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一次抗议亚历桑那大学（U of A）校报对华人不公平报道的活动
雷宏
雷宏
平静的大学校园生活往往让人觉得象牙塔里不存在歧视的现象。其实不然。请看十月十二日出现在UofA校报Arizona Daily Wildcat的Police Beat栏目的一则消息：
Bookstore shoplifter referred to Chinese consul
UAPD officers were dispatched to the UofA Bookstore on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. in reference to a shoplifter in custody.
Upon arrival, officers met with a bookstore employee who told police that at approximately 10:55 a.m., he witnessed a woman walk to the east side of the second floor and grab five pens from a display. The woman then put the pens in her purse and attempted to leave the store, where bookstore security personnel stopped her.
Police questioned the woman, who confirmed the story. The woman identified herself with a CatCard and told officers that she was a Chinese national.
Police cited the woman on charges of shoplifting and released her on scene. The incident has been referred to the Dean of Students and the Chinese consul.
UAPD officers were dispatched to the UofA Bookstore on Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. in reference to a shoplifter in custody.
Upon arrival, officers met with a bookstore employee who told police that at approximately 10:55 a.m., he witnessed a woman walk to the east side of the second floor and grab five pens from a display. The woman then put the pens in her purse and attempted to leave the store, where bookstore security personnel stopped her.
Police questioned the woman, who confirmed the story. The woman identified herself with a CatCard and told officers that she was a Chinese national.
Police cited the woman on charges of shoplifting and released her on scene. The incident has been referred to the Dean of Students and the Chinese consul.
这则并不十分引人注意的报道“不经意”地把偷窃、中国人等字眼放在同一段落里，似乎就等着有人在二者之间划等号。但这一切没有逃过在UofA农学院工作的闻福实博士敏感的眼睛。强烈的民族自尊心再加上对英文措词的深刻理解使她立即意识到此事虽小，但决不能任其背后的错误意识漫延。她立即发邮件给校报的主编AlexDalenberg，指出这篇报道潜在的危害性，并同时把邮件转发给华声合唱团的其他成员。邮件的原文摘抄如下：
The nationality of the woman has absolutely no relevance to the incidence…
Your selected reporting of a specific nationality may tint the image of that specific group of people…I hope to see that people of all nationality and ethnicity be treated fairly in your future reporting.
无独有偶，合唱团里有不少成员也在UofA工作。她的行动即刻得到了众人的支持。农学院的熊忠国教授、化学系的郑智平教授、神经科学系的雷宏博士、公共卫生学院的陈昭教授以及UofA中国学生学者联谊会副主席袁方等纷纷致信校报编辑部，抗议这份有伤中国人民感情的报道。陈教授把信直接送到了UofA校长办公室并很快得到了答复。郑教授的信写得淋漓尽致。它观点突出，有理有据，文字犀利又不乏尊重。校报将其刊登在十月十五日的报纸上，充分说明编辑部在阵阵抗议声中，意识到了自己的错误。现将郑教授的信全文转载如下：
Dear Editor,
By now you should have received the letter by Dr. Fushi Wen in which she voiced her protest of your release of the identity of a student who was caught shoplifting at the University bookstore and self-identified as a Chinese national. Shoplifting is an inexcusable behavior/crime, and whoever involved should face the consequences. With this recognition, I am writing to add my concern over the school newspaper's practice in this particular regard. The identity of the alleged shoplifter bears no significance in reporting to the University community the crime. The specific identification of this student as coming from a particular country or belonging to a particular ethnic group only creates subconscious discrimination against ALL the people from the same group. Shoplifting happens all the time, including on this campus, and the alleged shoplifters can be from ANY specific group of people. In fact, most likely the shoplifting occurred on this campus and in the US is committed by non-Asian or non-Chinese, but I have never seen a report in which the citizenship or the ethnic group of the alleged shoplifter is identified. In this particular case, a sensitive editor and the reporting team could have simply stated that "a student was involved in an alleged shoplifting, and was referred to the appropriate authority for action". The purpose of "Police Beat" is to keep the community aware of what has been going on, but not creating a situation that is not conducive and even detrimental to the study and life of people who happen to belong to the same group.
It is comforting to note that in today's (Oct. 14, 2009) MAILBAG, exactly the same concern was raised regarding the release of the identity of students from a particular student organization. Indeed, this is a sensitive issue, and I am glad that we are not alone. Your editorial office owns an apology to the students and scholars from China who have NOTHING to do with this inexcusable behavior. As the reporting team of a widely read newspaper, not only by the UA community but by other Tucsons, you should have the guts to admit that the report was indiscreet, and most importantly, make your conscientious efforts to be more sensitive and prudent in the future.
Zhiping Zheng
Associate Professor of Chemistry
除了刊登郑教授的信之外，校报主编还一一回答了各封邮件，表示歉意。现转载一二。
Dr. Lei,
You are absolutely correct. I am addressing this issue with my staff and plan to print a number of letters to the editor I have received about the Police Beat in question, as well as a written apology. It is inexcusable that this got past a number of editors and copy editors and I hope you will accept my sincere apologies. If you have any questions,
please don't hesitate to contact me at 621-7579.
Best,
Alex Dalenberg
Editor in Chief
Prof. Xiong,
You are absolutely correct. I am ashamed to admit that I did not read this particular Police Beat before it went to press, but I am at a loss as to how this escaped our writers, news editors and copy chief. I plan to address this issue with the staff, as well as prepare a written apology for the newspaper. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me at 621-7579.
Again, I humbly ask your forgiveness in this matter. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention and calling us to task.
Best,
Alex Dalenberg
Editor in Chief
图桑华人会馆在此事件中保持了沉默。理由是校报只是如实报道了偷窃者的口供，不足于说明编辑部有辱华趋向。很显然，参与了这次抗议活动的女士先生们并不这样认为。无论如何，有一点是清楚的――团结就是力量。只要我们敢于说出自己的真实感受，那我们就是一个不容忽视的群体。
December 2009