文化矯正:你對美國的又7個誤會

Myth 8: Christopher Columbus Discovered America

謠言8：美洲大陸是哥倫布發現的

The "Columbus discovered America" myth doesn't seem to be dying off. For starters, Native Americans occupied the territory for centuries before his arrival. But the Scandinavians were also here previously: their Vikings were known to have landed 500 years before Columbus did, yet Columbus gets the credit as the man who discovered America during his Spanish Empire-financed voyage in search of gold.

這是個經久不衰的傳言。從頭追溯的話，印第安土著在哥倫布登陸的前幾百年就已經佔領了這塊領土了。斯坎蒂納維亞人也不例外：維京海盜們先於哥倫布500年登陸了這塊土地。但最終還是由西班牙皇室資助的尋金之旅讓“哥倫布發現新大陸”的事蹟永垂史冊。

Myth 9: The Statue of Liberty Is An Ode to American Greatness

謠言9：“自由女神像”是對偉大美國的歌頌

Based on the broken shackles at its feet and the politics of its creator, it comes as little surprise that rumors have built up that the Statue of Liberty is a tribute to the end of slavery. Frederic Bartholdi's statue has given the National Office of Parks and Recreations second thoughts in the past couple of years, and the department has conducted a thorough investigation.

基於女神腳上破裂的鐐銬和原創造者的政治背景，那個關於“自由女神像的建造是爲了慶祝奴隸制的終止”的傳言不會讓人產生絲毫懷疑。不過，巴托爾迪的這個作品，在過去的幾十年中，促使美國公園娛樂協會好好地思考了番，並展開了一系列的深度調查。

They found the rumor of slavery was based on a single marketing pamphlet by Bartholdi, which they deemed to be false, but they did find that it is most likely true that Lady Liberty was modeled from the body of an African woman. Bartholdi had studied African women for a prior commission on an Egyptian statue, but when that project was scrapped, the studies became the foundation for the green Lady.

調查的結果是：他們發現這個關於奴隸制的傳言來自於巴托爾迪的一本營銷小冊子，且認定其爲僞造。但調查同時也發現，自由女神模特是一位非洲裔女性。巴托爾迪曾受託研究過埃及神像中的非洲女性，但該計劃後被終止，於是他的研究成就了今日的自由女神。

Myth 10: Jackie Robinson

謠言10：關於Jackie Robinson

Not to diminish Jackie Robinson or Rosa Parks, but just as Parks wasn't the first black person to refuse to move her seat, Robinson didn't break the baseball color code. In fact, blacks and whites briefly played professional baseball together in 1878 and 1879. In 1916, Jimmy Claxton, passing as a Native American, played a week until his black roots were found out, ending his contract forthwith.

並不是要貶低Jackie Robinson或Rosa Parks的重要性，但正如Parks女士並不是第一個拒絕給白人讓座的黑人一樣，Robinson也不是打破美國棒球界白人壟斷局面的第一人。事實上，早在1878-1879年，美國職業棒球賽上就已經有白人和黑人共同上場的記錄了。1916年，Jimmy Claxton以美洲印第安人的身份上場比賽了一週，直到後來他的黑人血統被挖掘出來，才被終止了合同。

Then in 1945, while men of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds were dying beside each other in WWII, Happy Chandler, the new baseball commissioner, supported the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was called up to play in 1947, the same year Larry Doby, another black American and hall of famer, played for the Cleveland Indians.

後來到了1945年，無論什麼血統的男人們都肩並肩地倒在了二戰的戰場上。那時，新的棒球委員會成員Happy Chandler支持Jackie Robinson與布魯克林道奇隊簽約。Robinson於是在1947年的比賽中上場了。同年，另一位黑人，同時也是名人堂成員之一的Larry Doby，爲克里夫蘭印第安人隊效力。

Myth 11: "The British Are Coming"

謠言11：“英國人要來了”

Sarah Palin's recent flub brought attention to this inexhaustible myth. While her retelling of history was creative, the truth of the matter is that the wealthy silversmith and organizer of the "alarm system" set to warn of British invasion, Revere, was tipped off by Joseph Warren that British troops were heading after Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

莎拉佩林最近的口誤讓這個傳言又紅火起來，儘管她重述的歷史是瞎編的。事情的真相是：富有的銀匠、“警報系統”（用於發佈英國人入侵的警報）的組織者Revere，收到了Joseph Warren的密報，說英國軍隊正在搜捕Samuel Adams和John Hancock。

Revere set out and informed every messenger and rider he could about the movement. By the end of the night, it's figured nearly 40 men were sending out similar warnings by the time Revere crossed the Charles and warned every home in Charlestown of the British arrival. According to local sources, secrecy needed to be maintained and so Revere actually yelling, "The British are coming" would have been ill-advised, so the more stealthy "The Regulars are coming out" was used.

於是Revere通知了每個能通知到的信使和騎手們。當夜，Revere橫渡查爾斯河，將“英國人要來了”的消息通知了查爾斯敦的每戶居民；與此同時，有近40人向外散佈了同樣的警告。據當地原始資料記載，爲了不泄密，Revere喊的其實不是“英國人要來了”，而是更爲隱祕的“統治者要來了”。

Myth 12: Dan Quayle Misspelled "Potato"

謠言12：丹奎爾拼錯了單詞“Potato”(土豆)

Dan Quayle, the VP under President Bush Sr., never seemed to shake his image of a dunce following a much publicized misspelling of the word "potato" to a group of elementary school students in New Jersey. The truth of the matter is, the spelling card Quayle held, and was assured had been checked, was wrong, adding an "e" to the end of the word. The incident seriously damaged the Bush-Quayle presidential ticket and Clinton-Gore went on to win the election.

丹奎爾是老布什總統手下的副總統。自從有次訪問一所新澤西州的小學時，他不小心把“potato”（土豆）這個單詞拼錯後，似乎就再也沒法從公衆心中抹去其“呆瓜”的形象。事情的真相是，倒黴的Quayle那天手上拿的拼寫卡，本身就是印刷錯誤的——詞尾多加了個“e”，儘管這張卡事先被檢查過（不知檢查的人是幹什麼吃的……）。總之，這個事件極大地影響了布什-奎爾競選集團的選票，於是克林頓-戈爾集團贏了選舉。

Myth 13: George Washington And The Cherry Tree

謠言13：喬治華盛頓和櫻桃樹的故事

According to UVA scholars, Washington chopping down his Cherry Tree is pure myth, an attempt to construct a legend around the nation's first President after Washington's initial biography painted him as "cold and colorless." The moral of the Cherry Tree story was Washington's humility and honesty, a fable attributed to the leader's refusal to continue serving, thus contradicting the grab for power and tyranny from which the nation had just escaped.

據弗吉尼亞大學的學者們說，“華盛頓砍倒自家的櫻桃樹”的故事純屬虛構，這只是給美國第一任總統平白添加的光環，以緩和其自傳中“冷酷呆板”的形象。這個故事的寓意是爲了體現華盛頓的謙虛和誠實，對這位自動放棄連任、歸隱田園的總統加以潤飾，與美國獨立前統治者獨愛權勢和暴政的情形產生極大反差。

Myth 14: Prison Is Only For Hardened Criminals

謠言14：監獄是專爲重刑犯準備的

According to numerous studies, America's incarceration rate is the highest in the world, topping 743 per 100,000 persons, with more than 2.2 million behind bars as of 2011. Scary still, one out of every 143 adults and one in 111 African-Americans are behind bars. (Meanwhile, racial profiling is rampant across the country, to the extent that everyone from Congressional Democrats to former President George W. Bush have called it unconstitutional and just plain "wrong.") With so many behind bars, it's not possible that all of these people are serious thugs.

據多項研究表明，美國監禁率爲全球最高，達到每10萬人中就有743個蹲監獄的，2011全年共收了220萬個罪犯入獄。更恐怖的是，143個成年人裏就有一個是罪犯，111個非洲裔美國人裏就有一個是蹲大牢的。（與此同時，種族歧視在全美氾濫，從民主黨議員到前總統小布什，幾乎所有人都指出這是“不符合憲法精神的”以及是“完全錯誤的”。）可見雖然如今蹲大牢的人這麼多，但不可能個個都是重刑犯吧。