原文標題：
University admissions
Affirmative action had to go
But what comes after could be better
大學(xué)招生
平權(quán)行動必須取消
取消之后會更好

Why affirmative action in American universities had to go
為什么美國大學(xué)的平權(quán)行動必須取消

[Paragraph 1]
SHOULD CITIZENS be treated differently based on the colour of their skin?
公民是否應(yīng)該因膚色不同而受到不同待遇？

Most people would say not, but others insist that they should—if the ends are sufficiently enlightened.
大多數(shù)人會說不應(yīng)該，但另一些人堅持認為應(yīng)該——只要目的足夠開明，就應(yīng)該如此。

[Paragraph 2]
Not long after America dismantled over two centuries of slavery and segregation, it embarked on a project of “affirmative action”: legally sanctioned positive discrimination for African-Americans (later expanded to other “under-represented minorities”) who wanted to go to selective universities.
美國廢除了200多年的奴隸制和種族隔離政策后不久，就開始了一項“平權(quán)行動”計劃：對那些想上選拔性大學(xué)的非裔美國人（后來擴大到其他“代表性不足的少數(shù)族裔”）實行法律認可的積極歧視。

Yet after 50 years with more racial progress than setbacks, an applicant to America’s top universities with the right skin colour still has a much better chance of getting in than one with identical credentials but the wrong skin colour.
50 年來，種族進步多于退步。然而，對于一個膚色對的申請人來說，進入美國頂尖大學(xué)的機會要比具有相同資歷但膚色不對的申請人要高得多。

On June 29th the Supreme Court ended the scheme.
6 月 29 日，最高法院終止了該計劃。

[Paragraph 3]
It was right to do so.
終止計劃是對的。

That is because affirmative action rested on contorted constitutional logic. It was also unpopular outside progressive circles. Worst of all, it didn’t work.
這是因為平權(quán)行動建立在扭曲的憲法邏輯之上。而且在進步派圈子之外也不受歡迎。最糟糕的是，它并沒有起到作用。

America’s best universities have never been representative, even with race-based affirmative action.
即使有了基于種族的平權(quán)行動，美國最好的大學(xué)也從未真正代表多元性。

The very same universities favour the children of alumni and donors—a shadow, unjustifiable affirmative-action scheme for the white and wealthy hidden behind the prominent one for black and Hispanic applicants (many of whom were wealthy themselves).
同樣的大學(xué)偏袒校友和捐助者的子女——實際上這是一個為白人和富人而設(shè)立的不公平的影子平權(quán)行動計劃，雖然表面上是為黑人和西班牙裔申請者（其中許多人本身就很富有）設(shè)立的公開計劃。

[Paragraph 4]
The Supreme Court’s ruling will reverberate widely, encouraging lawsuits to end racial preferences in other areas.
最高法院的裁決將引起廣泛影響，也將鼓勵其他領(lǐng)域結(jié)束種族偏好的訴訟。

But the immediate impact will be on universities, and the task is to ensure that it is beneficial.
但直接影響將在大學(xué)里體現(xiàn)出來，大家的任務(wù)是確保其產(chǎn)生積極影響。

[Paragraph 5]
Start with the shaky legal justification for race-conscious admissions.
基于種族的招生制度，要從不可靠的法律依據(jù)開始說起。

That is why, in 1978, the Supreme Court justified affirmative action not as reparations for a terrible past, but with the argument that diversity promotes “cross-racial understanding and the breaking down of racial stereotypes”.
這就是為什么1978年，最高法院將平權(quán)行動的合理化不作為對灰暗過去的賠償，而是以多樣性促進“跨種族理解和打破種族成見”的理由來進行合理化。

[Paragraph 6]
It was always odd that affirmative action was crafted for the benefit of black students’ white peers.
平權(quán)行動是為了黑人學(xué)生的白人同伴的利益而制定的，這一點很奇怪。

Nonetheless, top universities leapt on the rationale of diversity.
盡管如此，頂尖大學(xué)還是采用了多樣性的合理化理由。

[Paragraph 7]
In last week’s decision the court’s dissenting liberal justices claimed that the new ban “will serve only to highlight the court’s own impotence in the face of an America whose cries for equality resound”.
在上周的判決中，法院中持不同意見的自由派法官聲稱，新禁令 "只會突出法院自己在面對美國的平等呼聲時的無能"。

In fact Americans were not happy with the old policy. Even liberal Californians voted down a proposal in 2020 to reinstate affirmative action, banned in the state since 1996.
事實上，美國人對舊政策并不滿意。就連自由派加州人也在 2020 年投票否決了一項恢復(fù)平權(quán)行動的提案，1996 年加州就禁止了平權(quán)行動。

Polls show that many more Americans oppose taking race into account for admissions than favour it.
民意調(diào)查顯示，反對將種族納入招生條件的美國人要遠多于支持者。
That is also true of Asian-Americans, who typically lean left but bear the heaviest cost of race-based admissions because they are deemed to be “over-represented” (despite suffering discrimination in their own right).
亞裔美國人也反對，盡管他們通常傾向于左派，但在基于種族的招生中承受著最沉重的代價，因為他們被認為“代表比例過高”（盡管他們本身就遭受歧視）。

[Paragraph 8]
The court’s decision could yet become the catalyst for fairer admissions.
法院的判決可能會成為推動更公平錄取的催化劑。

The extraordinary benefits that Harvard and Yale shower upon the children of alumni and donors make a mockery of meritocracy and progressivism.
哈佛和耶魯大學(xué)對校友和捐贈者子女給予的特殊待遇是對精英主義和進步主義的諷刺。

Those practices, the subject of a new legal challenge, should go.
這些做法成了新的法律挑戰(zhàn)，應(yīng)該取消。

[Paragraph 9]
Universities seeking social justice should stop using race as a proxy for disadvantage and start looking at the thing itself.
追求社會公正的大學(xué)應(yīng)該停止將種族作為弱勢群體的代名詞，而應(yīng)該直接關(guān)注弱勢群體本身。
Instead of giving a leg-up to members of groups that are on average badly off, they should favour individuals who are poor.
他們應(yīng)該優(yōu)先考慮貧困個體，而不是優(yōu)先考慮平均處境較差的群體。

One trial found that simply offering application-fee waivers to promising students from poor backgrounds dramatically increased the chance of them ending up in highly selective universities.
一項試驗發(fā)現(xiàn)，只要為有潛力但家庭貧困的學(xué)生提供申請費減免，就可以大大增加他們進入高選拔性大學(xué)的機會。

[Paragraph 10]
The best universities may seek stealthy ways to preserve racial preferences.
頂尖大學(xué)可能會采取隱蔽的方式來保留種族偏好。

Many are dropping requirements for standardised tests, which would make it harder to detect quiet discrimination against members of unfavoured groups who shine in them.
許多大學(xué)正在取消標準化考試成績的要求，這對擅長考試的群體成員不利，也將使得對該群體的潛在歧視更難以察覺。
[Paragraph 11]
Rather than coaxing a generation of minority students into drafting disingenuous adversity statements—and continuing to admit a vast hereditary mediocracy through the back door—universities like Harvard would do well to craft a fairer system of admissions.
與其哄騙少數(shù)族裔學(xué)生寫虛假的逆境聲明--并繼續(xù)通過后門錄取大量世襲的平庸之輩--哈佛等大學(xué)應(yīng)該朝著更公平的招生系統(tǒng)努力。

They should not seek to protect the monied (albeit multicoloured) monoculture that they have created.
他們不應(yīng)該試圖保護他們所創(chuàng)造的金錢（盡管膚色多樣）單一文化。

Instead they should take the chance to become the genuinely representative institutions that they claim to be.
相反，他們應(yīng)該抓住機會成為他們所宣揚的真正多樣性機構(gòu)。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量837左右，有刪減）
原文出自：2023年7月8日《The Economist》Leaders版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
美國大學(xué)的平權(quán)運動affirmative action是指20世紀60年代至70年代期間，美國社會對于大學(xué)錄取和教育機會的平等訪問權(quán)的爭取和改革運動。平權(quán)運動促使大學(xué)采取積極的措施來增加來自少數(shù)族裔和女性的入學(xué)率。這些措施包括針對少數(shù)族裔和女性的獎學(xué)金、招生輔導(dǎo)和專門的招生計劃。每年，越來越多的弱勢群體進入大學(xué)，并取得了他們應(yīng)得的成功。這些人包括不同種族、性別和性取向的人，以及殘疾人士等。進入21世紀后許多州和學(xué)校開始在臺面上取消或減少所謂“平權(quán)”。如加州大學(xué)早在1995年就率先公開終止“平權(quán)”，麻省理工學(xué)院、北卡州立大學(xué)等也起而效仿。1996年，加州209號法案明確提出“不得以種族因素為大學(xué)錄取標準之一”，這一提法此后為多個州所效仿，一定程度上抵消了“平權(quán)法案”所造成的錄取不公。

高度選拔性大學(xué)highly selective universities是指擁有非常嚴格的入學(xué)標準和高度競爭的錄取過程的大學(xué)。這些大學(xué)通常擁有世界一流的學(xué)術(shù)聲譽和資源，并吸引來自全球各地的頂尖學(xué)生競爭入學(xué)。高度選拔性大學(xué)的錄取過程通常包括多個方面的評估，如學(xué)術(shù)成績、標準化考試成績、課外活動、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力、推薦信和申請文書等。申請者需要在各個方面展示出卓越的能力和潛力，以脫穎而出并被錄取。申請者通常需要具備極高的學(xué)術(shù)成績和綜合素質(zhì)，以及在學(xué)術(shù)、藝術(shù)、體育或社區(qū)服務(wù)等方面的杰出表現(xiàn)。

【重點句子】（3個）
The Supreme Court’s ruling will reverberate widely, encouraging lawsuits to end racial preferences in other areas.
最高法院的裁決將引起廣泛影響，也將鼓勵其他領(lǐng)域結(jié)束種族偏好的訴訟。

The court’s decision could yet become the catalyst for fairer admissions.
法院的判決可能會成為推動更公平錄取的催化劑。

Universities seeking social justice should stop using race as a proxy for disadvantage and start looking at the thing itself.
追求社會公正的大學(xué)應(yīng)該停止將種族作為弱勢群體的代名詞，而應(yīng)該直接關(guān)注弱勢群體本身。