我在美国高中被凌霸经历和如何应对 You just can’t… because you are Asian（双语）

在一个凉爽的秋天下午，当学生们站在我周围等待校车到达时，我无意中听到他们在讨论唐纳德·川普(Donald Trump)竞选2024年大选的胜率。

很快批评就开始了，我的同学对他的移民政策和性格感到不满。

突然，我的一个同学喊道：“大家快来，让我们看看谁是我们学校的Trump支持者。”当她拿出手机开始浏览Instagram时，一群学生很快就围在这位同学周围。

当她浏览追随者名单时，她喊出了在Instagram上追随Trump的学生的名字。

其中一个同学说：“我早知道他是Trump的支持者，难怪他总是那么讨厌。”另一个人说：“这就是为什么她没有朋友。”

当我坐在他们身后时，我的心怦怦直跳。我祈祷他们不会在名单上看到我的名字。

“Emily？”她说：“等等，你们知道Emily在Instagram上关注Trump吗？”

“她怎么能那样做？”有人说，“她不知道自己是移民吗？”

“嘘，”另一个同学小声的说，“Emily在我们身后。”

每个人都开始看着我。

我能看到他们眼中的困惑。我的脸红了，不知道该说什么。

然后，那个在Instagram搜索的女孩转过身来，命令我立即取消关注 Trump.

当我问她为什么时，她回答道，“你就是不能关注Trump, 因为你是亚洲人。”

我试图向她解释，我在Instagram上关注两党及其高层人物，包括 Trump和Biden。因为我希望能够去比较他们发布的内容。

但是没等我说完，她摇着头走开了，甚至拒绝与我交谈这件事。

在接下来的几个月里，流言蜚语在学校里开始传播了。

从“Emily追随Trump”，到“Emily没受过教育”，再到“Emily讨厌亚洲移民”。

当我走在学校的走廊上时，我能听到同学在议论我。

我一直在期望有人能主动上前来问我，为什么我要在Instagram上关注Trump。然而，没有人，没有一个人这样做。

许多人在不了解上下文的情况下，加入对我的自动批评。我甚至被视为自己的族裔的背叛者。

在政治两极分化加剧的阶段，年轻人开始越来越难讨论争议性的话题。心照不宣的潜台词，已经自动将辩论中的一方定义为，“道德正确”。即使是恭敬地质疑那一方，也经常被描述为“冒犯性”，导致造成了一个不健康的学习环境。

年轻人只有在鼓励他们探索新思想、研究不同哲理、并探究不同的环境中，才能锻炼独立思考能力。

然而，当前普遍希望“保护”年轻人避开有争议的想法，导致了刻板印象的加深（比如identity politics)，并产生了一种让年轻人缺乏独立思考的文化。

在Instagram事件发生后，我在学校的报纸上开设了一个名为“批判性思考”的讨论平台，让学生们就有争议的问题进行讨论。在这些讨论中，我分享了自己决定在Instagram上关注Trump的原因和故事。我也对其他人的故事和观点很感兴趣，无论我是否同意或不同意他们的观点。

许多同学给我发短信说，这个平台给了他们一个真正分享被其他学生认为“不可接受”的想法的地方。

在美国，争议会永远存在，因为在一个民主的国家，人们不可避免地会产生分歧。在看到你不赞同的事情时，回复“你不能这样想......因为你是亚洲人”和回复一个精确的批评，并促使人思考自己的政治立场或者重新考量一些媒体信息，有着很大的不同。

相互尊重的对话，是推动民主稳步前进的动力。正是因为通过许多这些艰难的讨论，人类才能最终走向更多的妥协和团结。

You just can’t… because you are Asian

Author: Emily Wang

As students stood around me waiting for the school buses to arrive on a crisp fall afternoon, I overheard quiet whispers behind me, getting louder and louder as my peers began to discuss Donald Trump’s bid for the 2024 election. Soon the criticism began: my peers were upset about his immigration policy and his abrasive character. Suddenly, one of my classmates called out “Guys, let’s see who is a Trump supporter at our school.” A crowd of students soon began to form around that classmate as she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through Instagram. As she went through the list of followers, she yelled out the names of the students that followed Donald Trump. Someone said, “I knew he is a Trump supporter, that’s why he is always so obnoxious.” Someone else said, “No wonder she has no friends.”

As I sat behind them, my heart was in my throat; I prayed that they would not see my name on the list. “Emily?” she said, “Wait, do you guys know that Emily follows Trump on Instagram?” “How can she do that?'' someone said, “doesn't she know she's an immigrant?” “Shush," another girl whispered, "she's behind us.”

Everyone began looking at me. I could see the confusion in their eyes. My face went red and I didn't know what to say. Then the instagram-scrolling girl whipped around and commanded me to “unfollow Donald Trump.” When I asked why she responded, “You just can’t… because you're Asian.” I tried to explain to her that I follow both parties and their senior figures, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, on Instagram because I want to be able to compare what they are posting. But she walked away, shaking her head and refusing to even have a conversation with me.

In the next couple of months, gossip began to grow from “Emily follows Trump,” to “Emily is uneducated,” and to “Emily hates Asian immigrants.” I heard people talking about me as I walked in the hallway. I waited and waited for someone to ask me about my decision to follow Trump on instagram. However, no one, not a single person did. Many automatically criticized me without understanding the context. I was seen as a betrayer of my own race.

In a moment of increasing political polarization, engaging in controversial discussions as a young person is becoming difficult. A set of implicit codes has come to define one side of a controversial topic as “morally right.” Even respectfully questioning that side is often described as “offensive,” which creates an unhealthy learning environment. Young people can only think critically in an environment in which they are encouraged to explore new ideas, investigate different philosophies, and seek to interrogate specific differences. However, the current, prevalent desire to shield young people from controversial ideas or present only one side of an issue has fostered stereotypes and generated a culture in which young people rarely think for themselves.

After the instagram incident, I started a discussion platform in my school’s newspaper called “Think Critically” that allowed students to engage in discussions on controversial issues. During those discussions, I shared the story behind my decision to follow Trump on Instagram and I was intrigued by the stories and perspectives of others, regardless of whether or not I agreed or disagreed. Many classmates sent me texts saying that the platform gave them a place to genuinely share the ideas that were often considered “unacceptable” by other students.

Controversies will always exist in America because, in a democracy, people are inevitably going to disagree. There’s a difference between responding “You just can’t….because your Asian” and responding with a precise criticism that respectfully pushes me to defend my political beliefs or my decisions to consume particular media. This respectful dialogue is what drives democracy forward, slowly, through many difficult discussions, and ultimately to more compromise and unity.

（文章图片来自网络）