It's a hostility that many British people of color perceive instinctively
在深深地根植于“‘英國性’就其內核而言是一種白人身份”這一理念,
in the political debate that has weaponized immigration
并以移民問題為斗爭武器的政治辯論中,
and one that is rooted in the idea that Britishness is at its core a white identity.
許多英國有色人種都能本能地感受到這種敵意。
The royal family has not traditionally been an agent of change in this respect.
英國王室在這方面歷來都不是變革的代表。
During my childhood, the spectacle of an exclusively white monarchy and aristocracy
在我的童年時代,王室和貴族成員無一例外都是白人,
helped reinforce the notion that Britishness was white.
這一情景更是強化了英國性就是白人性的觀念。
It was taken for granted that the royals appeared to make up a deliberately, permanently white institution.
人們也理所當然地認為,王室成員似乎有意要組建一個永遠只有白人的王室。
Their main role in my life was to make me feel excluded from the country.
他們在我人生中所起的主要作用就是讓我覺得自己不屬于這個國家。
I was not alone in feeling this way.
問題是,這樣想的并非只我一人。
The royal family don't stand for us. They never have,
“我們并不在王室代表的人群之內,從來都不在,”
says Candice Carty- Williams, author of a forthcoming novel, Queenie,
即將付梓的小說《奎妮》的作者坎迪斯·卡蒂-威廉姆斯說道,
that has already been referred to as the "black Bridget Jones."
這本小說已經被譽為“黑人的《BJ單身日記》”了。
"Black people would have been slaves to them. They are not friends with any of us.
“黑人原本可能成為他們的奴隸的,他們也從未拿我們中間的任何人當朋友。
When we watch The Crown or Downton Abbey, there are never any black people.
《王冠》或《唐頓莊園》里也都沒有黑人。
There is a history of them not having any interest in us. "
他們歷來就對我們沒有絲毫的興趣。”
There is discernible weariness among some black British people
部分黑人顯然已經厭倦了
that the idea of a biracial woman's joining the royal family
一個混血女性加入皇室
would make any discernible difference to race in Britain,
就會對英國的種族產生明顯的影響這種想法,
where the odds remain stacked against people of color.
因為在這個國家,有色人種的機遇依舊十分渺茫。
Forty percent of families from black African and Caribbean backgrounds
在英國,40%的來自非洲和加勒比地區的黑人家庭都是低收入家庭,
live in low-income households in Britain, compared with 19% of white families.
而白人的低收入家庭比例只有19%。
Twenty-three percent of young black people and 25% of young Bangladeshi and Pakistani youth are unemployed,
黑人青年,孟加拉裔和巴基斯坦裔青年中失業的人口比例分別高達23%和25%,
more than double the number of white job seekers of the same age.
比同一年齡段待業的白人比例多出了一倍不止。
And there is some evidence that these figures are getting worse.
而且有跡象表明,這一差距還在繼續惡化。
But others regard the royal family as a symbolic institution,
但也有人認為王室是個象征性的機構,
where the visibility of a woman of color in a position of such status sends a powerful message.
一個有色人種女性當上王妃,在王室嶄露頭角會傳達出強有力的信息。
Black excellence in the royal family is a cool idea from a contemporary point of view,
“從當代人的眼光來看,有著黑人血統的梅根加入王室,想想就覺得很酷,”
says Lola Adesioye, a British writer and journalist who is based in the U.S.
常駐美國的英國作家兼記者蘿拉·阿德西奧耶說道。
"How did this girl—who is not only of color, but didn't go to the same schools or universities as the royals,
“這個女孩不僅是有色人種,上的學校也和皇室成員不同,
who wasn't even raised in the U.K., and so has all these points of diference and otherness—
甚至都沒有英國長大,她看上去是那么的不同,那么的另類,
get to this place? It says a lot about diversification. "
那她究竟是怎么走到今天的?這個問題充分地說明,王室在朝著多元化方向發展。”
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