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For centuries, political leaders in the U.S. have used race as a cudgel to shore up support from white Americans, particularly those for whom racial hierarchy afforded a sense of status they otherwise lacked. White Southerners supported slavery—going as far as fighting and dying over it in the Civil War—even though most of them could not afford to own a slave. They did so because it gave them a higher social status. In the 1960s Richard Nixon used the infamous Southern strategy, which created the current electoral map, to stir up fear of Black empowerment and persuade white Southerners to vote for him.
幾個世紀以來，美國的政治領導人一直把種族當作一根大棒以獲得美國白人的支持，尤其是那些因為種族等級制度而缺乏地位感的人。南方的白人支持奴隸制——甚至在內戰中為奴隸制而戰甚至犧牲——盡管他們中的大多數人買不起一個奴隸。他們這樣做是因為這給了他們更高的社會地位。上世紀60年代，理查德·尼克松利用臭名昭著的“南方戰略”創造了當前的選舉地圖，以此激起人們對黑人賦權的恐懼并說服南方白人投票給他。
These are Trump's strategic predecessors. Immersed in data, his campaign built an engagement strategy around speaking to his largely unwavering base and motivating new, largely white voters sold on Trump's personality and showmanship and his message of grievance. Not relying similarly on data, Trump still effectively channels his campaign's messaging with constantly calibrated applause lines to test what energizes his audience. Trump's fanning the flames of racial resentment tells us a lot about who he is; his crowd's roaring response tells us more about where we are as a nation.
這些都是特朗普的戰略前輩。沉浸在數據之中的特朗普的競選團隊構建了一種參與策略，圍繞著對基本堅定的選民群體講話，并激勵以白人為主的新選民，他們被特朗普的個性、表演技巧和不滿信息所打動。特朗普并不依賴類似的數據，他仍然有效地通過不斷校準的掌聲傳遞他的競選信息，以此來測試什么能激發他的聽眾。特朗普對種族仇恨的火焰的煽動很好地說明了他是誰，他的支持者的歡呼聲讓我們了解到更多我們作為一個國家所處的位置。
Biden is deeply aware of this fissure. He ran on healing it, and exit polls show he won over voters concerned about racial justice. Betting that most Americans believe in equality and justice, among other democratic values, Biden referred to his campaign as a "battle for the soul of the nation." With more than 70 million votes received and counting, Biden may be favored to win the election, but to uproot the forces that perpetuate the deeply entrenched racism in this country, it'll take more than maybe half the country.
拜登深刻地意識到了這個裂縫。他競選的目的是彌合分歧，投票后民調顯示，他贏得了關心種族正義的選民的支持。拜登相信大多數美國人相信平等和正義以及其他民主價值觀，他把自己的競選活動稱為“為國家的靈魂而戰”。已收到超過7000萬張選票并正在進行清點，拜登可能會贏得選舉，但要根除這個國家根深蒂固的種族主義力量，可能需要大半個國家的努力。
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