他們離開中國(guó)追逐美國(guó)夢(mèng)，如今為何反對(duì)教育平權(quán)

IRVINE, Calif. — George Li grew up in a Chinese society that he felt did not offer a fair shake. The government of Mao Zedong deemed his family capitalists and imprisoned his father.

加州歐文——喬治·李在中國(guó)社會(huì)長(zhǎng)大，他覺(jué)得那里沒(méi)有給人公平的對(duì)待。毛澤東政府認(rèn)為他的家庭是走資派，監(jiān)禁了他的父親。

So when Mr. Li moved to California in 1999, he felt he had found his American dream. He worked hard and earned his rewards: a master’s degree, then a job that allowed him to live comfortably with his wife and two children.

因此，當(dāng)喬治·李1999年搬到加州時(shí)，他覺(jué)得他已經(jīng)找到了他的美國(guó)夢(mèng)。他努力工作并獲得了回報(bào)：一個(gè)碩士學(xué)位，然后一份讓他與妻子及兩個(gè)孩子能過(guò)上舒適生活的工作。

But four years ago, he became alarmed when a co-worker told him about a state measure that would allow California’s public universities to use affirmative action in their admissions. Fearing that this would hurt his children’s educational chances, Mr. Li for the first time in his life became politically active.

但在四年前，當(dāng)一名同事告訴他，一項(xiàng)州措施將允許加州公立大學(xué)在招生中采用平權(quán)政策時(shí)，他開始警覺(jué)。由于擔(dān)心這會(huì)損害他的孩子受教育的機(jī)會(huì)，喬治·李平生第一次在政治上變得活躍了起來(lái)。

He signed a petition and donated money to a campaign to stop the affirmative action measure. He sped up his timeline to become a citizen so that he could vote. He campaigned for Republican candidates for the State Legislature. More recently, he took the lead of a local Chinese-American political action committee, called The Orange Club, which is now focused on supporting California Republican candidates in the midterms.

他簽署了一份請(qǐng)?jiān)笗?，并向一?xiàng)旨在停止平權(quán)行動(dòng)措施的運(yùn)動(dòng)捐款。他加緊辦理入籍事宜，以便能夠投票。他參與了支持州議會(huì)選舉共和黨候選人的競(jìng)選活動(dòng)。最近，他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了一個(gè)名為金橙俱樂(lè)部(Orange Club)的當(dāng)?shù)孛兰A人政治行動(dòng)委員會(huì)，該俱樂(lè)部現(xiàn)在致力于在中期選舉中支持加州的共和黨候選人。

“We just realized if we’re not involved in this process, the political process in America, we would be forgotten,” Mr. Li said.

“我們剛剛意識(shí)到，如果我們不參與這個(gè)進(jìn)程，美國(guó)的政治進(jìn)程，我們就會(huì)被遺忘，”喬治·李說(shuō)。

Mr. Li, 49, is among an increasingly vocal group of Chinese-Americans who were once politically dormant but have been galvanized by the fight over race-based school admissions.

49歲的喬治·李是越來(lái)越多曾對(duì)政治無(wú)動(dòng)于衷，但卻因基于種族的學(xué)校招生問(wèn)題引發(fā)的斗爭(zhēng)而受到激發(fā)的華裔美國(guó)人之一。

From Irvine to Houston to the Washington suburbs, Chinese activist groups like The Orange Club are beginning to capture the attention of lawmakers and influence policy debates. Much of their political activity can be found on the Chinese social media website WeChat, where the activists share articles and spread their message. And they have a clear litmus test for any politician seeking their support: opposition to affirmative action.

從歐文、休斯頓到華盛頓郊區(qū)，像金橙俱樂(lè)部這樣的華人活動(dòng)團(tuán)體開始吸引立法者的注意并影響政策辯論。它們的大部分政治活動(dòng)可以在中國(guó)社交媒體平臺(tái)微信上找到，活動(dòng)人士在微信上分享文章并傳播信息。對(duì)于任何尋求支持的政界人士來(lái)說(shuō)，它們都有一個(gè)明確的試金石：反對(duì)平權(quán)行動(dòng)。

Their numbers are small compared with the overall population of China-born immigrants, which has exploded over recent decades, from about 472,000 in 1980 to more than 2.8 million in 2016, according to Andrew Beveridge, a professor at Queens College, based on census data.

皇后學(xué)院(Queens College)教授安德魯·貝弗里奇(Andrew Beveridge)表示，根據(jù)人口普查數(shù)據(jù)，與在中國(guó)出生的移民總?cè)藬?shù)相比，他們的人數(shù)很少。近幾十年來(lái)，中國(guó)出生的移民人數(shù)激增，從1980年的47.2萬(wàn)人增加到了2016年的280多萬(wàn)人。

But a number of recent fights over education have highlighted their growing political clout. Dozens of Chinese-American groups helped draft a complaint filed with the Justice Department in 2015 that accuses Harvard of discriminating against Asian-Americans in admissions. They were on the front lines of protests several weeks ago when Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York proposed changing the admissions criteria for his city’s specialized high schools, where Asian-Americans account for more than half the population.

但是最近一些關(guān)于教育的斗爭(zhēng)凸顯了他們?nèi)找嬖鲩L(zhǎng)的政治影響力。幾十個(gè)美籍華人組織在2015年幫助起草了一份提交司法部的申訴，指控哈佛大學(xué)在招生中歧視亞裔美國(guó)人。幾周前，當(dāng)紐約市長(zhǎng)白思豪(Bill de Blasio)提議改變?cè)撌刑厥飧咧械恼猩鷺?biāo)準(zhǔn)時(shí)，他們站在了抗議的前線，在那些學(xué)校的學(xué)生中，亞裔美國(guó)人占一半以上。

The activists have yielded victories. In California, they helped defeat the affirmative action measure, known as S.C.A. 5. And in New York, the Brooklyn borough president, Eric Adams, initially supported Mr. de Blasio’s plan, only to backtrack after the uproar led by Chinese-Americans.

這些活動(dòng)人士已經(jīng)取得了勝利。在加州，他們幫助擊敗了平權(quán)行動(dòng)措施，即《第五號(hào)加州憲法修正案》(S.C.A. 5.)。在紐約，布魯克林區(qū)行政長(zhǎng)官埃里克·亞當(dāng)斯(Eric Adams)最初支持白思豪的計(jì)劃，但在遭到華裔大舉抗議之后，他放棄了。

The debate over race in education centers on how much schools should try to control their racial makeup. At many elite universities and specialized high schools, black and Hispanic students are underrepresented, while Asian and white students are overrepresented relative to their overall population.

關(guān)于教育中種族問(wèn)題的爭(zhēng)論集中在學(xué)校應(yīng)該在多大程度上努力控制它們學(xué)生的種族構(gòu)成。在許多精英大學(xué)和特殊高中，黑人和西語(yǔ)裔學(xué)生的比例偏低，而亞裔和白人學(xué)生的比例相對(duì)于他們的總?cè)丝趤?lái)說(shuō)偏高。

Activists like Mr. Li worry that if schools calibrate their student ratios around race, Asian students are most likely to lose out.

像喬治·李這樣的活動(dòng)人士擔(dān)心，如果學(xué)校按照種族來(lái)調(diào)整學(xué)生比例，亞裔學(xué)生的利益會(huì)受損。

The Orange Club grew out of a group of mostly Chinese-American mothers in Orange County who helped new immigrants navigate the school system and the community. When the affirmative action measure emerged in 2014, several parents in the group began asking what they could do to stop it, said Sarah Yang, who was among those who then founded The Orange Club.

金橙俱樂(lè)部由奧蘭治縣(Orange County)的一群華裔母親創(chuàng)辦，她們幫助新來(lái)的移民適應(yīng)學(xué)校系統(tǒng)和當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)。俱樂(lè)部的發(fā)起者之一莎拉·楊說(shuō)，當(dāng)2014年平權(quán)行動(dòng)措施出臺(tái)時(shí)，該組織中的幾位家長(zhǎng)開始詢問(wèn)他們能做些什么來(lái)阻止這種情況。

Ms. Yang has a 19-year-old son who will be a sophomore at the University of Chicago, and a 16-year-old daughter who is entering 11th grade in high school.

莎拉·楊有一個(gè)19歲的兒子，他將進(jìn)入芝加哥大學(xué)讀大二，她還有一個(gè)16歲的女兒，正在讀高中11年級(jí)。

While the University of Chicago was one of her son’s top choices, Ms. Yang said that there were other elite schools he did not get into.

雖然芝加哥大學(xué)是她兒子的首選之一，但莎拉·楊說(shuō)，還有其他幾個(gè)精英學(xué)校沒(méi)有錄取他。

“Nobody knows for sure what played a role in the decision making,” she said. “But I think in general, race is a part of the equation. How significant, we don’t know. We all understand for Asian kids you must do better in every way in order to get into college compared to other races.”

“沒(méi)有人確切知道什么在錄取決策中發(fā)揮了作用，”她說(shuō)。“但我認(rèn)為總的來(lái)說(shuō)，種族是等式的一部分。有多重要，我們不知道。我們都明白，與其他種族相比，為了進(jìn)入大學(xué)，亞洲孩子必須在各方面做得更好。”

Ms. Yang said her daughter is mindful of the high standards she faces as an Asian-American to get into elite colleges, and she places extra pressure on herself.

莎拉·說(shuō)，她的女兒意識(shí)到她作為亞裔美國(guó)人進(jìn)入精英大學(xué)所面對(duì)的高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，她給了自己額外的壓力。

“That’s something that I feel that’s not fair in a way,” Ms. Yang said. “They have to work extremely hard in order to get into their dream school.”

“這在某種程度上是不公平的，”她說(shuō)。“為了進(jìn)入他們夢(mèng)想中的學(xué)校，他們必須非常非常努力。”

Ms. Yang said she was familiar with racial struggle. She had to overcome a lot of challenges to become the vice president of engineering at a technology company dominated by white men. Schools, she said, should be the great equalizer, a place where your race or gender should not give you an advantage.

莎拉·說(shuō)她對(duì)種族斗爭(zhēng)很熟悉。她克服許多挑戰(zhàn)，才成為了一家由白人男性主導(dǎo)的科技公司的工程副總裁。她說(shuō)，學(xué)校應(yīng)該是一個(gè)偉大的、創(chuàng)造公平的地方，一個(gè)你的種族或性別不應(yīng)該給你任何優(yōu)勢(shì)的地方。

But affirmative action turned that notion on its head, Ms. Yang said. Of S.C.A. 5, she said, “I didn’t think that the U.S. could have such an unfair bill.”

但她說(shuō)，平權(quán)法案徹底顛覆了這個(gè)觀念。關(guān)于第五號(hào)加州憲法修正案，她表示，“我沒(méi)想到美國(guó)能有這么不公平的法案。”

During the fight over the measure, Ms. Yang and other Chinese-Americans in Orange County held meetings, handed out fliers and signed online petitions. They protested in front of the office of Assemblyman Ed Chau, who eventually broke with his fellow Democrats and came out against the bill.

為了抗?fàn)帲_拉·楊和奧蘭治縣的其他華裔美國(guó)人開會(huì)、發(fā)傳單、在網(wǎng)上簽名請(qǐng)?jiān)?。他們到州眾議員周本立(Ed Chau)的辦公室前舉行抗議，他最終與民主黨同僚決裂，并出來(lái)公開反對(duì)該法案。

In late 2014, the group interviewed and endorsed four Republican candidates for the State Legislature who opposed affirmative action. It enlisted dozens of volunteers to campaign for them. All four candidates, none of them incumbents, won.

2014年底，這個(gè)團(tuán)體與四名反對(duì)平權(quán)行動(dòng)的共和黨州立法機(jī)構(gòu)候選人舉行了會(huì)面，并對(duì)他們表示支持。它招募了數(shù)十名志愿者，為他們助選。這四名非現(xiàn)任議員的候選人，都贏得了選舉。

“They were a constant presence in my campaign office,” said Young Kim, a Republican who unseated an incumbent Democratic assemblywoman and is now running for Congress. “This was the first time that I knew that there were very active Chinese-American parents that were organizing this movement, specifically to fight against S.C.A. 5.”

“他們經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的我的競(jìng)選辦公室，”共和黨人金映玉(Young Kim)說(shuō)。她取代了現(xiàn)任的民主黨州眾議院女議員，目前正在競(jìng)選國(guó)會(huì)席位。“這是我第一次知道，有非常活躍的華裔美國(guó)父母在組織這場(chǎng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，特別是為了奮力抵抗第五號(hào)加州憲法修正案。”

Even after winning the fight in California, Mr. Li and other activists remain wary. Mr. Li said it was important to prevent Democrats in the California Legislature from gaining a supermajority that could allow them to pass a bill reinstating affirmative action. He said he was still worried about what the future held for his 13-year-old son, despite his strong academic performance.

即使在加利福尼亞贏得斗爭(zhēng)之后，喬治·李和其他活動(dòng)人士仍然保持著警惕。他表示，重要的是，要防止民主黨在加州的立法機(jī)構(gòu)獲得絕大多數(shù)席位，這可能會(huì)讓他們得以通過(guò)恢復(fù)平權(quán)行動(dòng)的法案。他說(shuō)，他13歲的兒子盡管學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)優(yōu)異，但還是擔(dān)心他的前途。

“I think for him it’s going to be really, really tough if nothing is changed in current college admissions system policies and practice,” he said. “As an Asian male, it’s going to be very tough for him to get admitted to a top, elite school.”

“我認(rèn)為，如果現(xiàn)行的大學(xué)招生政策和做法不改變的話，對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)將會(huì)非常非常艱難，”他說(shuō)。“作為亞洲男性，進(jìn)入頂尖的精英學(xué)校將會(huì)非常難。”

His daughter is entering her senior year pursuing environmental studies at the University of California, Berkeley — a college Mr. Li said he did not think she would have gotten into if affirmative action had returned to California.

喬治·李的女兒在加州大學(xué)伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley)攻讀環(huán)境研究，即將念大四。他表示，如果平權(quán)行動(dòng)重回加州，她恐怕是進(jìn)不了這所大學(xué)的。

For many Chinese families, a focus on education is deeply rooted in the tradition they came from.

對(duì)于許多中國(guó)家庭來(lái)說(shuō)，對(duì)教育的重視深深植根于他們的傳統(tǒng)。

The civil service exam was a staple of Chinese governance for more than 1,000 years, leading to the rise of a gentry class of bureaucrats who supplanted aristocrats with inherited privileges. The test was a powerful engine of social mobility. The exam was abandoned in 1911, when the Qing imperial dynasty was overthrown.

在1000多年的時(shí)間里，科舉制度一直是中國(guó)主要的統(tǒng)治方式，它導(dǎo)致了一個(gè)官僚士紳階層的崛起，取代了繼承特權(quán)的貴族。這個(gè)考試是社會(huì)流動(dòng)性的強(qiáng)大引擎。隨著清朝推翻，科舉制度于1911年廢除。

Later, under Mao and during the massive upheaval of the Cultural Revolution, schools were closed. When they reopened after the revolution ended in 1976, it was clear just how much the country yearned for education. More than 11 million students flocked to take the college entrance exams over the next two years.

后來(lái)，在毛澤東的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)下，以及文革動(dòng)亂期間，學(xué)校停課。1976年文革結(jié)束后，它們才恢復(fù)招生，這個(gè)國(guó)家對(duì)教育的渴望顯而易見，在接下來(lái)的兩年時(shí)間里，有超過(guò)1100萬(wàn)的考生參加了高考。

Chinese-Americans, most of whom voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, are split on whether to support affirmative action. Their support for it has fallen in recent years, from 78 percent in 2012 to 41 percent in 2016, according to the National Asian-American Survey. Among other Asian-Americans over that time, backing for affirmative action has remained consistent, at nearly three in four.

2016年的大選中，大多投票給希拉里·克林頓(Hillary Clinton)的華裔美國(guó)人在是否支持平權(quán)法案的問(wèn)題上存在分歧。根據(jù)全美亞裔調(diào)查(National Asian-American Survey)的數(shù)據(jù)，他們對(duì)該政策的支持率下降，從2012年的78%降至2016年的41%。在同一時(shí)期的其他亞裔當(dāng)中，支持平權(quán)行動(dòng)的比例保持不變，接近四分之三。

Alex T. Tom, the executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco, said that he supports affirmative action because he believes that Asian-Americans, like others, benefit from learning in diverse environments.

舊金山進(jìn)步華人協(xié)會(huì)(Chinese Progressive Association)會(huì)長(zhǎng)亞歷克斯·T·湯姆(Alex T. Tom)說(shuō)，他支持平權(quán)行動(dòng)，因?yàn)樗嘈?，亞裔跟其他人一樣，也能受益于在多元化的環(huán)境中學(xué)習(xí)。

The son of a Chinese father and Taiwanese mother, Mr. Tom, 42, said he did not get into his two top college choices — the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles. But he did go to the University of California, San Diego, where he said he was exposed to racially diverse communities.

湯姆今年42歲，父親是中國(guó)人，母親是臺(tái)灣人，他說(shuō)他沒(méi)有進(jìn)入自己優(yōu)先選擇的兩所大學(xué)——加州大學(xué)伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley)和加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校(University of California, Los Angeles)。但他上了加州大學(xué)圣地亞哥分校(University of California, San Diego)，他說(shuō)，在那里，他接觸了種族多元化社區(qū)。

“There are benefits of living in a pluralistic society,” he said. “And there’s benefits that I gained from being able to have a suite mate who was black, and also someone who was Latino and white.”

“生活在多元化的社會(huì)中是有好處的，”他說(shuō)。“我有一個(gè)黑人室友，還有拉丁美洲和白人室友，他們都讓我獲益匪淺。”

And he said that while some Chinese immigrants may feel that they can overcome potential discrimination by having degrees from elite institutions, they would still face racism.

他說(shuō)，一些中國(guó)移民可能認(rèn)為他們可以通過(guò)獲得精英機(jī)構(gòu)的學(xué)位來(lái)克服潛在歧視，但他們?nèi)匀粫?huì)面臨種族主義。

“You’re still, no matter what, seen as kind of like an other in this country,” he said.

“無(wú)論如何，你仍然像是這個(gè)國(guó)家的異類，”他說(shuō)。

One argument for affirmative action is that it would help correct for the harm done to generations of African-Americans who have faced systemic racism.

平權(quán)行動(dòng)的一個(gè)論點(diǎn)是，它有助于糾正幾代人都面臨系統(tǒng)性種族主義的非裔美國(guó)人所受的傷害。

But a number of other Chinese-American activists said they believed that race-based admissions were one of the few things in the United States that represented true discrimination. Tony Xu, a member of the Silicon Valley Chinese Association, said he was not so sure about other allegations of racism.

但其他許多華裔活動(dòng)人士表示，他們認(rèn)為，以種族為基礎(chǔ)的錄取是美國(guó)為數(shù)不多的、代表著真正歧視的事物之一。硅谷華人協(xié)會(huì)成員托尼·許(Tony Xu)表示，他對(duì)其他種族主義指控就沒(méi)那么確定了。

“Inside people’s minds, maybe there’s something still there,” he said. “Systematically there’s no discrimination. I don’t believe that; I don’t feel that.”

“在人們頭腦里，也許還有一些東西依然存在，”他說(shuō)。“沒(méi)有什么系統(tǒng)性的歧視。我不相信;我沒(méi)有感覺(jué)到。”

Instead, activists said the slights they experience — whether it’s someone mocking their accent or the shape of their eyes — are limited to personal interactions.

相反，活動(dòng)人士說(shuō)，他們所經(jīng)歷的瑣事——無(wú)論是他人嘲弄他們的口音還是嘲笑他們眼睛的形狀——僅限于個(gè)人互動(dòng)。

“We never feel like this is something the whole society is doing,” Ms. Yang said. “You just more feel like this is just one person. We don’t really feel it is the system that created that discrimination.”

“我們從未覺(jué)得這是整個(gè)社會(huì)所做的事，”莎拉·楊說(shuō)。“你會(huì)覺(jué)得這只是個(gè)人行為。我們并不真正覺(jué)得是體制在制造這種歧視。”

For some of the activists, their political work has led them to take up other issues. In Maryland, a sanctuary city measure proposed in 2017 failed after a Chinese activist group protested it. The law would have barred the use of state and local funds to aid federal immigration enforcement. The Chinese-Americans in opposition said that since they had followed this country’s immigration law and waited patiently for citizenship, others should, too.

一些活動(dòng)人士的政治工作還導(dǎo)致他們面臨其他問(wèn)題。在馬里蘭州，一個(gè)中國(guó)激進(jìn)組織提出抗議后，2017年提出的一項(xiàng)城市庇護(hù)措施沒(méi)有獲得通過(guò)。該法律如實(shí)施，將禁止使用州和地方資金來(lái)幫助聯(lián)邦移民執(zhí)法。反對(duì)該措施的華裔美國(guó)人說(shuō)，既然他們遵守了這個(gè)國(guó)家的移民法，耐心等待獲得公民身份，其他人也應(yīng)該這樣做。

The Orange Club is now focused on helping Republicans win in midterm races this fall. Orange County is host to a number of competitive House races, and the group is also supporting John Cox, the Republican candidate for governor of California.

金橙俱樂(lè)部現(xiàn)在專注于幫助共和黨人在今年秋季的中期選舉中獲勝。奧蘭治縣有很多競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈的眾議院席位角逐，該俱樂(lè)部還支持共和黨候選人約翰·考克斯(John Cox)競(jìng)選加州州長(zhǎng)。

In June, a post on an Orange Club page sought to rally volunteers to help in the final days of the congressional primary campaign of Bob Huff, a Republican and former state senator. The article asked followers to add their names to the post if they could help. Twenty-eight people signed up for what was ultimately an unsuccessful campaign.

今年6月，金橙俱樂(lè)部頁(yè)面上的一篇文章呼吁志愿者在共和黨和前州參議員鮑勃·赫夫(Bob Huff)的國(guó)會(huì)初選活動(dòng)的最后幾天提供幫助。文章說(shuō)，如果擁躉們可以提供幫助，請(qǐng)將自己的名字填寫到帖子中。共有28人報(bào)名參加，競(jìng)選最后失敗了。

“Let’s not forget that Bob Huff was alone fighting against S.C.A. 5 in the California Senate in 2014,” the post read, adding that it was time “to pay him back with tangible action. God helps those who help themselves. Helping Bob Huff is helping the Chinese people ourselves.”

“我們不要忘記，2014年，鮑勃·赫夫在加州參議院獨(dú)自與第五號(hào)加州憲法修正案作斗爭(zhēng)，”文章說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在是時(shí)候“以實(shí)際行動(dòng)報(bào)答他。上帝助自助者。幫助鮑勃·赫夫就是幫助我們?nèi)A人。”