The United States as a Multicultural Society

美国是一个多元文化的社会

       The united states say that the United States is “a melting pot”, while others say it is “a salad platter.” In my view, rather than a melting pot, the United States today may be more accurately described as a multicultural society in which acculturation is defined more in terms of “integration” than “assimilation.” In other words, people in the United States today can maintain some original cultural identity and values and participate meaningfully in the larger society.

       一些人认为美国是一个大融炉，而另一些人则认为它是一个沙拉盘，依我看来，今天的美国不是一个融炉，而应该更准确地称之为一个多元文化社会，在这个社会里，外来文化得到了兼容并包，而并没有被（主流文化）同化掉。换句话说，今天生活在美国的人都保持了他们固有的文化身份和价值观，同时有目的地参与社会分工。

       The melting pot myth is never true. The United States has always been a heterogeneous society with cohesion based partly on mutual respect and partly on one group’s values domination all others. The salad platter analogy suggests that the elements of the salad maintain their own taste or identity but exist together to create the whole.

    关于融炉的说话是不正确的。美国从来都是一个多元的社会，是由不同文化之间的互相尊重和主流文化对其他文化的支配共同结合而成的。而沙拉盘的说法则反映的是：沙拉的各种成分都各自保持了自己固有的口味和风格，但又结合在一起组合成了这整道菜。

       Some people argue that multiculturalism has not meant the integration of diverse cultures, but an acceptance by the dominant ethnic category of the “exotic” foods, dress and rituals of the cultural minorities.

       一些人认为多元文化主义不是指多种文化的综合，而是指占支配地位的主流文化对少数团体的外来文化的接受，包括他们的食物、服饰以及礼节仪式。

       I think that the debate over multiculturalism is essentially the debate over whose values will be imposed. In a true multicultural society, individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds exist without socially enforced power differences. But that is not the case, at least, with the United States.

       我认为讨论多元文化主义本质上就是讨论谁的价值观将被利用的问题。在一个真正的多元文化社会里，有着多种文化背景的个人生活在一起，在社会强加的权力方面是没有区别的，至少美国不是这样的一个多元文化社会。

       Perhaps there has never been such a thing as monocultural society. Indeed, each person is of many cultures simultaneously. One has a sexual identity, a racial identity, a religious identity, a class identity, a school identity, an identity from the friends one keeps, a family identity, a geographic identity, and so on. We tend to be relatively unconscious of other cultures, and unfortunately, much hostility is created by our ignorance of other cultures and the failure to recognize their existence.

       也许根本就不存在多元文化社会，就像不存在单元文化社会一样。实际上，每个人都体现着多种文化。你有性别身份，有民族身份，有宗教身份，阶级身份，学校身份，同朋友交往的身份，家庭身份，地理身份等等。我们开始相对地忽略其它文化，不幸地是：大多数冲突都是由我们忽略其他文化，无视其它文化的存在产生的。

       In many societies there is hierarchy of status and power. The power elites need not be the majority. The power elites are the individuals who have influence within the social, political, legal, economic, and religious institutions. In the United States, the power elite controls both the material resources and goods of the country and the means and manner of production and distribution.

       在许多社会中都存在身份和权力的等级制度。拥有权力的人不占大多数。当权者是那些影响社会、政治，法律、经济和宗教的人们。在美国，当权者控制着国家的原料和商品以及产品的生产和分配。

       In the unites states, when you speak of upper, middle and lower classes you speak of not of national origin or ethnicity but of power and control over material resources. Economic power in the United States today is largely held by youthful, able-bodied white males. Whites in the United States tend not to recognize the existence of a white culture. White culture resulted from a synthesis of ideas, values and beliefs inherited from European ethnic groups in the United States. As the dominant culture in the United States, white culture is the foundation of social norms and organizations.

       在美国，当你谈到上层，中层和下层阶级的时候，你谈论的不是他们的民族成分，而是他们掌握的权力和控制的物质资源。在今天的美国，经济力量主要掌握在年轻的，强壮的白种男人手里。在美国，白种人开始忽略自身文化的存在，因为他们的文化是来自于生活在美国的欧洲一些民族群落的思想，价值观和信仰等文化。作为美国的主导文化，白种人文化是社会规范和组织的基础。

       In terms of cross-cultural communication, the dominant white culture includes communication patterns of Standard English, direct eye contact, limited physical contact, and controlled emotions. Nondominant groups are supposed to follow that pattern in one way or another.

       在跨文化交流方面，主导的白种人文化包括标准英语的交流模式，直接的眼神交流，避免身体接触和控制情绪等方面。非主流文化群体则以这样或那样的方式遵循着主流文化。

       A multicultural society, therefore, faces the communication challenges presented by multiple language use, contrasting values, and cultural prejudice.

       一个多元文化社会，因为多种语言，及矛盾着的价值观和文化歧视的存在将面临着交流方面的挑战。