身為一個港美混血，我感覺有責任在這兒提供我自己的看法。這個對話是個很經典中國對話。怎麽說呢？我在中國的經驗是不少人對混血真是保有那“又聰明又漂亮”的看法。一般中國人真正認識的混血也少，所以他們對混血的了解是從流行媒體而得的。在網上看到人寫“混血都聰明”或者在電視上看到某個混血的明星長得漂亮可能會引起一些人以爲所以的混血都聰明都漂亮。這就是事實。
說混血都長得漂亮是個 racial stereotype 嗎? 肯定是！雖然漂亮是正面的，說某一群人都持有一個 characteristic 還是個 stereotype。在現在的美國說這種 racial stereotype，不管正面負面，還是讓人感覺心理不舒服。去年美國空軍舘校的美式足球總教練說他的隊跑得不如別隊那麽快是因爲空軍舘校的隊缺少黑人。全國的媒體都把這條新聞變成頭條，說這位在空軍舘校二十年的總教練還保持對種族的過時、落後的觀念。因此，這位教練今年退休。
Just because people talk a certain way in society doesn't mean it should be repeated. So what if people say others of mixed nationality are smart and pretty--should we depict people talking about that in language lessons? It would be irresponsible for me to Chinese people to speak English including a lesson that had similar racial stereotypes.
I have many mixed friends, and not all of them were smart or beautiful. Not all of them could speak two languages--I didn't begin to learn Chinese until I was 20. Not all of them considered themselves to be of dual nationality. In the melting pot that is American culture, my friends and I considered ourselves as American as it gets.
While I recognize the reality in the lesson's dialogue, I find contents of the dialogue itself to be about as tasteful as having a dialogue in which two Anglo-Americans talk about how African-Americans can all run fast and Asian-Americans all get good grades. Not very tasteful at all.
Posted on: 混血儿
June 14, 2007 at 5:32 PM身為一個港美混血，我感覺有責任在這兒提供我自己的看法。這個對話是個很經典中國對話。怎麽說呢？我在中國的經驗是不少人對混血真是保有那“又聰明又漂亮”的看法。一般中國人真正認識的混血也少，所以他們對混血的了解是從流行媒體而得的。在網上看到人寫“混血都聰明”或者在電視上看到某個混血的明星長得漂亮可能會引起一些人以爲所以的混血都聰明都漂亮。這就是事實。 說混血都長得漂亮是個 racial stereotype 嗎? 肯定是！雖然漂亮是正面的，說某一群人都持有一個 characteristic 還是個 stereotype。在現在的美國說這種 racial stereotype，不管正面負面，還是讓人感覺心理不舒服。去年美國空軍舘校的美式足球總教練說他的隊跑得不如別隊那麽快是因爲空軍舘校的隊缺少黑人。全國的媒體都把這條新聞變成頭條，說這位在空軍舘校二十年的總教練還保持對種族的過時、落後的觀念。因此，這位教練今年退休。 Just because people talk a certain way in society doesn't mean it should be repeated. So what if people say others of mixed nationality are smart and pretty--should we depict people talking about that in language lessons? It would be irresponsible for me to Chinese people to speak English including a lesson that had similar racial stereotypes. I have many mixed friends, and not all of them were smart or beautiful. Not all of them could speak two languages--I didn't begin to learn Chinese until I was 20. Not all of them considered themselves to be of dual nationality. In the melting pot that is American culture, my friends and I considered ourselves as American as it gets. While I recognize the reality in the lesson's dialogue, I find contents of the dialogue itself to be about as tasteful as having a dialogue in which two Anglo-Americans talk about how African-Americans can all run fast and Asian-Americans all get good grades. Not very tasteful at all.