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Racial discrimination deeply rooted in US military

美军种族歧视根深蒂固

来源:China Military Online 责任编辑:Li Wei
2021-04-07 17:45:52

By Peng Chunli彭春丽

近期,美国首位非洲裔国防部长奥斯汀呼吁消除种族歧视,要求军队彻查包括种族主义、无政府极端主义等极端主义行为。有分析认为,长期以来,种族歧视不仅在美军中屡见不鲜,更根植于美国价值文化深处。此次整顿的象征意义大于实际效果,美国一直自诩的民主人权灯塔形象,如今正逐步衰落。

America’s first African Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently called for addressing racial discrimination by thoroughly investigating extremism in the ranks, including racism and anarchist extremism. Analysts said, for a long time, racial discrimination is not only a common phenomenon in the US military, but also deeply rooted in American values and culture. The military shakedown is more symbolic than realistic, and America is quickly stepping down from its self-claimed pedestal for democracy and human rights.

种族歧视由来已久

The long-standing racial discrimination

美空军2020年12月发布关于空军内部种族主义问题的调查报告显示,非洲裔与白人军人在待遇、升迁、处分等方面有显著差别,上至高级将领,下至基层军人,非洲裔普遍遭受歧视。

According to a report on its racist problems issued by the US Air Force in December 2020, African Americans in the air force, ranging from senior officers to the ranks, are subject to widespread discrimination in treatment, promotion and punishment.

2020年,非洲裔指挥官查尔斯•布朗出任美空军参谋长时曾坦言,自己的成功“并不意味着自由和平等”。奥斯汀在3月21日接受采访时也称,他自1995年担任第82空降师作战军官以来障碍重重,“白人至上主义已成军中的自觉偏见”。

When General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. was appointed Chief of Staff of the Air Force in 2020, he said point-blank that his success didn’t mean liberty and equality. Austin, in an interview on March 21, also said he has met numerous obstacles in his military career ever since he became operations officer of the 82nd Airborne Division in 1995, and white supremacy has become a conscious prejudice in the military.

美锡拉丘兹大学退役军人和军人家庭研究所的一项调查显示,约1/3的现役军人表示,“亲眼目睹白人至上主义或极端主义在军中出现”。比如,军中出现纳粹十字记号、白人至上组织的纹身和三K党贴纸,还有军人之间纳粹式的敬礼等。

According to a survey conducted by The Institute for Veterans & Military Families at Syracuse University, about 1/3 of active service members in the US claimed to have witnessed white supremacy or extremism in the military, such as the swastika sign, white-supremacist tattoos, KKK stickers, and Nazi salutes between soldiers.

为什么种族主义会在美军长期存在?究其原因,一方面,当前美军高层仍然由白人主导,白人至上主义通常与爱国、复兴美国等绑定。另一方面,伊拉克战争和阿富汗战争爆发后,美军兵员需求量大增,军队为完成招募指标对种族主义一直奉行“不问、不说”政策,甚至帮助应征者掩盖其极端主义纹身。这种美式双重标准饱受外界质疑。

Why has racism existed in the US military for such a long time? On the one hand, the top brass is still dominated by the whites, and white supremacy is usually associated with patriotism and American rejuvenation. On the other hand, after the Iraq War and the Afghan War, the US military has a much larger demand for new recruits and has kept silent on the racist problems in order to enlist enough soldiers, even helping the applicants to cover up their extremist tattoos. Such American-style double standards have been seriously questioned by the outside.

亚裔种族歧视再现

Resurgence of Asian discrimination

与广受关注的非洲裔相比,被关注更少的是亚裔,主流媒体往往对亚裔种族歧视缄默不语。近来,针对亚裔的种族歧视在美再度爆发。

Compared with the widely noticed African Americans, Asian Americans have received little attention as mainstream media tend to keep quiet on discrimination against them. However, an outburst of Asian discrimination resurge in the US lately.

美国“制止仇恨亚太裔美国人组织”近期发布报告显示,自2020年3月19日至今年2月28日,共收到3795起各种类型针对亚裔的种族歧视事件报告。3月21日,美国数十个城市举行集会游行,抗议针对亚裔的种族歧视和仇恨犯罪,是近年来规模最大的亚裔抗议游行活动。然而,标榜客观、中立的《纽约时报》《华盛顿邮报》等美国主流媒体对此保持集体沉默。

A recent report released by Stop AAPI Hate, an American organization, shows that 3,795 Asian discrimination events of various types were reported from March 19 in 2020 to February 28 in 2021. On March 21, protests were organized in tens of cities across the US against discrimination and hate crimes toward Asians, the largest-scale protest of this type in recent years, yet America’s mainstream media, such as New York Times and Washington Post that like to pride themselves on objectivity and neutrality, collectively kept silent on the topic.

据统计,非洲裔约占美军总规模的9%,亚裔约占美军总规模的4.8%。在美军中,亚裔遭受种族歧视的事件同样屡见不鲜——

Statistics show that soldiers of African descent account for about 9% in US military and those of Asian descent 4.8%, the latter being subject to equally serious racial discrimination.

2011年4月2日,海军陆战队下士廖梓源因长期受到歧视和虐待,在美国驻阿富汗军营自杀。

On April 2, 2011, Marine Lance Corporal Harry Lew shot himself at his barracks in Afghanistan due to sustained discrimination and abuse.

2011年10月13日,亚裔军人陈丹妮被发现死于美军哨塔里,生前曾遭受侮辱和虐待。

On October 13, 2011, Asian-American private Danny Chen was found dead on duty after enduring intolerable racial hazing and harassment.

……

近年来,美国政治限于分裂,一些政客甚至公然为白人至上主义推波助澜,美国社会种族歧视愈演愈烈。美方动辄对他国人权状况肆意抹黑,却在谈到本国人权问题时轻描淡写,充分暴露了美式民主的虚伪本质。

With the increasingly divided politics in the US over recent years, some politicians are even publicly rooting for white supremacy, adding fuel to racial discrimination in American society. While the US is smearing and lying about the human rights situation in other countries, it always plays down the grave human rights problems on its own soil, which exposes the hypocritical nature of the so-called American democracy.

整顿能否真正见效

Will the shakedown really work?

美军种族主义由来已久,此次整顿能否真正见效?这需要回答两个问题:一是国防部是真为消除种族歧视问题,还是另有所图?二是奥斯汀掌管的国防部有根治种族歧视的能力吗?

Will the latest shakedown ordered by Defense Secretary Austin work on the long-standing racism in US military? Well, there are two questions to answer. First, did the Department of Defense (DOD) take the step really to root out racial discrimination or for some ulterior motives? Second, is the DOD under Austin’s charge capable of rooting out the problem?

毋庸置疑,整治种族歧视历来是美“政治正确”的必备选项,而非为了真正解决问题。五角大楼新闻秘书约翰•科比3月29日指出,美军60天整顿的目标不是从军队搜集信息,而是为加强美军价值观。美众议院议员马特•盖兹则指责奥斯汀对待极端主义的审查,无非是把军队由一个有能力的机构变成一个由左翼控制的机构。

There is no doubt that addressing racial discrimination has always been the right choice to be “politically correct” in the US rather than a way to really solve the problem. Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on March 29 that the 60-day stand-down is not ordered to collect information from the military, but to reinforce its values. Matt Gaetz, a member of the US House of Representatives, criticized Austin’s investigation into military extremism just for turning the DOD from a capable organization into one controlled by left-wingers.

此外,尽管此次整顿主要针对白人至上主义,但奥斯汀并没有直言不讳,而是定义为范围更广的极端主义,其背后的原因不难揣测。

Besides, although the shakedown was mainly targeted at white supremacy, Austin didn’t pinpoint it directly, but defined it as extremism with a broader sense, and it’s not hard to guess why.

据称,国防部尚不清楚军队中极端主义问题的具体范围,也未掌握具体数据。几周前,众议院军事委员会成员在听证会上表示,只要求指挥官抽出一天时间与在职人员交流极端主义问题,不可能在一天内完全掌握军队种族歧视的真实情况,显然军队高层在追踪问题上做得不够。

It is said that the DOD is unsure about the scope of extremist problems in the military yet or has any specific data. A few weeks ago, members of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services said at a hearing that the DOD only demanded its commanders to spend one day talking to their troops about extremism in the ranks, but it was impossible to fully grasp the situation of racial discrimination within one day. Obviously, the senior officers at Pentagon didn’t do enough to get to the bottom of the issue.

长期以来,美国在多领域肆意推行双重标准,美国防部更是从未清晰地界定什么是极端主义,因此可以预见,美军此次整顿的象征意义必大于实际效果,美军种族歧视仍将长期存在。

For a long time, the US has been practicing double standards in a wide range of areas, and the DOD has never clearly defined what extremism means. It’s foreseeable that the recent shakedown ordered by Austin will be more symbolic than really effective, and racial discrimination in American ranks will continue to exist for a long time to come.