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  3. One hundred years ago, "Colored" was the typical way of referring to America

One hundred years ago, "Colored" was the typical way of referring to America

游客2023-08-10  24
问题     One hundred years ago, "Colored" was the typical way of referring to Americans of African descent. Twenty years later, it was purposefully dropped to make way for "Negro. " By the late 1960s, that term was overtaken by "Black. " And then, at a press conference in Chicago in 1988, Jesse Jackson declared that "African American" was the term to embrace. This one was chosen because it echoed the labels of groups, such as "Italian Americans" and "Irish Americans," that had already been freed of widespread discrimination.
    A century’s worth of calculated name changes point to the fact that naming any group is a politically freighted exercise. A 2001 study cataloged all the ways in which the term " Black" carried connotations(涵义)that were more negative than those of "African American. "
    But if it was known that "Black" people were viewed differently from "African Americans," researchers, until now, hadn’t identified what that gap in perception was derived from. A recent study, conducted by Emory University’s Erika Hall, found that "Black" people are viewed more negatively than "African Americans" because of a perceived difference in socioeconomic status. As a result, "Black" people are thought of as less competent and as having colder personalities.
    The study’s most striking findings shed light on the racial biases permeating the professional world.
    Even seemingly harmless details on a resume, it appears, can tap into recruiters’ biases. A job application might mention affiliations with groups such as the " Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers" or the "National Black Employees Association," the names of which apparently have consequences, and are also beyond their members’ control.
    In one of the study’s experiments, subjects were given a brief description of a man from Chicago with the last name Williams. To one group, he was identified as "African-American," and another was told he was "Black. " With little else to go on, they were asked to estimate Mr. Williams’s salary, professional standing, and educational background.
    The "African-American" group estimated that he earned about $ 37,000 a year and had a two-year college degree. The "Black" group, on the other hand, put his salary at about $ 29,000, and guessed that he had only "some" college experience. Nearly three-quarters of the first group guessed that Mr. Williams worked at a managerial level, while only 38.5 percent of the second group thought so.
    Hall’s findings suggest there’s an argument to be made for electing to use "African American," though one can’t help but get the sense that it’s a decision that papers over the urgency of continued progress. Perhaps a new phrase is needed, one that can bring everyone one big step closer to realizing Du Bois’s original, idealistic hope: "It’s not the name—it’s the Thing that counts. " [br] What is Dr. Du Bois’s ideal?
选项 A、All Americans enjoy equal rights.
B、A person is judged by their worth.
C、A new term is created to address African Americans.
D、All ethnic groups share the nation’s continued progress.
答案 A
解析 定位句提到杜博斯的理想：“称谓不重要，事物本身才重要”。这个理想里面，Thing很关键。文章第二段提到，给任何一个群体命名都是一种承载着政治意义的活动。从全篇来看，对非洲裔美国人称谓的每次变化，都体现了对racial bias(种族歧视)的弱化。可是文章最后，作者提到，a new phrase isneeded(需要一个新词汇)，这说明作者认为“African American”这个提法还不合适，还需要不断的改进。再结合杜博斯的话，“称谓不重要，事物本身才重要”。美国政府不断更换称谓就是为了消除种族歧视，而种族歧视的根源就是美国人没有真正地实现全民平等，所以由此得出，杜博斯的理想就是：所有美国人都享有平等的权利，故答案为A)。
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