大选与思想多元化:两代人的纠结,象牙塔的困惑


李春燕-1142  11/11   17281  
4.5/2 



这是我对朋友圈里讨论两代人分歧的回复 (那篇得了Trump失去儿子一文)。一方面年轻人不愿被看作被洗脑,另一方面第一代华人不愿被看作无知、狂热。

1. 我接触到的大学生父母们真极少有跟孩子纠结谁对谁错的,首先已经被归到deplorable,甚至bigots一群中,哪里有底气跟伶牙俐齿的精英孩子们辩论呢。

2. 而斯坦福那篇文章说到了点子上,足见斯坦福培养智库名不虚传。既然是精英,就该有前瞻性和反思性,而不能总居高临下地看待父母以及更底层的大众,当然这也是我以过来人身份过高要求这些孩子,想当年咱们谁不是指点江山呢😄。

3. 这些年轻人里除了华裔,应该还有低收入的白人孩子,他们的脱节不是移民文化能解释得了的。如果这不引起精英阶层包括教授们的反思,也是可叹。

4. 而IMHO,恰恰教授们有些过于pamper自己和学生们了。大家不喜欢的“洗脑”一词只是简略,我刚从Duke回来,参加了两场著名教授的讲座。一个是关于global refugee crisis, 那位教授声情并茂地读着refugee 口述,把我们眼泪都勾出来了,认为美国有moral obligation to take in more refugees,侧面看出学校强调moral层面不但对年轻学子耳濡目染,对我们家长仅一次就影响很大。另一位曾在华府做智库的教授讲大选与外交政策,一场下来家长们都觉得选Trump在外交上的uncertainty,而现场挤满了人,只有一位家长提出了他因为最高法院要选Trump。这些seminars day in day out, 就像我当年在人大听的无数“思潮”,想不被洗都难,但至少我那时是听了各种思潮的啊。这就引出了下段的担忧。

5. 我其实关注的是校园里现在是否真正有diversity in thoughts and ideas. 前一段贴过一位哈佛政治教授的lament,说哈佛政治系已经没有几个conservative professors 了。那么多元化思维又从何而来?校园里支持Trump的学生和教授根本不敢说话,Duke上个月有文章就提到,“会有career consequences"。昨天有位大学生家长朋友说女儿texted “if they know I voted for Trump, I'll be shot." 这样的气氛又是来自哪里,才值得反思。

转自郑永年教授:“知识分子更糟糕。我觉得当代社会科学面临死亡的状态;要么死亡,要么重生;如果以后不能重新改造自身,就会和现实毫不相关。在这件事情上,政治学、经济学和社会学更应当感觉到害羞。”

6. 去年我还转过一篇,何为diversity,在一些人眼中的diversity不包括conservative ideas. 只要一提就引到white supremacy,and this and that phobic.  而十多年前我的共和党邻居就讲过,保守派和天主教徒就是过街老鼠。那时我还不信。

7. 那么即使接受学生们更progressive,更先进,为何这次Hillary输了呢?连那位反对Trump的智囊教授都说she is just a weak candidate (note he said it before the vote). 有人做了对比,Hillary没有得到当年Obama得到的年轻人和非裔的选票,这不能都归咎于低收入或低教育层的狂热。而Exit Poll显示millennials 里只有55%投给了希拉里,哪有想象的那么多呢?那么这些精英为何认为自己就一定正确,以至非要走上街头呢?(见伯克利女留学生文章,我是写完文章后刚刚看到这篇和哈佛留学生那篇。)



8. 对于有些朋友担心白人至上主义抬头会造成种族歧视猛增,我的看法是,这些担忧都有道理,但也出自各自更关注的角度。“猛增”的数字是多大?是否该到fearful 以及despair的程度?因为没有前面日常报道的比较,加上以前也不跟踪这些社交网络,很多人也许现在才注意。但我一直知道frequent antisemitic incidences in NY, 因为我的犹太朋友常常发到脸书上,但那些不会整天被national news 报道。有英文分析人士在选举结果刚出来就指出,现在开始的一年中我们会不断听到racist incidences 以及其他负面的报道,如同里根和朱利安尼执政一年内的情形,直到政策出了成效。所以我们对Trump的具体政策还是要拭目以待。另外,Obama的八年加剧了种族分裂以及entitlement,也不能归于Trump一人。Who knows 如果Hillary继续那样的identity politics 到几年之后是否会爆发更大?

9. 回到标题的象牙塔思考:假设种族歧视事件会有所增加,华人作为移民该如何生活,并且如何跟子女沟通?那就要结合近几年出台的一些政策对华裔整体的影响来权衡了。不可否认的是华人在很多已经出台的政策下已经是bottom of the totem poll, 无论是细分法案,升学隐形配额,职场种族因素等等,那是我们每天正在面对的。我觉得从这个角度是否可以跟下一代交流,也许他们关注的是前者的假设,而父母们则在经历着后者的现实。这也许是那篇华裔母亲赢了Trump,失去了支持希拉里的儿子的纠结之处。

10. 续:伯克利女留学生这篇看得让人心寒。想起周末在Duke刚听的一位熟知美国一百多所法学院的教授讲座,他是prelaw students' advisor, 几十年来带领了无数有志学习法律的本科生。他讲了一个例子:有一年他的一位大四学生不知在伯克利和斯坦福法学院中选哪个,纠结很久去了伯克利,但几个月下来不适应。这位教授建议他去相对保守的斯坦福法学院。学生听了他的指导,现在在一个conservative think tank 工作。华人家长也许对这些学校的ideaology 倾向不了解,一年来的大选和近几年的经历应该使家长们擦亮眼睛,如果觉得孩子理念更接近保守派,那么除了学校名声,还要看看“意识形态”了,虽然在现今的学校里,真如这位女留学生所述,很难有思想自由了。

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一些家长感受
A:“上面的第五条,我女儿也正有此感受。大选当天女儿高中模拟投票,希拉里大胜。女儿回来说她不想告诉别人她投了川普。第二天知道大选结果后,许多同学都很愤怒,以至于老师制止课堂上谈论大选。女儿就更不敢告诉别人我们全家都投川普。她困惑周围大人都投川普,学校同学却投希拉里,并且如此激动。我们州由蓝变红,川普仅以一万三千多票小胜。我们的county仍旧是蓝色。”

B:“感恩自己的孩子能坚持内心的声音!也理解他们在学校的小心谨慎!那些在学校公开挺川的孩子的确勇敢!儿子大学里的同学不是选希拉里,就是选第三党,几乎没人公然挺川。他就选择基本沉默,避免与人讨论大选。也是一种自我保护吧!”

C:“我女儿学校的模拟选举自然是希拉里胜出。我跟孩子说你选你想选的,选举代表你自己不代表我,应该尊重每个人的选择。学校里有个孩子挺川毫不掩饰,还戴着“Make America Great Again”的帽子,很令人佩服这种勇气。”

D:“我一个朋友大选那天打电话给我问我选谁,因为她打算当天投票,结果我说川普,她懵了一下(估计听的传说太多),然后我简单解释了几句,结果她上10年级的女儿在背景里大喊不许投川普,我朋友在电话里很无奈……可是,一个父母,自己都没有自己的观点,英语也不够好,无法和孩子有效沟通,这孩子长大后,就极有可能是你贴的那篇文章里的故事重演。”

E:“朋友发微信给我说:“看了那些华裔家庭因为选举而产生裂痕的报道,直感到庆幸我家小子还没给我那样的麻烦,阿弥陀佛!” 我回复说,不是幸运,一定是你一直长期不遗余力地贯彻:和孩子坦诚探讨不同观点,如何面对不同观点,以及坚持“父母也entitled 有自己的different 观点”,这些原则,长期执行下来,潜移默化,一定会有成效。说实话,在孩子面前,我从不因为要讨好她(或怕她不高兴)而隐瞒我鲜明的个人观点,无论英文中文辩论,我们大大小小进行了无数场。这才换来她今天的“不喜欢川普,更不喜欢希拉里”的结果,我觉得这就是成功,她没必要一定支持川普,这对这个年龄段的,尚不知柴米油盐贵的孩子有很大难度,更何况还有媒体、名人和学校铺天盖地的长期狂轰滥炸。只要她学会有自己的独立思考,而不是人云亦云,或追随某个名人的意愿,我就满足了,长大后,生活会教会她们的。”

看看校园里的气氛--一位哈佛法学院留学生写给希拉里阵营的信
【和室友聊到凌晨四点,我说的每一句话,都是这样的语气开头:Could you at least, at least, listen to me,at least, entertain the idea, just for a tiny moment, the idea, no, the reality, the possibility, that half of this country, half, that's half of this population, made a choice different from yours? And they are real people. And they won.
(你能至少、至少听我一句,至少抱着这样的想法,只需要花一点时间。民众的想法,不,真相,这可能性,这国家的一半,这人口的一半,是不是做出了和你不同的选择?他们也是真正的美国人。而且他们赢了。)
就是这样,我们至少三次说到『我们的友谊到此终结』。
『你有没有想过,是不是有可能,是不是,有那么一点点的可能,那就是,他们在投票给川普的时候,也是经过了大脑的,也是考虑过的。你有没有想过,哪怕就一小会儿,他们可能是人,就是和你一样的,人。不因为他们和你作出了不一样的选择,就不配做人;而他们的需求,他们想要的东西,或者说,他们对于进步的理解,和你们,有没有可能,有那么一点点不一样?哪怕他是愚昧、落后、狭隘的,可你有一票他也有一票,你想让他和你投的一样,是不是可以先不要公开羞辱他们,不要上来就说他们愚昧、落后、狭隘?不说别的,这是在战术上也不够正统吧?』
『你觉得你了解他们比我了解他们多吗?你去过几个州?你来美国才多久?你有什么资格讲这个话?』
我在读法学院的室友,犯这样一种"只有得过癌症的医生才配给我治癌症"的逻辑错误,我知道这个对话进行不下去。】
这是一位高中生活写的,被广泛转发

转:朋友的女儿今天发来一篇她的好朋友,一个高中四年级男生的大选感言,由衷地为这些有理想、有担当的孩子们而骄傲!全文如下:“Donald Trump is our new president and he will be inaugurated into office on January 20th, 2017. Until then, Obama lives out his last months in office and will probably drop a couple of pardons towards the end like any other late president does. Trump can rest easy knowing he will be the next president, and Hillary will work on accepting her loss despite winning the popular vote. But what will the American people do? Many hated Trump for his racism, sexism, and extremism while others hated Hillary for corruption and a lack of integrity. Some people claim that Donald Trump will cause the end of this country, that his flaws will set us back a decade, or even more specifically, that his hands are on or near the nuclear codes. Others claim that he will “make America great again”, as his campaign slogan suggests, in contrast to those who say America is already great. The bottom line is that there is a great divide in the American people. 

There are those who see the sky falling and those who see a country made safer. Inevitably, in the weeks and months to come with Trump as president, the sky will be exactly where it is. One man can’t bring down a country as strong and important as this one. One vote can’t tear apart a nation, but us people–the ones who work and vote–can. In every election, there is a winner and a loser, and no matter who wins, life goes on. Trump as president is not the end of the world, but that is ultimately up to us as the people of this country. The only thing that could possibly bring down the United States after this last election is our reaction to it and how we deal with it. Of course, this is true for every election, but it is most important for this one. Those who love Trump are currently celebrating, while those who didn’t are probably amazed that the sun came up the morning after. The truth is that everyone needs to accept the election and the legitimacy of our government system. Don’t worry about the end of the world, because Trump won’t cause that. Don’t worry about the fall of America, because Trump won’t cause that either. But we might. We need to unify, now more so than ever, and not only accept who our president is but trust our national government. There is no use in getting caught up in the results of this election for the next 4 years, because then we cease to progress and improve. By holding onto this defeat, we are setting this country back a decade on our own. Who cares if your friend supported Trump. Who cares if your family member supported Hillary. The only thing that could truly set this country back is us. We all need to put this election behind us and look towards the future with our heads held high. I may not have supported any candidate in this election, but throughout it all and into the future, I support this country.

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我email list 里的大学情况
Why is there so much fear on college campus?

Postponing midterms, stress, anxiety, despair 


哈佛学生继续bitterness 

来自斯坦福大学某女生的essay一篇:

Yesterday at 5PM - beamed with eyes brimmed with happy tears at the idea of our first female president. Yesterday at 8PM - went to bed because I could not bear to watch the results unfolding. Yesterday at 11PM - those same eyes from six hours ago brandishing tears of anguish, emptiness, confusion, and sadness (and many other words). And today, I am numb.

Life, joyful and mundane, will go on, but thinking about how crushed girls and young women will be, calling my mom back in Alabama to remind her to "be careful" (against invisible ideas that are nonetheless real and dangerous), and thinking about friends from marginalized communities who are so absolutely central to my life - I did not want to (/couldn't?) imagine this as my reality.

Last night as I struggled to sleep, I thought back to being Junior class president, and to being booed in front of my entire HS class by a small (but vocal) group of boys who still harbored resentment that the class t-shirt that I helped produce was a shade of blue that was "too gay". I couldn't help but draw parallels - a competent, capable woman with experience and proven positive results being torn down by a group unable and unwilling to do the hard work of serving others themselves. A "too gay" shade of baby blue. Emails.

I thought about the brief moments of solace, strength, and solidarity from chats with friends last night, and how they were not just my friends, they were my allies. And I was not sure if it was fair to them (or to myself) that I had put that label ("ally") and its associated responsibilities on them.

I felt (/and am feeling) such a loss - I was really really looking forward to wearing that invisible Hillary invincibility cloak (one that I would confidently shimmy in, naturally) for the next four years. I am trying to figure out how I can still do that.

I'm With Her. I'm Still With Her. And I will continue to be With Her.

今天NYT article 下面的comments

【Yes, whites without a college degree came out for Trump in a big way, see above, but Trump also had more blacks, women and Hispanic voters than Romney. I'd bet that the vast majority of that addition were people in similar economic circumstances.

No one is horrified if they are here legally; and that is why we have immigration laws. Six million less blacks came out to vote. If they do not like the outcome, they have no one to blame but themselves. Trump won by an unprecedented landslide victory similar to Ronald Regan. Hillary Clinton could not even take Arkansas.

Could it be that the democratic party ran a horrible candidate for president? They have been shoving Hillary down our throats ever since her husband left office. She was supposed to win 8 years ago but got trounced by a charismatic junior senator. So they kept her relevant by making her secretary of state. Did she even really want that job or was it just another stepping stone? Finally in 2016 she was going to win, finally the coronation but the party had to cheat to get her through the primary because she was being more than challenged by a 75 year old socialist. She makes it to the general election where she was defeated by a reality television star with no political experience. Get over it folks, the democratic party is to blame here, they have to do some soul searching.

You will get your answer when readers like me stop caring about your column. Realize you are divorced from American reality. The majority of the electorate doesn't believe what you said or what you say now. Who are you talking to and why? Sorry, the reality is that this is not the world you thought we had just a few days ago.Yes, whites without a college degree came out for Trump in a big way, see above, but Trump also had more blacks, women and Hispanic voters than Romney. I'd bet that the vast majority of that addition were people in similar economic circumstances.

No one is horrified if they are here legally; and that is why we have immigration laws. Six million less blacks came out to vote. If they do not like the outcome, they have no one to blame but themselves. Trump won by an unprecedented landslide victory similar to Ronald Regan. Hillary Clinton could not even take Arkansas.

Could it be that the democratic party ran a horrible candidate for president? They have been shoving Hillary down our throats ever since her husband left office. She was supposed to win 8 years ago but got trounced by a charismatic junior senator. So they kept her relevant by making her secretary of state. Did she even really want that job or was it just another stepping stone? Finally in 2016 she was going to win, finally the coronation but the party had to cheat to get her through the primary because she was being more than challenged by a 75 year old socialist. She makes it to the general election where she was defeated by a reality television star with no political experience. Get over it folks, the democratic party is to blame here, they have to do some soul searching.

You will get your answer when readers like me stop caring about your column. Realize you are divorced from American reality. The majority of the electorate doesn't believe what you said or what you say now. Who are you talking to and why? Sorry, the reality is that this is not the world you thought we had just a few days ago.】

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下面是随手写的notes,以及收集的信息,一并存档。

针对一个first day of Trump的twitter,我也到twitter查了,估计媒体不会大面积报道那个投Trump被打的视频,现在的#Trumpriots 也是disheartening。这是我去宾州扫街的朋友一手资料:“我们扫街,谁遇到过川粉让我们滚回中国去的?他们见到咱们,像是失散的亲人一样。倒是那些支持民主党的妇女,恨不能吃了我,还威胁说要报警,说我未经同意私闯民宅,完全没有的事。” 

我现在看到的是一些graffiti (one of which was not sure whether it is a protest against Trump) 和San Diego case. 而反犹太人的 incidents happened frequently before the election. My Jewish friends post very often. Anti Muslim cases also happen daily. But protests burning flags after losing an election didn't happen before. 两个hate crime报道的其中之一已经被证实是fabrication. 根深蒂固的歧视不会因为一个候选人增加,而identity politics 加重了riots and division. 在Obama胜选时有白人暴乱吗?恰恰现在支持Trump的一直是没声音的,无论是不敢发声还是不被报道。


除了Peter Thiel受到的攻击,看看下面不会被national news报道的
【转几个他人总结的,1:一高中女生因在网上说了挺川言论,第二天被同学找上门来,说支持川普就是恨墨西哥人,然后被拖到操场上暴打了一顿,视频被其他同学拍下。
2:芝加哥一白人因投票给川普,结果被一群黑人暴揍,黑人喊着“你投给川普就该得到报应”“踢他屁股”,其中一名黑人还抢走了这名白人掉在地上的手机http://t.cn/RfLRoyb
3:27岁的战地记者在拍照时被反川抗议者打伤,颧骨骨折住院,5000元的摄影器材也被偷抢和摔坏。
4:11.9日,奥克兰的希拉里支持者们还对新闻编辑室进行了攻击,造成至少一人重伤。
5:New Balance鞋店因为说了几句支持川普的话就被抗议者们烧了鞋。
6:知名餐点CEO跟全体员工说:如果你同意川普就去辞职。
7:一名路易斯安那大学的女穆斯林声称自己被带着川普帽子的男生袭击,被扯掉头巾。结果调查后她向警方承认根本就没这回事。玩碰瓷和编造hate crime真是左派SJW的拿手好戏。
8:在奥斯汀有人发现反川普抗议者登上大巴,明显有人组织,据说大巴从墨西哥开来,他们在分类网站上招募抗议者们在洛杉矶暴乱。
9:抗议者们在西雅图把五号公路给堵了。http://t.cn/Rf2Kigw
10:卫报记者推特发文号召暗杀总统。】