The American Cultural Tapestry 美国文化织锦
To understand American behavior and public policies, it is essential to know the culture of the United States. In many languages culture usually refers to art, music, history, and literature. In the United States, these would be viewed as the results or artifacts of culture. Our definition of culture is much more anthropological. In American English "culture" simply means the way of life of a group of people passed down from one generation to another through learning. It includes fundamental beliefs, values, thought patterns, and worldviews that are shared by most Americans. We can examine these external aspects of culture and infer that they reflect our internal values, beliefs, and worldviews. Unless we understand American internal culture, it is almost impossible to explain external behavior, including our public policies.
要理解美国人的行为与政策，就要了解美国的文化。在许多语言中，文化通常意指艺术、音乐、历史及文学。在美国，这些都被视为文化的结果或产物。我们对文化的定义更接近人类学的含义。在美国英语里，culture(文化)是指学而习之、代代相传的一个群体的生活方式。它包括大多数美国人所共有的基本信仰、价值观、思维模式及世界观。我们可以通过观察文化的这些外在表现，推断出它们所反映的内在价值观、信仰及世界观。如果不理解美国的内在文化，几乎就不可能解释美国的外在行为，包括我们的公共政策。
If we had to develop a graphic representation of the American dominant or mainstream culture, we might consider an iceberg. Most of an iceberg is under water and hidden. The same is true of culture. Most of it is internal or inside our heads and well below the water level of conscious awareness. While the visible tip may change—as an iceberg will melt with sun and rain—the base does not change very much over time. In the same way, one's fundamental beliefs, values, ways of thinking, and worldviews change very slowly.
如果我们必须用画面来形容美国的主导或曰主流文化，它也许可以被想象为一座冰山。冰山的绝大部份是藏在水下看不见的，文化也是如此，即其绝大部份是内在的，也就是说在我们的头脑中，远远低于意识知觉的水面。尽管其暴露在外面的最表层可能改变，就如同冰山会因阳光和雨水而融化一样，但文化的根基则不随时间而发生太大变化。一个文化的基本信念、价值观、思考模式和世界观，只能非常缓慢地发生改变。
This part of culture is learned unconsciously simply by growing up in a particular community or family. No parent sits down at the breakfast table with a child and teaches a lesson on "cultural values." Rather they are learned unconsciously just by growing up in a particular family. This is the reason we are relatively unaware of our cultural values until we leave our country and interact with people of other cultures.
文化的这部份内容是通过成长环境和家庭耳濡目染学到的。没有哪位家长会在早餐桌上给孩子上“文化价值观”课；价值观是在家中不知不觉形成的。这就是为什么在我们离开自己的国家与其他文化的人交流之前，不太能意识到自己的文化价值观。
Emphasizing Individual Achievement
强调个人成就
When immigrants first arrived to America, they brought their European beliefs and values to the "New World." They had landed in a place where there appeared to be unlimited natural resources and vast opportunities to excel. In Europe, if you were born poor you died poor. The combination of European beliefs and values and the abundant supply of resources and opportunities created a new set of cultural values that we call "American."
当早年移民来到美洲时，他们将其欧洲的信仰与价值观带到这个“新世界”。他们到达了一片似乎有着无穷无尽自然资源和许许多多成功机会的土地；在欧洲，一个人若生在贫困中，也会死在贫困中。正是欧洲的信仰和价值观与美洲丰富的资源和机会，组成了我们所称的“美国的”新文化价值观。
These new beliefs and values of individual achievement and class mobility were rewarded and reinforced. Americans then began to identify themselves in terms of what they do. If you encounter an American at a party, he or she will often greet you with: "Hello, my name is Gary Weaver. I'm a professor at American University. What do you do?"
随着有关个人成就和地位变化等新的信仰与价值观得到肯定和加强，美国人开始用自己做的事来代表自己的身份。您若在一个聚会上遇到一位美国人，他(她)在和您打招呼时往往会说：“您好，我叫加里·韦弗，在美利坚大学教书。您是做什么的？”
People from many other cultures, however, identify themselves in terms of who they are. A West African might greet you by saying, "Hello. I'm Pap Seka the son of Tamsier Seka from up river in Basse." The primary source of his identity is who he is—his father and his birthplace. His status is based upon family and heritage, not what he does as an individual or what he may do in the future.
然而，许多其他文化的人则通常注重说明自身。西非人在向您打招呼时可能会说：“您好，我叫帕普·塞卡，是巴塞那条河上游的塔姆西尔·塞卡的儿子。”帕普的身份的主体是他的父亲和他的出生地。这种身份是基于家庭和传承，而不是个人做什么或者今后可能做什么。
Distrust of an Overly Powerful Central Government
不信任过度强大的国家政府
In contrast with the practices in Europe, the first settlers to come to the shores of America did not want a king, queen, or pope. They were very suspicious of an overly powerful central government. In the words of the great American philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), they believed that "less government is better government." Of course, they knew that their "New World" needed a national government to handle foreign affairs and international commerce; matters that impacted everyday life however were deemed the responsibility of local government.
与欧洲的惯例不同，最早来美洲大陆定居的殖民地居民不希望有国王、女王或教皇。他们对过度强大的国家政府非常不信任。用著名美国哲学家亨利·戴维·梭罗(Henry David Thoreau，1817-1862)的话说，他们认为“政府越少越好”。当然，他们知道“新世界”需要有一个全国政府来处理外交事务和国际贸易，但认为涉及日常生活的事务应该由地方政府负责。
America has never had a national police force. Issues of welfare, law enforcement and adjudication, care for the infirm, and so on, are matters of local jurisdiction. America's civil liberties, such as free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and so on, are found in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These documents protect individual freedoms and defend against an overly powerful national government.
美国从来没有一个全国警察机构。社会福利、执法与司法、对老弱的照料等都是地方政府的事。美国的公民自由，例如言论自由、出版自由、宗教自由等，都是由《宪法》和《权利法案》(Bill of Rights)确定。这些文件保护个人自由，使之不受过度强大的国家政府的侵犯。
Not Quite a "Melting Pot"
并不完全是“大熔炉”
Many people believe that the United States is a mixture of many different cultures without a dominant or mainstream culture. The metaphor often used to reflect this assumption is the "melting pot." People from around the globe bring their cultures here and throw them into the American pot. The mixture is stirred and heated until the various cultures melt together.
许多人认为，美国是众多不同文化的混合体，没有一个主导或主流文化。所谓“大熔炉”的比喻即是这种观念的反映。世界各地的人们将他们的文化带到这里后便汇入美国的熔炉之中。熔炉经搅拌加热，形成了不同文化的融合。
There is some truth to this idea. The United States is certainly a culturally diverse society; however, there is also a dominant culture. Immigrants became a part of this culture by giving up many of their differences so that they could fit into the mainstream of society. Some would argue that the United States has often had a cultural "cookie-cutter" approach with a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, male mold or shape as the model. White immigrant males could easily fit such a mold by adopting an Anglo name, converting to Protestant Christianity, and speaking English without a foreign accent. However, not everyone could fit the cookie-cutter mold. People can't change their gender, skin color, or hair texture. Some people melted more easily than others.
这种观念有几分道理。美国的确是一个文化多元的社会，但它也有一个主导文化。移民通过放弃自身的许多不同之处以适应社会主流而变成这个文化的一部份。有些人认为，美国文化带有“饼乾模刻”("cookie-cutter")的趋向，即将白种、盎格鲁撒克逊及新教徒的男性作为标准模式。通过取一个英国名、改信基督新教和消除讲英语时的外国口音，白种男性移民可以轻易进入这个文化模子。然而，并非每个人都能适合这个模子。人们无法改变自己的性别、肤色或发质。一些人会比另一些人更容易融入。
Becoming a "Mosaic" or "Tapestry"
成为“拼画”或“织锦”
Of course, the United States has changed. Most Americans would no longer accept a melting pot or a cookie-cutter culture. In fact, it has become common to describe the United States as a mosaic or a tapestry. These now popular metaphors suggest that it is acceptable to keep one's differences and still be part of the overall society. In a mosaic or a tapestry, each color is distinct and adds to the overall beauty of the object. If you remove one piece from the mosaic or one thread from the tapestry, you destroy it. Today, it is easier to keep your differences. Differences in gender, race, national origin, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation are acceptable and need not be abandoned to have an equal opportunity to achieve your life goals.
当然，美国已经改变。绝大多数美国人不再认同熔炉或饼乾模刻的文化模式。事实上，美国现在常常被描述为拼画或织锦。这些时下流行的比喻表明，一个人可以既保持自己的特点，同时也成为整体社会的一部份。在一幅拼画或一块织锦中，每个颜色都是独特的，并且是物件整体美的组成部份。倘若从拼画上取下一片或织锦上抽去一丝，这个作品就会被破坏。今天，保持自己的特徵变得相对容易。性别、种族、原国籍、宗教及性取向等诸方面的差异都得到接受，人们不必再为了获得实现人生目标的同等机会而将它们放弃。
"Hyphenated Americans"—people with dual identities—reflect the belief that one can keep one's ethnic, national, religious, or racial identity and still be an American. Mexican-Americans, Irish-Americans, African-Americans or Black Americans, Arab-Americans, Muslim Americans, and American Indians all reflect the practice of being a true American but also maintaining a co-identity. Of course, what holds the country together is not only a set of common values and beliefs, but also the English language and common experiences.
如今常见到“某裔美国人”的说法，指具有双重文化背景的人。这种说法反映出这样一种信念：一个人能够既保留其文化传统、民族、宗教或种族特徵，同时也依然是美国人。墨西哥裔美国人、爱尔兰裔美国人、非洲裔美国人或美国黑人、阿拉伯裔美国人、穆斯林美国人、美国印第安人，等等，就都是这种反映。当然，将美国凝聚为一体的不只是共同的价值观和信念，还有英语和共同的经历。
In four states—New Mexico, Texas, California, and Hawaii—and the District of Columbia, non-Hispanic white people are a demographic minority. By 2050, most demographers agree that non-Hispanic white people will be a minority in the overall national population. But, this trend does not seem to threaten the average American. In fact, most Americans believe that diversity enhances creative problem solving and increases productivity.
目前在新墨西哥、得克萨斯、加利福尼亚、夏威夷四个州和哥伦比亚特区，拉美裔以外的白人人口居少数。大多数人口统计学家一致认为，到2050年，拉美裔以外的白种人将成为美国全国总人口中的少数。但这个趋势似乎没有让普通美国人感到恐惧。事实上，大多数美国人认为，多元化加强了创造性解决问题的能力，并且提高了生产力。
This reflects a multicultural model and the assumption is that not only are differences welcomed, but they are even valued and viewed as strengths. Very few people would want to go back to the past when minorities had to give up their differences to fit into the mainstream culture. Diversity is an opportunity to be embraced, not an obstacle to be overcome.
这一切反映出一种多元文化形态和观念，即差异不仅受到欢迎，甚至受到珍视；它被视为一种优势。很少有人想再回到过去那种少数族群为了迎合主流文化而不得不放弃自身特徵的情形。多元化是需要予以拥抱的机会，而不是需要逾越的障碍。
The issue facing America today is not how to get rid of differences, but rather how to manage a society with so many differences. The United States has always been very diverse, but it is no longer simply a matter of bringing together different European nationalities and ethnic groups. Today diversity means all races and ethnic groups, various nationalities, men and women, the disabled, employees of all ages, and people of various sexual orientations. Because of the reality of the demographic changes, increasing global interdependence, and the obvious benefits of diversity, Americans will adapt and develop the necessary skills to communicate and work with people of all cultural backgrounds.
美国当今面临的问题，不是如何消除差异，而是如何管理有着如此众多差异的社会。美国一向非常多元，但现在已不仅仅涉及让不同的欧洲国籍与文化传统群体合在一起。今日的多元化包含着所有种族文化群体、各个民族、男性女性、残障人、各年龄层雇员、以及不同性取向的人。面对人口结构的变化、不断增加的全球相互依赖、以及多元化的显著益处，美国人将调整和发展必要的技能，从而与各种文化背景的人交流合作。
责任编辑：sealion1986
