文化矫正:你对美国的又7个误会

Myth 8: Christopher Columbus Discovered America

谣言8：美洲大陆是哥伦布发现的

The Columbus discovered America myth doesnt seem to be dying off. For starters, Native Americans occupied the territory for centuries before his arrival. But the Scandinavians were also here previously: their Vikings were known to have landed 500 years before Columbus did, yet Columbus gets the credit as the man who discovered America during his Spanish Empire-financed voyage in search of gold.

这是个经久不衰的传言。从头追溯的话，印第安土著在哥伦布登陆的前几百年就已经占领了这块领土了。斯坎蒂纳维亚人也不例外：维京海盗们先于哥伦布500年登陆了这块土地。但最终还是由西班牙皇室资助的寻金之旅让哥伦布发现新大陆的事迹永垂史册。

Myth 9: The Statue of Liberty Is An Ode to American Greatness

谣言9：自由女神像是对伟大美国的歌颂

Based on the broken shackles at its feet and the politics of its creator, it comes as little surprise that rumors have built up that the Statue of Liberty is a tribute to the end of slavery. Frederic Bartholdis statue has given the National Office of Parks and Recreations second thoughts in the past couple of years, and the department has conducted a thorough investigation.

基于女神脚上破裂的镣铐和原创造者的政治背景，那个关于自由女神像的建造是为了庆祝奴隶制的终止的传言不会让人产生丝毫怀疑。不过，巴托尔迪的这个作品，在过去的几十年中，促使美国公园娱乐协会好好地思考了番，并展开了一系列的深度调查。

They found the rumor of slavery was based on a single marketing pamphlet by Bartholdi, which they deemed to be false, but they did find that it is most likely true that Lady Liberty was modeled from the body of an African woman. Bartholdi had studied African women for a prior commission on an Egyptian statue, but when that project was scrapped, the studies became the foundation for the green Lady.

调查的结果是：他们发现这个关于奴隶制的传言来自于巴托尔迪的一本营销小册子，且认定其为伪造。但调查同时也发现，自由女神模特是一位非洲裔女性。巴托尔迪曾受托研究过埃及神像中的非洲女性，但该计划后被终止，于是他的研究成就了今日的自由女神。

Myth 10: Jackie Robinson

谣言10：关于Jackie Robinson

Not to diminish Jackie Robinson or Rosa Parks, but just as Parks wasnt the first black person to refuse to move her seat, Robinson didnt break the baseball color code. In fact, blacks and whites briefly played professional baseball together in 1878 and 1879. In 1916, Jimmy Claxton, passing as a Native American, played a week until his black roots were found out, ending his contract forthwith.

并不是要贬低Jackie Robinson或Rosa Parks的重要性，但正如Parks女士并不是第一个拒绝给白人让座的黑人一样，Robinson也不是打破美国棒球界白人垄断局面的第一人。事实上，早在1878-1879年，美国职业棒球赛上就已经有白人和黑人共同上场的记录了。1916年，Jimmy Claxton以美洲印第安人的身份上场比赛了一周，直到后来他的黑人血统被挖掘出来，才被终止了合同。

Then in 1945, while men of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds were dying beside each other in WWII, Happy Chandler, the new baseball commissioner, supported the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was called up to play in 1947, the same year Larry Doby, another black American and hall of famer, played for the Cleveland Indians.

后来到了1945年，无论什么血统的男人们都肩并肩地倒在了二战的战场上。那时，新的棒球委员会成员Happy Chandler支持Jackie Robinson与布鲁克林道奇队签约。Robinson于是在1947年的比赛中上场了。同年，另一位黑人，同时也是名人堂成员之一的Larry Doby，为克里夫兰印第安人队效力。

Myth 11: The British Are Coming

谣言11：英国人要来了

Sarah Palins recent flub brought attention to this inexhaustible myth. While her retelling of history was creative, the truth of the matter is that the wealthy silversmith and organizer of the alarm system set to warn of British invasion, Revere, was tipped off by Joseph Warren that British troops were heading after Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

莎拉佩林最近的口误让这个传言又红火起来，尽管她重述的历史是瞎编的。事情的真相是：富有的银匠、警报系统（用于发布英国人入侵的警报）的组织者Revere，收到了Joseph Warren的密报，说英国军队正在搜捕Samuel Adams和John Hancock。

Revere set out and informed every messenger and rider he could about the movement. By the end of the night, its figured nearly 40 men were sending out similar warnings by the time Revere crossed the Charles and warned every home in Charlestown of the British arrival. According to local sources, secrecy needed to be maintained and so Revere actually yelling, The British are coming would have been ill-advised, so the more stealthy The Regulars are coming out was used.

于是Revere通知了每个能通知到的信使和骑手们。当夜，Revere横渡查尔斯河，将英国人要来了的消息通知了查尔斯敦的每户居民；与此同时，有近40人向外散布了同样的警告。据当地原始资料记载，为了不泄密，Revere喊的其实不是英国人要来了，而是更为隐秘的统治者要来了。

Myth 12: Dan Quayle Misspelled Potato

谣言12：丹奎尔拼错了单词Potato(土豆)

Dan Quayle, the VP under President Bush Sr., never seemed to shake his image of a dunce following a much publicized misspelling of the word potato to a group of elementary school students in New Jersey. The truth of the matter is, the spelling card Quayle held, and was assured had been checked, was wrong, adding an e to the end of the word. The incident seriously damaged the Bush-Quayle presidential ticket and Clinton-Gore went on to win the election.

丹奎尔是老布什总统手下的副总统。自从有次访问一所新泽西州的小学时，他不小心把potato（土豆）这个单词拼错后，似乎就再也没法从公众心中抹去其呆瓜的形象。事情的真相是，倒霉的Quayle那天手上拿的拼写卡，本身就是印刷错误的词尾多加了个e，尽管这张卡事先被检查过（不知检查的人是干什么吃的）。总之，这个事件极大地影响了布什-奎尔竞选集团的选票，于是克林顿-戈尔集团赢了选举。

Myth 13: George Washington And The Cherry Tree

谣言13：乔治华盛顿和樱桃树的故事

According to UVA scholars, Washington chopping down his Cherry Tree is pure myth, an attempt to construct a legend around the nations first President after Washingtons initial biography painted him as cold and colorless. The moral of the Cherry Tree story was Washingtons humility and honesty, a fable attributed to the leaders refusal to continue serving, thus contradicting the grab for power and tyranny from which the nation had just escaped.

据弗吉尼亚大学的学者们说，华盛顿砍倒自家的樱桃树的故事纯属虚构，这只是给美国第一任总统平白添加的光环，以缓和其自传中冷酷呆板的形象。这个故事的寓意是为了体现华盛顿的谦虚和诚实，对这位自动放弃连任、归隐田园的总统加以润饰，与美国独立前统治者独爱权势和暴政的情形产生极大反差。

Myth 14: Prison Is Only For Hardened Criminals

谣言14：监狱是专为重刑犯准备的

According to numerous studies, Americas incarceration rate is the highest in the world, topping 743 per 100,000 persons, with more than 2.2 million behind bars as of 2011. Scary still, one out of every 143 adults and one in 111 African-Americans are behind bars. (Meanwhile, racial profiling is rampant across the country, to the extent that everyone from Congressional Democrats to former President George W. Bush have called it unconstitutional and just plain wrong.) With so many behind bars, its not possible that all of these people are serious thugs.

据多项研究表明，美国监禁率为全球最高，达到每10万人中就有743个蹲监狱的，2011全年共收了220万个罪犯入狱。更恐怖的是，143个成年人里就有一个是罪犯，111个非洲裔美国人里就有一个是蹲大牢的。（与此同时，种族歧视在全美泛滥，从民主党议员到前总统小布什，几乎所有人都指出这是不符合宪法精神的以及是完全错误的。）可见虽然如今蹲大牢的人这么多，但不可能个个都是重刑犯吧。