日前，美籍韩裔演员约翰·赵（John Cho）为亚裔美国人在疫情期间遭受的种族歧视勇敢地发了声。
这位现年47岁的男演员出生在韩国，但在6岁随家庭赴美国并在那里长大成人。
4月22日，他在《洛杉矶时报》(Los Angeles Times)上发表了一篇强有力的文章，阐述了他认为新冠病毒恰好提醒了亚裔美国人，他们所谓的“归属感”其实是有条件的。
文章全文如下：
By John Cho April 22, 2020 3Am
I called my parents a few nights ago to tell them to be cautious when stepping out of the house, because they might be targets of verbal or even physical abuse. It felt so strange. Our roles had flipped.
My plea mirrored the admonitions I received from them as a child growing up in Houston. The world, they cautioned, was hostile and it viewed us as strangers. So they warned me to stick close to my family. Close to my kind.
The fact that the coronavirus seems to have originated in China has spawned a slew of anti-Asian hate crimes. Across the country, Asian American parents and children are making versions of the call I made. Friends are sharing first-hand accounts of abuse on text chains and circulating articles on Facebook, always ending with the suddenly ominous "stay safe".
4月22日 凌晨3点
几天前的一个晚上，我打电话给我的父母，告诉他们走出家门时要小心，因为他们可能会成为言语甚至人身攻击的目标。
这种感觉挺奇怪的。好像我和我父母的角色互换了似的。
我对他们的劝解，和他们对从小到大在休斯顿长大的我的警告几乎一模一样
当时他们曾经告诉我，这个世界充满敌意，把我们当成外来人。所以他们告诫我，要和家人呆在一起，并尽量和我的同类人群在一起活动。
一些媒体口中的“新冠病毒似乎起源于中国”这件事，催生了大量的反亚裔仇恨犯罪。在美国各地，亚裔父母和孩子们都在说着类似我那通电话中的呼吁。朋友们在短信中分享着关于人身攻击的一手资料，在脸书上上传文章的链接，却总是以一句莫名其妙的“注意安全”作为结束语。
约翰·赵《星际迷航》剧照
图源：Paramount
Growing up, the assumption was that once we became American enough, there would be no need for such warnings - that we would be safe. To that end, my parents encouraged me and my younger brother to watch as much television as possible, so that we might learn to speak and act like the natives. The hope was that race would not disadvantage us - the next generation - if we played our cards right.
When I became an actor (maybe as a result of all that TV), and really started to work, I felt glimmers of my parents’ hope coming to fruition — doors were open, strangers were kinder. In some ways, I began to lead a life devoid of race. But I’ve learned that a moment always comes along to remind you that your race defines you above all else.
It might be a small moment, like a salesperson greeting you with “konnichiwa.” Or it might be a string of moments, like the press tour that Kal Penn and I took to promote “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” in 2004, a few years after 9/11.
在成长的过程中，我们总是认为，一旦我们足够“美国化”，就没有必要再发出这样的警告——我们终究会安全的。为此，我的父母总是鼓励我和弟弟尽可能多看电视，这样我们就可以学着像美国当地人一样说话和做事。我们的希望是，如果我们玩对了牌，种族问题将不会使我们——也就是他们的下一代——处于不利地位。
当我成为一名演员的时候（没准是因为小时候电视看多了），而且真正开始拍戏的时候，我感到父母眼中的希望有了实现的曙光——大门敞开了，路边的陌生人更友善了。在某些方面，我终于开始过一种没有种族问题的生活了。但我明白，总会有那么一刻提醒你，你的种族定义了你的全部。
这可能是个很小的时刻，比如一个销售员用日语的你好来和你打招呼。也可能是一连串的时刻，比如我和卡尔·佩恩(Kal Penn)在2004年为《哈罗德和库马尔》(Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle)进行媒体巡演，那正好是911事件刚过去的几年。
《哈罗德和库马尔》剧照
We flew across the country — New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle — and it became a grim routine: Flight after flight, Kal would be pulled aside for a “random” search. On one leg of the tour, Kal’s friend Gabe joined us, and when we hit security, Kal was selected for a search while Gabe and I flew through unscathed. We gathered our bags and waited on a bench for Kal to be released. Rummaging through his backpack, Gabe suddenly said, “Kal’s going to be annoyed.” When I looked inside it, I realized why: Gabe, who is white, had gone camping recently, and had neglected to remove his Rambo-sized hunting knife from his backpack.
我们当时几乎飞越了整个美国——纽约、芝加哥、亚特兰大、西雅图——形成了一个残酷的规律：一次又一次的飞行，卡尔（美国印度裔）总会被拉到一边进行“随机”搜查。在其中一段行程中，卡尔的朋友盖比 （Gabe）加入了我们的团队。
当我们准备接受安检时，卡尔又被选中开包搜身，而盖比和我毫发无损地通过了安检。我们收拾好行李，在长凳上等待卡尔被放行。盖比翻着他的背包，突然说：“卡尔会生气的。”我往他背包里看了看，立马就意识到了为什么：盖比是白人，有一把最近去露营用过的《第一滴血》一样大小的猎刀还在他的背包里一直忘了取出来。
I gasped and looked back at Kal, who was watching a Transportation Security Administration worker empty the contents of his bag. It was a reality check.
Asian Americans are experiencing such a moment right now. The pandemic is reminding us that our belonging is conditional. One moment we are Americans, the next we are all foreigners, who “brought” the virus here.
Like fame, the “model minority” myth can provide the illusion of “raceless-ness.” Putting select Asians on a pedestal silences those who question systemic injustice. Our supposed success is used as proof that the system works — and if it doesn’t work for you, it must be your fault.
Never mind that 12% of us are living below the poverty line. The model minority myth helps maintain a status quo that works against people of all colors.
我倒抽了一口气，回头瞧了瞧卡尔，他正眼看着安检工作人员清空他包里的东西。这就是现实。
亚裔美国人现在正在经历这样的时刻。
新冠病毒全球大流行提醒我们，我们的归属感是有条件的。可能这个瞬间我们是美国人，下一个瞬间，我们都成了把病毒”带到“这里的外国人。
与名声一样，“模范少数族裔”的神话也会给人一种“没有种族”的错觉。把亚裔少数族群的杰出人物捧上神坛，会让那些质疑制度不公正的人哑口无言。人们认为我们亚裔必定会成功，我们被用来证明这个制度是有效的——如果它在你身上不灵验的话，那一定是你个人的错。
哪怕我们少数族群有12%的人还生活在贫困线以下，模范少数族裔的神话起到的是维持现状的作用，而这种现状对非白人族群都是不利的。
图源：Getty Images
But perhaps the most insidious effect of this myth is that it silences us. It seduces Asian Americans and recruits us to act on its behalf. It converts our parents, who in turn, encourage us to accept it. It makes you feel protected, that you’re passing as one of the good ones.
And because the stereotypes may be complimentary (hardworking, good at math), it makes people — including us — think that anti-Asian sentiment is somehow less serious, that it’s racism lite. That allows us to dismiss the current wave of Asian hate crimes as trivial, isolated and unimportant. Consider the comedians who mock Asians, but restrain themselves when it comes to other groups.
Of course, with the falsely positive come the negative stereotypes (you’re sneaky, you’re stealing jobs, you’re corrupt). After I had been busted for cheating on a Latin quiz in high school, I recall my teacher asking, “Why are Koreans such cheaters?”
但也许这个神话最可怕的影响是，它使我们沉默。它引诱亚裔美国人，并招募我们代表它行事。
它改变了我们的父母，于是父母反过来鼓励我们接受它。这让你觉得受到了保护，因为你是“模范少数族裔”中的一分子。
因为当地人对亚裔的刻板印象可能是正面的（我们勤奋，擅长数学），它使人们——包括我们自己——认为美国的反亚裔情绪不怎么严重，认为这里只有轻度版本的种族歧视。这很容易使我们把当前的仇恨犯罪浪潮斥为微不足道、孤立和不重要的。想想那些嘲笑亚洲人，但在涉及其他群体时却克制自己的喜剧演员吧。
当然，虚假的正面印象多了，负面的刻板印象也随之而来（你鬼鬼祟祟，你偷了本地人的饭碗，你腐败)。我上高中时在一次拉丁语考试中作弊被抓，记得当时老师问我：“为什么韩国人这么爱作弊？”
During times of national stress, it’s these darker stereotypes that prevail. My wife’s families were incarcerated in camps during World War II, even while her great-uncles were serving in an all-Japanese American battalion of the U.S. Army. Vincent Chin, a Chinese American autoworker, was brutally beaten to death in Detroit in 1982, blamed for the Japanese “takeover” of the auto industry. And just recently, an Asian woman in Brooklyn had acid thrown at her while she was taking out the trash, another among the skyrocketing attacks against Asians.
在国家面临巨大压力的时候，正是这些黑暗的刻板印象占据了上风。
第二次世界大战期间，我妻子的家人被关在集中营里，哪怕她的曾伯祖父们还在美军一个全日裔美军营里为国战斗。美籍华裔汽车工人陈昌华(Vincent Chin) 1982年在底特律被残忍地殴打致死，原因竟是凶手认为日本“抢走了”汽车业的生意。
就在最近，布鲁克林的一名亚裔女性在倒垃圾的时候被人泼了硫酸，这也是逐渐增加的针对亚裔的攻击事件的其中一起。
I came to this country in 1978, at the age of 6. I was naturalized on Nov. 21, 1990, during the military buildup before the start of the Gulf War. I remember being surprised by the judge at the ceremony asking me whether I would defend my country in uniform if called upon. I wasn’t expecting that question, though my friends and I had been wondering about a possible draft, and I took my time to truly consider it. I answered yes and I meant it.
我是1978年移民到这个国家的，那时我才6岁。
我于1990年11月21日入籍，当时正值海湾战争爆发前的军事集结时期。我记得我在典礼上被法官吓了一大跳。法官问我，如果我被招入伍，我是否会穿上军装保卫这个国家。我完全没想到他会提这样的问题，尽管我和我的朋友们猜想过我们可能真的会被征召入伍，我也花了不少时间真正考虑过这个问题。
图源：雪城大学官网
I claimed the citizenship my parents wanted for me and I think I’ve spent my life earning it. I’m not going to let anyone tell me or anyone who looks like me that we are not really American.
If the coronavirus has taught us anything, it’s that the solution to a widespread problem cannot be patchwork. Never has our interconnectedness and our reliance on each other been plainer.
You can’t stand up for some and not for others. And like the virus, unchecked aggression has the potential to spread wildly. Please don’t minimize the hate or assume it’s somewhere far away.
我的回答是肯定的，而且我说我是严肃的。
我得到了父母想让我得到的美国公民身份，他们这辈子都在为这个身份而努力。谁都不能告诉我或任何长得像我一样的人，我们并不是真正的美国人。
如果说新冠病毒教会了我们什么，那就是靠着东拼西凑打补丁是无法解决一个已经普遍存在的问题的。人与人之间的纽带和相互依赖从未如此明显。
你不能职位一部分人维权，而完全不管剩下的人。就像新冠病毒一样，如果不管不顾它，它就会不加抑制地疯狂传播。请不要把仇恨变得轻描淡写，也不要以为仇恨还在看不到的远方。
图源：Getty Images
It’s happening close to you. If you see it on the street, say something. If you hear it at work, say something. If you sense it in your family, say something. Stand up for your fellow Americans.
John Cho is an actor best known for his roles in the “Harold & Kumar” and “Star Trek” films. He lives in Los Angeles.
它就发生在你的身边。
如果你在工作中听到它，你就应该说点什么。如果你在你的家人身上感觉到这种苗头，也要说点什么。捍卫你的美国朋友们。
本文的作者约翰·赵，1972年6月16日出生于韩国首尔，是一名美籍韩裔影视男演员，毕业于加州大学伯克利分校。他最著名的作品是《哈罗德和库马尔》、《网络迷踪》和《星际迷航》系列电影。
有人说，我们这个时代最不缺的，就是无缘无故的仇恨和借机挥洒的歧视。就像约翰·赵在他的文中写到的一样, 偏见和歧视从来都不是一朝一夕形成的。越是闭塞视听、视而不见，它就越会不受控制地疯狂蔓延。
不要沉默，让它像新冠病毒一样，被隔离。#演员# #美国危机# #好莱坞# #爆料# #疫情下的人生百态#
