our free will.
[1] Archiveof: Remarks at NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce at the Wayback Machine (archived January 30, 2008). January 14, 2005.
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling
[3]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3185325/Kelly-Osbourne-melts-View-commercial-break-making-racist-comment-Donald-Trump-needs-Mexicans-clean-toilets.html
譯文：
政治正確與獨立思維
翻譯： 一母三分地
半個世紀前，當金博士發表人類最偉大的演講，當時的美國社會動蕩，對有色人種和弱勢群體普遍存在著歧視，仇恨和偏見。經過無數民權鬥士的努力和有關法案的實施，如平權運動AA和倡導政治上的正確性，六十年代的社會不公和系統歧視已經成為了過去的歷史。民權運動取得成功的最好的證明是在2009年1月20日，歐巴馬作為第一個非裔美國人總統宣誓就任。政治上的正確性發展至今，在意想不到的川普作為2016年共和黨總統候選人崛起過程中受到了前所未有的挑戰。他反拉美裔非法移民和穆斯林恐怖分子的極端言論似乎並沒有阻止共和黨選民在初級總統選舉視他為黨內熱門人選。這到底是怎樣的一番景象？可以肯定，無論你喜歡他與否，川普把政治正確的爭議推向了一個新的熱點。除了他特異的金髮型，奢侈的生活方式和張揚的個性，主流媒體，政黨，和公眾關於他的唯一共同點也許就是他那出人意料的升起其實代表著美國基層老百姓深深的憤怒。那麼究竟什麼是憤怒？讓我們通過檢查三件有爭議的事件來看一看。
2005年，前哈佛校長萊利薩默斯在一次學術研討會上，就科學工程與勞動力市場出現的多元化說了這麼一段話：
「So my bestguess, to provoke you, of what's behind all of this is that the largestphenomenon, by far, is the general clash between people's legitimate familydesires and employers' current desire for high power and high intensity, thatin the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsicaptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude, and that thoseconsiderations are reinforced by what are in fact lesser factors involvingsocialization and continuing discrimination. I would like nothing better thanto be proved wrong, because I would like nothing better than for these problemsto be addressable simply by everybody understanding what they are, and workingvery hard to address them.」[1]
簡單地說，薩默斯暗示，有在些特殊領域，如科學和工程的男多女少的性別差異，這與歧視沒有多大的關係。很明顯，他很小心的選擇了措詞intrinsicaptitude，但他的言語即時就面臨評鋪天蓋地的批評。一位女與會者立即離開會議。主流媒體認為他看不見有關女姓從事STEM的能力。最後，著名的哈佛校長不得不一而再，再而三的為此道歉。
2014年4月，快船老闆唐納德- 斯特林因為他和他的女友之間的私人電話交談被公布於眾，成為全國當月頭條新聞。談話語題是關於大魔術師詹森，涉及的內容有爭議性。儘管女友是西班牙裔-海瑟爾特，斯特林也無法逃脫包括來自NBA續航的時間禁令，高額罰款的噩夢，並加速的失去了對快船隊的所有權。更具諷刺的是，加州大學洛杉磯分校甚至拒絕接受斯特林一個$300萬的禮物。
在2015年8月，凱莉·奧斯本在與川普同時在一個電視節目時說：「如果你踢走所有拉丁裔，那麼誰來清洗馬桶，唐納·川普？」。然後，她繼續說：「我的意思，．．．你明白我的意思，在洛杉磯，他們總是.」。協辦方主持趕緊打斷她不讓她說完話。可憐的姑娘嚇壞了，在節目4小時後收回她的發言。[3]然而，她含淚的道歉仍然不夠平息隨後對她的種族歧視攻擊。
拉裡·薩默斯，唐納德- 斯特林和凱利奧斯本都是某種政治正確性的受害者，這股力量在一定範圍內要求人民如何行為和說話。讓我說明我的立場，我是支持平等的人權，不分種族和性別。同時，我們的社會必須允許人們獨立思考，也要寬容和鼓勵那些即使是挑戰傳統的政治正確性的超常規思維。在追求男性和女性的平等對待時，我們必須尊重的男人和女人之間的生理上和心理上的差異。在判斷對手是否公平時，我們必須大力保護公民的自由話語權，並把隱私權放在任何政治正確性之上。在評價一個人的性格時，一定要讓他/她的行為在特定環境下來看，並拒絕急於得出荒謬的結論。
政治上的正確性損害這個國家已經很長一段時間了。它禁止自由型社會，並普遍引起公眾對其的深深憤怒。對唐納·川普的接受驗證了美國人民渴望反對這種正確性並打破它偽造的平和。2016年是對抗這個荒誕而且支配我們自由意志力量的一年。
[1] Archiveof: Remarks at NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & EngineeringWorkforce at the Wayback Machine (archived January 30, 2008). January 14, 2005.
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling
[3]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3185325/Kelly-Osbourne-melts-View-commercial-break-making-racist-comment-Donald-Trump-needs-Mexicans-clean-toilets.html
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