(接上)

The individual over the group
So, I have explained the basic elements of my theory. This is not a scientific study, with original data, control groups, or statistical analyses. This is just a presentation of some ideas that seem logical and socially relevant to me. However, I must emphasize that I did not write this essay to cast mean-spirited aspersions on black people or any other racial or ethnic group. And I do not mean to paint whole groups of people with a broad, ugly brush.
Just because people come from a certain racial, ethnic, or cultural group, that does not mean that they have to remain confined by whatever inherent limitations might generally characterize that group. There are always exceptions to the rule, and the individual can be much more powerful than the group, if he or she has a strong sense of individualism, self-respect, determination, will power, and discipline. Hell, a large part of my ancestry is Polish—certainly not among the most gifted or accomplished of the European ethnic groups—but I have somehow managed to do alright for myself!

个体高于群体
我已经解释了我的理论的基本要素。这不是一项科学研究,没有原始数据、对照组或统计分析。这只是一些对我来说有逻辑性和社会相关性的观点。然而,我必须强调,我写这篇文章并不是为了对黑人或任何其他种族或民族群体进行刻薄的诽谤。我并不是要用一种宽泛而丑陋的笔触来描绘整个群体。
仅仅因为人们来自某个种族、民族或文化群体,这并不意味着他们必须受到该群体通常特征的任何固有的限制。凡事总有例外,如果个人有强烈的个人主义意识、自尊、决心、意志力和纪律性,那么个人可能比集体更有力量。见鬼,我的祖先中有很大一部分是波兰人,显然不是最有天赋或最有成就的欧洲民族之一,但我还是设法为自己做得很好!
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Needless to say, there have always been, there are today, and there always will be extremely intelligent and highly accomplished black people, many of whom are much “better people” (in the commonly understood way) than many white people. I’ve always admired certain elements of black culture, particularly in music (which has always been very important in my life). Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix—these are among my greatest musical heroes. And some of my favorite white musicians—from Elvis Presley to Led Zeppelin to Stevie Ray Vaughan—would have never even existed without the black influences that inspired their music.
Moreover, centuries of interracial genetic mixing and cross-cultural influences have clouded the very definitions of race and culture (though not in the ways asserted by the social constructionists), making any analysis of race-based issues very messy and confusing today.

不用说,过去有,现在有,将来也会有非常聪明、非常有成就的黑人,他们中的许多人(在通常理解的方式中)比许多白人是“更好的人”。我一直很欣赏黑人文化的某些元素,尤其是在音乐方面(这在我的生活中一直很重要)。路易斯·阿姆斯特朗、艾灵顿公爵、贝西伯爵、比莉·霍乐迪、威利·迪克森、马迪·沃特斯、吉米·亨德里克斯——这些都是我心中最伟大的音乐家。我最喜欢的一些白人音乐家——从埃尔维斯·普雷斯利到齐柏林飞艇再到史蒂夫·雷·沃恩——如果没有黑人对他们音乐的影响,他们甚至都不会存在。
此外,几个世纪以来的跨种族基因混合和跨文化影响已经给种族和文化的定义蒙上了阴影(尽管不是以社会建构主义者所断言的方式),使得今天任何基于种族的问题的分析都非常混乱和令人困惑。

While acknowledging limitations, exceptions, and qualifications to my theory, I still believe that it offers a well-meaning perspective that should be considered in light of the many serious problems in American society that seem to revolve around race. I have presented the ideas of this theory only as a possible partial explanation for some of these problems—as a way to perhaps better understand what is happening all around us today. Understanding is important, isn’t it?
In all humans, there is a complex mix of cultural and genetic elements that form the basis of who we are and what we do in our lives. But in each individual, there is a seed that can allow that person to grow into whomever he or she wants to be. Be an individual, not a group. That is the best way to “overcome.”

尽管我承认我的理论有局限性和例外,但我仍然认为,鉴于美国社会中似乎围绕种族展开的许多严重问题,它提供了一个善意的视角,值得考虑。我提出这一理论的想法只是作为对其中一些问题的一种可能的部分解释——也许是一种更好地理解今天我们周围正在发生的事情的方法。理解很重要,不是吗?
在所有人类中,文化和遗传因素的复杂混合构成了我们是谁以及我们在生活中做什么的基础。但在每个人心中,都有一颗种子,可以让那个人成长为他想成为的人。做一个个体,而不是一个群体。这是“克服”的最好方法。