It certainly felt like something of amoment for Asian-Americans in this country: an article about racist insultsflung at one of their own, featured prominently in The New York Times, shared,posted and commented on thousands upon thousands of times.
对这个国家的亚裔美国人而言，这无疑是个不同寻常的时刻：一篇有关他们中的一员遭到种族侮辱的文章醒目地刊登在《纽约时报》上，被成千上万次分享、张贴和评论。
Admittedly, it was a little hard for me totell, because I wrote the article and was in the middle of the torrent ofresponses to it, trying to do my day job as deputy Metro editor for The Times,while also managing my Facebook and Twitter feeds, which were blowing up.
诚然，这话让我来讲有点困难，因为文章是我写的，我正处在外界对它的反应的漩涡之中。我得尽力履行自己作为时报都市版副主编的职责，同时还要管理自己的Facebook和Twitter账户的动态，两个地方都已经炸开了锅。
What seemed indisputable to me, though, onMonday, was that my open letter published online on Sunday, addressed to thewoman who had told my family to go back to China, tapped into a deep reservoirof emotions held by many Asian-Americans about the racial prejudice they haveexperienced and a hunger for it to be recognized more broadly.
不过，到了周一，对我来说似乎无可争辩的是，在给那位让我们一家滚回中国的女士写了一封公开信，并在周日发表在网上后，此事已经激起了许多经历过种族歧视的亚裔美国人郁结多年的情绪，也激发了他们想得到更广泛认可的渴望。
Readers of all races, but especially Asian-Americans,responded in droves with recollections of their own encounters with racisttaunts and with reflections on the nature of the supposed American melting pot.
各个种族的读者纷纷做出回应，尤其是亚裔美国人。他们带来各自遭遇种族歧视的回忆，也带来了对所谓美国大熔炉本质的反思。
Some comments have been edited for clarity.
为便于阅读，以下一些评论经过编辑。
Memories of Racist Attacks
遭受种族歧视的回忆
Many Asian-American readers recalled theirown painful experiences with racist attacks.
许多亚裔美国读者回忆了自己遭遇种族歧视的痛苦经历。
When I was 7, my father had to explain theword ‘chink’to me bc our neighbors had spray painted it on our front steps.
在我七岁的时候，我父亲跟我解释‘chink’（支那佬）是什么意思，因为邻居在我们门前用喷漆写了这个词。
(I am also Korean)
（而我是韩国人）
@melaniekdu
@melaniekdu
Uncle’s car vandalized ‘Go back toChina’while parked in his own driveway in Dallas.
叔叔的车停在他的达拉斯家门口的车道上，被人涂上了‘滚回中国去’几个字。
I was 8.
当时我八岁。
I cried a lot.
经常哭。
@larryluk
@larryluk
My drill sergeants used to tell me in theUS Army we are not white black brown or yellow, we are all Army green.
我的教官跟我说过，在美国陆军没有白黑棕黄，我们都是陆军绿。
Yet when a fellow soldier called me PrivateChing Chong I had to fight tooth and nail to even convince my superiors thatthis was a racist comment.
可是当一个战友管我叫‘大兵清穷’(Private Ching Chong)的时候，单是让上级理解这个词的歧视含义就费了好大劲。
I was willing to fight and bleed for mycountry, was born and raised in this country, yet had to fight to convince themI was as American as they were.
我愿意为我的国家去战斗，去流血，我在这个国家出生、长大，但我还是必须奋力向他们说明，我是跟他们一样的美国人。
CeFaan Kim
CeFaan Kim
A Caucasian lady approached me while I wason my way to my car and said to me, ‘I hate to see yourkind taking the jobs away from real Americans.
在我去自己的车的路上，一名白人女子走到我跟前说，‘我讨厌看到你们这种人从真正的美国人手里抢工作。
Go back to your own country where youbelong.
滚回属于你们自己的国家。
We don’t need second rateteachers in America educating our youth.
我们不需要二流老师在美国教育我们的年轻人。
Your kind must go back or get shot in thehead.’Yep.
你们这种人必须滚回去，否则就要挨枪子儿。
That happened to me too.
’是的。
I am a US citizen and a certified teacher.
我身上也发生过这种事。
Sad but true.
我是一名美国公民，是一名经过认证的老师。
Racism still does exist...
这一切令人心痛，但却是事实。
and this election seems to somehow blow itout of proportion.
种族歧视的确还存在……这一届选举似乎以某种方式将它不成比例地放大了。
Lui Yuri Lai
Lui Yuri Lai
This has also happened to me on the UESoutside my own apartment building.
我也遇到过这种事情，就在上东区我住的公寓楼外面。
A woman walked right up to me and told meto go back to my own country —a country I’ve lived in my entire life.
一个女的径直走到我面前，让我滚回我自己的国家，但我一辈子都生活在这个国家。
I couldn’t even believe itand for people who say ‘they’re just words,’guess what: Words hurt and I went home and cried that day eventhough I didn’t deserve to feel sad for being American.
我甚至都无法相信。至于那些说‘他们就是说说而已’的人，猜猜怎么着：话也能伤人，那天回到家后我哭了，尽管我不应该为身为美国人而感到伤心。
Rachael Moin
Rachael Moin
‘Where Are You Really From?’
你到底来自哪里？
Sometimes, the racism is more subtle, aquestion about where someone is really from, a backhanded compliment about aperson’s English skills.
有时候种族歧视是很隐晦的，比如问一个人到底来自哪里，或是假惺惺地夸奖一个人的英语水平。
The implication is that an Asian-Americanis somehow foreign and not quite American.
这其中的隐含意思是亚裔美国人从某种程度上来说是外国人，不是真正的美国人。
Introduced myself to a neighbor and sheasked, ‘what’s your real name?’elizabeth is my real name.
向一个邻居介绍我自己的时候，她问，‘你的真名叫什么？’伊丽莎白就是我的真名。
@curiousliz
@curiousliz
I met a celebrity a few years ago at a booksigning.
几年前，我在一个图书签售活动上见到了一个名人。
She is an actress, director, and producer.
她是一名演员、导演和制片人。
When my turn came up to have my booksigned, she and I chatted.
轮到给我的书签名时，她和我聊了起来。
She asked me where I was from.
她问我是哪里人。
I replied that I am from Queens.
我说我来自皇后区。
She responds, ‘No...I mean,where are you from? Where were you born?’I said I was bornin Manhattan.
她的反应是，不是…...我的意思是，你来自哪里？你出生在哪里？我说我出生在曼哈顿。
She continued on, ‘What is yournationality?’I said I’m American.
她接着说，你是哪国人？我说我是美国人。
I sensed her frustration with me.
我感觉到了她对我的不满。
She would not let it drop.
她就是死咬着这事不放。
‘Where are your parents from?’she continued.
你父母是哪儿人？她接着说。
I replied, ‘They are fromShanghai and Xiamen.’‘Ahh....’she replied to me, ‘so you are Chinese.’
我回答说，他们来自上海和厦门。‘噢…’她对我说，所以你是中国人。
Lisa T, New York, N.Y.
Lisa T，纽约州纽约市
As an Asian-American physician, sad to say,I still get this in California: ‘No, really, where are you FROM?’ But at leastno one asks me what I routinely got asked on the East Coast: ‘Where did youlearn to speak such beautiful English?’ In the NY public schools, just likeyou.
作为一名亚裔美国医生，很不幸地说，我在加州至今还会遇到这种事：‘说真的，你到底打哪儿来？’但在这里好歹不会像在东海岸那样，时不时就有人问：‘你英语这么棒，在哪里学的？’在纽约的公立学校，跟你一样。
It is a continual reminder that despitebeing American, in many ways, we will always be ‘other.’Thenastiness of the current presidential election only serves to emphasize thisdifference and heighten our anxieties.
这不断在提醒我，尽管身为一个美国人，在很多方面，我们将永远是‘他者’。目前这场下三滥的总统竞选无非是突显了这种差异，加重了我们的忧虑。
GeriMD, California
GeriMD，加利福尼亚州
I’m afourth-generation Chinese-American.
我是第四代华裔美国人。
My father and his father were born in theU.S. I grew up in Queens and have lived in aco-op on the Upper East Side for 16 years.
我的父亲和祖父均出生在美国，我在皇后区长大，在上东区一座合作公寓住了16年。
Soon after our twins were born my wife,also Chinese-American, was in the elevator with our children one day and awoman asked her, ‘Oh, who in the building had twins?’This woman assumedthat my Ivy League lawyer wife was the nanny.
在我们的双胞胎出生后，我妻子——也是华裔美国人——有一次和孩子们在电梯里，一个女人问她，‘噢，这楼里有人生了双胞胎？’此人以为我的这位藤校律师妻子是保姆。
A couple of times after picking up take-outfood I have been admonished by people in my building for my taking the regularelevator instead of the service elevator —with the assumptionthat I am a delivery person, not a resident.
有几次我去拿外卖，公寓楼里的人会训斥我，说我应该搭货梯而不是客梯——他们假定我是送餐员，而不是住客。
We have a long way to go.
我们还有很长的路要走。
Andrew Wong, New York, N.Y.
安德鲁·黄，纽约州纽约市
All Too Common
太稀松平常了
The obvious question about the incident Iexperienced was just how representative it was of the Asian-Americanexperience.
对于我所经历的那件事，一个显而易见的地方是，它在亚裔当中具有大多的代表性。
Readers made it clear: all too common.
读者的反馈清晰表明：它太常见了。
Being Asian means putting up with ‘acceptable’racism inAmerica.
作为一名亚洲人，就意味着你得忍受美国社会中‘尚可以接受的’种族主义。
I experience an incident a week.
我每周都会碰到一次这样的事情。
@hipguide
@hipguide
Routinely asked ‘Where areyou from?’Screamed at, CHINK.
经常会被问，‘你从哪儿来？’被喊中国佬。
Where’s best Chineserestaurant? Ni Hao, Konnichiwa.
那家中国餐馆最好？Ni Hao，Konnichiwa（日语你好）。
@marsdiane
@marsdiane
It happens to Asians on a daily basis, butwe’re generally not outspoken and the population is relatively low, it’s oftenoverlooked.
这种事情每天都发生在亚裔身上，但我们通常比较缄默，人口数量相对较少，经常被忽视。
Yi-Chen Lee
李义晨（Yi-Chen Lee，音）
Political Climate
政治气候
Many readers drew a line from the currentpolitical climate and, in particular, Donald J. Trump’s campaign, to my experience.
很多读者认为当前的政治气候——尤其是特朗普的竞选——与他的经历之间有关联。
Herein lies today’s tragedy.
这就是当今的悲剧所在。
Donald Trump has touched a vein in apopulation mourning a world where their superiority (and entitlement) wentunquestioned.
特朗普打动了一个群体的心弦，他们为失去了一个自己曾经拥有毋庸置疑的优越感（以及权利）的世界而难过。
His not-so-subtle coded message is one of‘If you just put those people in their place, then all will be well again.’ Andit’s just so much more easier to feel this way than to put in the sacrifice andhard work needed to actually improve your own situation.
他的隐秘信息近乎直白，‘如果你让那些人各归其位，那么一切都会又好起来。’比起通过做出牺牲和勤奋工作来改善自己的处境，怨恨别人要省事得多。
BLM, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
BLM, 纽约州纽约市尼亚加拉大瀑布城
While this type of overt racism youexperienced was not invented by the current GOP nominee, his endorsement andvalidation of this sort of tribalism certainly validates it.
你所经历的这种赤裸裸的种族歧视，并非目前这位共和党提名候选人造成的，但他对这种部落意识的支持和认同，的确是起到了推波助澜的作用。
The sad irony of this type of attitude isthat it further isolates these types of people from different cultures and thebenefits of globalization, which further reinforces their tribal attitudes!
具有悲讽意味的是，这种态度将把这种人进一步与不同的文化隔绝开来，使他们无法从全球化中受益，而这又反过来进一步强化他们的部落意识！
Jeff, New York, N.Y.
Jeff， 纽约州纽约市