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普林斯顿“除名”前总统威尔逊？过度反应还是客观公允？

2020-07-01 07:34

来源：澎湃新闻·澎湃号·湃客

原创 PUP China 普林斯顿读书汇

Editor's Note:

当地时间27日，普林斯顿大学网站发布声明，将把美国第28任总统伍德罗·威尔逊（Woodrow Wilson）的名字从学校公共政策学院和威尔逊学院中移除，缘由是威尔逊的种族主义立场。

此事件经国内媒体报道后登上了新浪热搜——#普林斯顿大学将前美国总统威尔逊除名。一些网友结合此前因为种族主义运动在美国高校间引发的风波，对于此举表达了认为学校“过度反应”的看法。

同时，也有一些细心的网友发现，真实的情况其实并非很多媒体报道中所说的将威尔逊从大学中“除名”，而只是将威尔逊的名字移除出两个学院的命名。

在学校网站公开信的原文中，使用的措辞是“to remove Wilson’s name from public policy school and Wilson College”，而部分媒体将“remove name”直接翻译为“除名”，则在某种程度上夸大了不同语境下人们赋予这一事件的感情色彩和价值判断。

其实正如普林斯顿大学校董会在发布给媒体的一份声明中所指出的：

Though we conclude today that Wilson’s racism makes him an inappropriate namesake for the University’s School of Public and International Affairs, we recognize that Princeton has a continuing responsibility to remember his achievements even as we honestly and publicly contend with his failures.

（虽然我们今天得出的结论是，威尔逊的种族歧视立场使得他的名字不适合命名学校公共与国际事务学院，但是我们认为，普林斯顿仍有责任铭记威尔逊的成就，正如我们诚实、公开的面对他的失败一样。）

为了帮助大家更加客观理性的看待这一事件，我们将由普林斯顿大学校长Christopher L. Eisgruber于2020年6月27日执笔的公开信及翻译版发布于此，希望大家阅读校长信件原文之后，能够通过这个一手资料得出自己的结论。

Dear Members of the Princeton Community,

致普林斯顿大学社区成员们，

When I wrote to you on Monday morning, June 22, I noted that the Princeton University Board of Trustees was discussing how the University could oppose racism and would soon convene a special meeting on that topic. The meeting took place yesterday, June 26. On my recommendation, the board voted to change the names of both the School of Public and International Affairs and Wilson College. As you will see from the board’s statement, the trustees concluded that Woodrow Wilson’s racist thinking and policies make him an inappropriate namesake for a school or college whose scholars, students, and alumni must stand firmly against racism in all its forms.

当我在6月22日（星期一）早上给大家写信时，我提到了普林斯顿大学校董会正在讨论学校近期该如何就反对种族主义的议题开一场特别会议。最终，我们于昨天（6月26日）召开了这场会议。根据我的建议，校董会投票决定了对公共与国际事务学院和威尔逊学院这两所机构的名称进行更改。从校董会的声明中可以看出，理事们认为伍德罗·威尔逊的种族主义思想及其政策使他不适于作为学院的冠名者。我们的学者、学生和校友们必须坚决反对一切形式的种族主义。

As most of you know, the board previously considered whether to remove Wilson’s name after a group of student activists occupied my office in November 2015. The Wilson Legacy Review Committee conducted a thorough, deliberative process. In April 2016, it recommended a number of reforms to make this University more inclusive and more honest about its history. The committee and the board, however, left Wilson’s name on the School and the College.

正如大家所知，2015年11月，在一群学生运动者占领了我的办公室之后，校董会曾考虑过是否移去威尔逊的冠名。威尔逊遗留审查委员会就此进行了详尽彻底、深思熟虑的审核。在2016年4月，委员会建议进行一系列改革，以使普林斯顿大学更加包容且更加诚实的面对其历史。但是，委员会和校董会依然决定在这两所学院的名称中保留威尔逊的名字。

The board reconsidered these conclusions this month as the tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks drew renewed attention to the long and damaging history of racism in America. Board Chair Weezie Sams ’79 and I spoke individually to members of the board, and it then met on June 26.

本月，乔治·弗洛伊德、布雷娜·泰勒、艾莫德·阿伯里以及雷沙德·布鲁克斯的悲惨遭遇再次引起了人们对美国种族主义持久且极具破坏性历史的关注，因此校董会对上文的决议进行了重新考量。我和校董会主席、普林斯顿大学79届校友韦齐·萨姆斯分别与校董会成员们进行了谈话，并于6月26日召开了会议。

The board continues to respect, as do I, the Wilson Legacy Review Committee’s process and report, including its description of Wilson’s historical record and its “presumption that names adopted by the trustees after full and thoughtful deliberation … will remain in place, especially when the original reasons for adopting the names remain valid.” The board nevertheless concluded that the presumption should yield in this case because of considerations specific to Wilson’s racist policies and to how his name shapes the identities of the School and the College.

校董会和我本人一如既往地尊重威尔逊遗留审查委员会的审核和报告，包括委员会对威尔逊历史档案的描述以及其“采用冠名的最初原因仍然有效，理事们在经过深入且充分考虑后所采用的冠名仍应保留” 的推论。尽管如此，董事会仍然得出结论，在当前状况下，考虑到威尔逊的种族主义政策以及其名字对两所学院的定位所产生的影响，上述保留命名的推论应当做出让步。

Wilson’s racism was significant and consequential even by the standards of his own time. He segregated the federal civil service after it had been racially integrated for decades, thereby taking America backward in its pursuit of justice. He not only acquiesced in but added to the persistent practice of racism in this country, a practice that continues to do harm today.

即使按照威尔逊所处时代的标准，他的种族偏见依然十分严重且后果显著。在种族融合数十年后，他仍对联邦公务员体系实行种族隔离，使得美国在追求公正的道路上出现倒退。他不仅默许，还加深了美国持续的种族主义实践，这一实践仍对当今的美国社会产生伤害。

Wilson’s segregationist policies make him an especially inappropriate namesake for a public policy school. When a university names a school of public policy for a political leader, it inevitably suggests that the honoree is a model for students who study at the school. This searing moment in American history has made clear that Wilson’s racism disqualifies him from that role. In a nation that continues to struggle with racism, this University and its school of public and international affairs must stand clearly and firmly for equality and justice. The School will now be known as “The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.”

威尔逊的种族隔离政策使他的名字尤其不适于用作公共政策学院的名称。当一所大学以政治领导人的名字为其公共政策院系命名时，这一举动不可避免地暗示着命名者是该院系学生的榜样。美国历史上的这一炙痛时刻已经清晰地表明，威尔逊的种族主义倾向使他丧失了成为这一榜样的资格。在一个持续与种族主义斗争的国家中，普林斯顿大学及其公共和国际事务学院必须旗帜鲜明、立场坚定地捍卫平等与公正。学院现在将正式更名为“普林斯顿公共与国际事务学院”。

The University had already planned to close Wilson College and retire its name after opening two new residential colleges currently under construction. Rather than ask students in the College to identify with the name of a racist president for the next two years, the University will accelerate retirement of the name. The College will instead be known as “First College” in recognition of its status as the first of the residential colleges that now play an essential role in the residential life of all Princeton undergraduates.

在开放两个在建的新寄宿制学院后，普林斯顿大学已经计划关闭威尔逊学院并不再使用其名称。普林斯顿大学将加快停止使用这一名称的流程，而不是要求该学院的学生在接下来的两年里继续使用一个种族主义总统的名字。该学院将被称为“第一学院”以纪念它作为普林斯顿大学第一所且至今仍在本科生中发挥重要作用的寄宿制学院的地位。

These conclusions may seem harsh to some. Wilson remade Princeton, converting it from a sleepy college into a great research university. Many of the virtues that distinguish Princeton today—including its research excellence and its preceptorial system—were in significant part the result of Wilson’s leadership. He went on to the American presidency and received a Nobel Prize. People will differ about how to weigh Wilson’s achievements and failures. Part of our responsibility as a University is to preserve Wilson’s record in all of its considerable complexity.

对于某些人而言，上述结论可能略显苛刻。威尔逊重塑了普林斯顿大学，将其从一所毫无活力的大学转变为一所杰出的研究型大学。（编者注：从1902年开始，威尔逊曾任普林斯顿大学校长8年。）如今普林斯顿大学所拥有的诸多显著优点，包括卓越的研究能力和导师制度，在很大程度上都得益于威尔逊在任时的领导。此后，他担任了美国总统并获得了诺贝尔奖。对于如何权衡威尔逊的功与过，人们将各持己见。作为一所大学，普林斯顿的一部分职责就是在历史记录中保留威尔逊人生中显著的复杂性。

Wilson is a different figure from, say, John C. Calhoun or Robert E. Lee, whose fame derives from their defenses of the Confederacy and slavery (Lee was often honored for the very purpose of expressing sympathy for segregation and opposition to racial equality). Princeton honored Wilson not because of, but without regard to or perhaps even in ignorance of, his racism.

威尔逊与约翰·卡尔霍恩或罗伯特·李这些因保卫邦联和奴隶制而闻名的人物是不一样的（罗伯特·李常常因其赞同种族隔离和反对种族平等而被纪念）。普林斯顿大学此前尊荣威尔逊并不是因为其种族主义，但是也没有将他的种族主义纳入考量因素，甚至可能是完全忽视了这一点。

That, however, is ultimately the problem. Princeton is part of an America that has too often disregarded, ignored, or excused racism, allowing the persistence of systems that discriminate against Black people. When Derek Chauvin knelt for nearly nine minutes on George Floyd’s neck while bystanders recorded his cruelty, he might have assumed that the system would disregard, ignore, or excuse his conduct, as it had done in response to past complaints against him.

然而，这才是问题的最终所在。普林斯顿大学是美国的一部分，而这个国家早已过于经常地忽视、无视种族主义的存在或为其寻找借口，从而致使歧视黑人的制度得以持久存在。当德里克·沙文对乔治·弗洛伊德实行“膝盖锁喉”长达近9分钟的时候，旁观者对他的残酷行为进行了记录。他那时可能认为，这个体制仍会像过去那样，忽视、无视他的行径或为他的作为寻找借口，正如其曾经无视了过往针对他的所有投诉一样。

The steps taken yesterday by the Board of Trustees are extraordinary measures. These are not the only steps our University is taking to combat the realities and legacy of racism, but they are important ones. I join the trustees in hoping that they will provide the University, the School of Public and International Affairs, and our entire community with a firm foundation to pursue the mission of teaching, research, and service that has defined our highest aspirations and generated our greatest achievements throughout our history and today.

董事会昨天采取的措施是超乎寻常的。这并非普林斯顿大学为反对种族主义的现实和遗留所采取的唯一措施，但却是相当重要的措施。我与理事们一致希望，这些措施能够为普林斯顿大学、公共与国际事务学院以及我们的整个社区提供一个坚实的基础，以追求我们教学、研究和服务的使命，正是这一使命定义了我们从古至今的最高理想并催生了我们最大的成就。

With best wishes,

此致，

Christopher L. Eisgruber

克里斯托弗·L·艾斯格鲁伯

编后记：

伍德罗·威尔逊（1856-1924）曾任普林斯顿大学校长，是唯一一名拥有哲学博士头衔的美国总统。1919 年，威尔逊被授予当年的诺贝尔和平奖。

其实，威尔逊与普林斯顿大学出版社的渊源同样深厚。115年前，正是带着他的推荐信，普林斯顿校友Whitney Darrow拿到了时任普林斯顿大学校董、出版巨头Charles Scribner的资助，成立了普林斯顿大学出版社，并从印刷一本本《校友周刊》的小型出版社，发展至今成为全世界享有盛誉的学术出版机构。