又中又英｜Racial segregation - Michael Chugani 褚简宁

As I said in my previous column, I donated most of my books when I left Hong Kong for the US last August. One of the books I donated was the 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird by the American author Harper Lee. As I said in my previous column, she is not Chinese even though her last name is Lee. The name Lee was popular in the 19th century as a surname and as a first name. Harper Lee won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel. As I promised in my previous column, I will explain why the novel is so controversial that many groups want to ban it.

The story takes place in the 1930s in the US Deep South during the Great Depression. The Deep South is an area in the southern US made up of the states of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Texas, Florida, and Arkansas are sometimes included. The region is known for its past racism against blacks, the racist group Ku Klux Klan, and racial segregation. The word "depression" means a long and severe economic recession. The Great Depression started in the US after a stock market collapse. It spread globally, lasting from 1929 to around 1940. The expression "racial segregation" means to separate people based on race. The Deep South states used to separate blacks and whites by having different schools, residential areas, and restaurants.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is so controversial because it's about racism, the Ku Klux Klan, rape, and the use of the racist word "nigger" to describe blacks. It comes from the Spanish word "negro" which means black. The word "negro" was often used to describe black Americans. The word "nigger" is considered so racist that it is no longer politically acceptable to use it. People say "the N-word" instead. African Americans want to ban To Kill a Mockingbird because they feel it is racist and uses the word "nigger". Some whites want to ban it because they feel the book unfairly portrays them as racist.
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正如我在上一篇文章中所说，上年八月我离开香港到美国时，把大部份的藏书都捐了出去。其中一本我捐出的书是一九六○年的小说《梅冈城故事》，由美国作家哈波‧李所著。正如我在上一篇文章所说，虽然她姓李，她却并非华人。在十九世纪Lee是一个很常见的姓，作为名字用也很普遍。哈波‧李凭着这部小说获得普立兹奖。正如我在上篇承诺过大家的，我会讲解为何这部小说那么具争议性，令有许多团体都想要加以禁制。

故事发生于一九三○年代经济大萧条（Great Depression）时期的美国深南部（Deep South）。The Deep South是指美国南部的地区，由佐治亚州、阿拉巴马州、南卡罗莱纳州、密西西比州以及路易斯安娜州所组成；有时德州、佛罗里达州以及阿肯色州都会包括在内。这个地区从前出了名是歧视黑人、有种族主义组织三K党，以及推行种族隔离（racial segregation）政策。Depression是指长久而严峻的经济萧条。一次股票市场崩盘后，美国开始了经济大萧条（Great Depression），随后席卷全球，由一九二九年起，延续至一九四○年左右。习语 "racial segregation" 意思是按照种族将人群分隔。美国深南部（Deep South）州分过去曾经分隔黑人与白人，让两个种族的人上不同的学校、活在不同的住区以及去不同的餐厅。

小说《梅冈城故事》那么具争议性，正正因为它是关于种族歧视、三K党、强奸，以及用上种族主义色彩字眼 "nigger" 去形容黑人。这个字来自西班牙语"negro"，意思是黑色，而 "negro" 这个字过去常被用来形容美国黑人。至于 "nigger"（黑鬼）一字，也被认为带浓厚种族主义，现在再用已变得非常政治不正确，人们会改为说 "the N-word"。非裔美国人想禁了《梅冈城故事》一书，因为他们认为小说带种族歧视，又用上了 "nigger" 一字；另一些白人也想禁了它，因认为小说不公平地将他们描绘成种族主义份子。[email protected]
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁