膚色歧視之痛

by Daisy Phillipson

瑪雅文明是美洲古代印第安文明的杰出代表，約形成于公元前2500年，主要分布在現(xiàn)今的墨西哥東南部、危地馬拉、洪都拉斯、薩爾瓦多和伯利茲共五個(gè)中美洲國(guó)家。

依中美洲編年，瑪雅歷史分成前古典期、古典期、后古典期。前古典期（公元前2000年至公元250年）也稱形成期，歷法及文字的發(fā)明、紀(jì)念碑的設(shè)立及建筑的興建均在此時(shí)期；古典期（公元250年至900年）是全盛期，文字的使用、紀(jì)念碑的設(shè)立、建筑的興建及藝術(shù)的發(fā)揮均在此時(shí)期達(dá)于極盛；后古典期（約10世紀(jì)至16世紀(jì)），瑪雅文化逐漸式微。

英國(guó)少女克洛伊在學(xué)校受到嚴(yán)重的種族歧視——她每天被同學(xué)欺負(fù)，甚至要用逃學(xué)來(lái)躲避他們，而這一切僅僅是因?yàn)樗哪w色。最初她不敢告訴父母和老師，只是一個(gè)人默默地忍受。到了最后，她明白到種族歧視的行為是不可容忍的。作為過(guò)來(lái)人，她敦促有同樣遭遇的人一定要站出來(lái)，維護(hù)自己的權(quán)益。

Once again I found myself locked in the girls toilet, crying and struggling to catch my breath. School had become my own private hell. My 1)self-esteem had hit an all-time low; I hated myself. 2)Dabbing the milk off my hair that one of my classmates had thrown at me, I knew I was a 3)victim of 4)racist 5)bullying. But I couldnt help but blame myself.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己又被鎖在女生廁所里了。我淚流滿面，艱難地呼吸著。學(xué)校成了我的地獄。我的自尊降到了歷史新低；我討厭自己。我拍掉頭發(fā)上的牛奶——?jiǎng)偛乓粋€(gè)同學(xué)把牛奶扔到我身上。我知道自己成了種族偏見(jiàn)的受害者，但我只能怪自己。

Early School life

My earliest memories of school were happy ones. When I was ten, my parents sent me to boarding school in Kenya, where theyre 6)originally from. They thought it would be valuable for me to experience my own culture, and they were right. I had the time of my life and an 7)enriching education. Being in an international school gave me a great understanding of different countries and cultural attitudes. All of my classmates were so open-minded and understanding. And we all took advantage of the beautiful landscape and wildlife.

Back to the Homeland

Although I enjoyed Kenya, I was excited to come home when I was 13 and start a local private school. The first few days posed no problems and I spoke to a few girls in my class. But on the third day, however, I noticed some girls pointing and laughing at me. I tried to 8)ignore it, but later one 9)approached m e w i t h a n e v i l 10)grin. She asked me about living in Kenya and I thought she was just interested to hear about my culture. But instead she called me that 11)disgusting word that has been used by 12)ignorant and evil people for years: nigger. She said people like me didnt belong in the school. I felt sick to my stomach. Never before had I experienced racism on such an 13)explicit level.

Going Down

Things only got worse from that point. Because my 14)tormentors were popular, most of my classmates either went along with the racism, or just ignored me. People would whisper and laugh as I walked past. When the teachers werent around, they would call me names, such as “jungle girl” and “shadow.”Although I knew these were stupid and disgusting 15)comments, I still took them to heart. I went from feeling proud and special, to ugly and 16)alienated.

Then it became even worse. They started throwing milk at me at lunchtime and 17)taunting me for how my hair was different to theirs. Every day, I was 18)sworn at, told to go home, and that my family should die. The “n-word” was also thrown about regularly. The bullying made me feel so ashamed of myself that I didnt tell my parents or teachers. I suffered alone, running to the toilets repeatedly to cry.

My marks at school became very low and I hardly went out. I started 19)bunking school, using faked sick notes and making phone calls pretending to be my mum. But my school worked out what I was doing and one day I came home to my parents, 20)stony-faced, saying we needed a talk.

Letting it All Out

My parents were so angry. They thought I was just being a 21)rebellious teenager and grounded me. But when I finally told them I was ashamed of my race, they were shocked. It took weeks of meetings with teachers for me to finally admit what had been said and whod been saying it. I was so low in myself; I thought I 22)deserved the bullying. But, when I did open up, I was assured that racist 23)slurs are beyond wrong and ignorant.

I was pulled out of school as the teachers took action. New classes to talk about different cultures were started; the bullies were 24)suspended and their parents were called in for meetings. They were told that the police would get 25)involved if the behavior continued.

New School, New Start

However, my parents didnt want me to go back, so they put me in a new school and my first week couldnt have been more different. At first, I was 26)wary of the popular groups. But after making friends with a lovely mix of people, I was made to feel special and normal again. As I was called up in front of the class as the “new girl,” people seemed truly interested in my Kenyan background. I wasnt different to these people, but a part of them. I felt at home again.

Stand Up For Yourself

Racist bullying in schools is totally unacceptable and will not be 27)tolerated. But it can still go on when the teachers arent around. It can be very damaging to fight against, especially when youre only a teenager. This is why its so important to tell some if you witness any kind of racism. Different 28)ethnicities should be 29)celebrated and 30)embraced, not punished.

肯尼亞的學(xué)校生活

學(xué)校給我的最初印象是美好的。十歲那年，父母把我送到他們的故鄉(xiāng)——肯尼亞的寄宿學(xué)校讀書。他們認(rèn)為體驗(yàn)自己的文化對(duì)我很有意義，他們是正確的。我在那里度過(guò)了美好的時(shí)光，接受了充實(shí)的教育。置身國(guó)際學(xué)校讓我很好地了解不同的國(guó)家，也培養(yǎng)了我的文化態(tài)度。所有同學(xué)都思想開(kāi)明，善解人意。我們都很享受那里美麗的風(fēng)景和野生動(dòng)植物。

回到英國(guó)

雖然我喜歡肯尼亞，但對(duì)于能夠回家，我同樣感到興奮。13歲時(shí)，我回到英國(guó)，開(kāi)始在當(dāng)?shù)匾婚g私立學(xué)校上學(xué)。頭幾天風(fēng)平浪靜，我還和班上的幾個(gè)女生聊過(guò)天。然而到了第三天，我注意到一些女生指著我笑。我試著無(wú)視她們，但是后來(lái)，其中一個(gè)女生走到我身邊，臉上露出邪惡的笑容。她問(wèn)我在肯尼亞生活得怎樣，我以為她只是想了解我的文化背景。她卻叫我“黑鬼”——長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，那些無(wú)知、陰險(xiǎn)的人用這個(gè)惡心的詞（來(lái)稱呼我們）。她說(shuō)像我這樣的人不應(yīng)該呆在學(xué)校。我感到一陣惡心，我從未經(jīng)歷過(guò)這樣直接的種族歧視。

情況惡化

從那以后，情況日漸糟糕。因?yàn)檎勰ノ业哪切┤撕苁軞g迎，所以我的大多數(shù)同學(xué)要不就是附和種族主義，要不就無(wú)視我。我經(jīng)過(guò)時(shí)，他們總會(huì)交頭接耳，紛紛嘲笑我。老師不在場(chǎng)的時(shí)候，他們會(huì)用“野丫頭”和“黑影”之類的綽號(hào)叫我。雖然我知道這些都是愚蠢、惡心的看法，但我仍然記在心上。從前的我為自己的與眾不同感到自豪，現(xiàn)在只剩下丑陋、被人孤立的感覺(jué)。

雪上加霜的是，到了午飯時(shí)間，他們開(kāi)始用牛奶扔我，還因?yàn)槲业念^發(fā)和他們不同而奚落我。每一天我都要受人辱罵；他們叫我滾回家，還說(shuō)我們一家都應(yīng)該去死。他們還經(jīng)常拋出那個(gè)N字頭的詞。這種欺壓令我無(wú)地自容，甚至不敢告訴父母和老師。我獨(dú)自忍受著這一切，一次又一次地躲在廁所哭泣。

我的成績(jī)一落千丈，也不怎么出門了。我開(kāi)始用假病假單或在電話里假裝媽媽的聲音來(lái)逃學(xué)。但學(xué)校發(fā)現(xiàn)了我的行為。一天，我回到家，父母板著臉說(shuō)我們需要談一談。

委屈情緒終得釋放

父母很生氣，他們以為我只是反叛，于是罰我不得外出。然而，當(dāng)我終于告訴他們我為自己的種族感到羞恥后，他們非常驚訝。老師和我面談了幾個(gè)星期后，我才肯說(shuō)出他們都說(shuō)了些什么，說(shuō)話的人是誰(shuí)。我極度消沉，覺(jué)得自己被欺負(fù)是應(yīng)該的。但當(dāng)我傾訴出來(lái)后，大人告訴我種族主義者的中傷比錯(cuò)誤和無(wú)知更為嚴(yán)重。

我被帶離學(xué)校，老師們隨即采取行動(dòng)。學(xué)校開(kāi)設(shè)了講述不同文化的新課程；欺負(fù)我的人被停課了，他們的家長(zhǎng)也被叫到學(xué)校來(lái)開(kāi)會(huì)。他們受到警告：如果歧視行為持續(xù)，警方將介入。

新學(xué)校，新開(kāi)始

但父母不想讓我回那間學(xué)校，所以他們把我送到了一間新學(xué)校。我在那里的第一周感覺(jué)完全不同。起初，我對(duì)受歡迎的那些人還是持有戒心。但在和幾個(gè)不同種族的友善學(xué)生交上朋友后，他們讓我重新覺(jué)得自己是特別的，與其他人無(wú)異。我被稱為“新來(lái)的女孩”；當(dāng)我站到教室前面時(shí)，他們似乎真的對(duì)我的肯尼亞背景很感興趣。對(duì)于這些人來(lái)說(shuō)，我并沒(méi)有不同，是他們當(dāng)中的一員。我再一次感到如魚得水了。

捍衛(wèi)自己的權(quán)益

校內(nèi)種族欺凌行為被嚴(yán)令禁止，不可容忍。但當(dāng)老師不在場(chǎng)時(shí)，這種情況仍然可能發(fā)生。對(duì)抗種族欺凌可能對(duì)你造成很大傷害，尤其當(dāng)你只是一名青少年。所以，當(dāng)你看見(jiàn)任何種族歧視的行為，告訴他人尤為重要。種族的差異性應(yīng)該受到贊頌和接納，而不是遭遇懲罰。