在美国生活过的人应该有这样一种体会，就是在大城市中前一秒还走在宁静祥和富裕的大道上，一不小心走入一条小巷，瞬间进入第三世界。比如在美国硅谷中心的帕罗奥图市就是一个富人扎堆的地方，治安非常好。但是一条高速公路之隔的东帕罗奥图市却因为经济差，成了一个以犯罪闻名的城市。这其中的历史原因有很多，从1800 年代开始，人们开始在财产契约中写入条款，以防止所有房产的所有者出售或出租给某些种族群体，尤其是黑人。这些种族契约像野火一样在美国蔓延，使城市与郊区更加隔离......演讲者：Kevin Ehrman-Solberg and Kirsten Delegard演讲题目：The dark history of the suburbs
On October 21st, 1909, 125 residents of an affluent Minneapolis neighborhood approached William Simpson, who’d just bought a plot in the area, and told him to leave. The Simpsons would be the second Black family in the otherwise white neighborhood, where they intended to build a home. 1909年10月21日，明尼亚波里斯富人区的125名居民逼近在这个区域刚购买一块小地皮的威廉·辛普森，要求他离开。辛普森家族是这清一色白人社区中的第二个黑人家庭，他们想在此落地生根。When the Simpsons refused offers to buy them out, their neighbors tried blocking their home’s construction. They finally moved into their house, but the incident had a ripple effect. Just a few months after the mob harassed the Simpsons, the first racially restrictive covenant was put into place in Minneapolis.在辛普森家族拒绝被钱打发后，邻居尝试阻挡他们房子的施工。他们最终成功搬了进去，但同时间，却引起了连锁反应。在辛普森家族被暴民骚扰仅仅数个月后，明尼亚波里斯社区实施了第一条种族限制条款。Covenants are agreements in property deeds that are intended to regulate how the property is to be used. Beginning in the mid-1800s, people in the United States and elsewhere began employing them in a new way: specifically, to racially restrict properties. They wrote clauses into deeds that were meant to prevent all future owners from selling or leasing to certain racial and ethnic groups, especially Black people. 条款是存在于产业契约的协议中，用意是控制产业如何使用。从十九世纪中期开始，美国和其他地方的人开始赋予条款新的意义：专门限制使用产业的种族。他们在契约中立下条款，防止所有的未来持有人出售或租借予特定种族与族群，特别是黑人。Between 1920 and 1950, these racial covenants spread like wildfire throughout the US, making cities more segregated and the suburbs more restricted. In the county encompassing Minneapolis, racial covenants eventually appeared on the deeds to more than 25,000 homes.在1920到1950年间，这些种族的条款在美国火速曼延，使城市更隔离，市郊更受限制。在包括明尼阿波利斯在内的县城，种族条款最终出现在超过25,000份房屋契约中。Not only was this legal, but the US Federal Housing Administration promoted racial covenants in their underwriting manual. While constructing new homes, real estate developers began racially restricting them from the outset. Developments were planned as dream communities for American families— but for white people only. In 1947, one company began building what became widely recognized as the prototype of the postwar American suburb: Levittown, New York. 这不只合法，美国联邦住房管理局更在承保指南中推广种族条约。在兴建房屋时，房地产开发商从一开始就实施种族限制。发展项目标榜为美国家庭的梦想社区，但只适用于白人。在1947年，一间公司开始建造纽约莱维敦，日后变成广受认可的战后美国市郊的样板。It was a community of more than 17,000 identical homes. They cost around $7,000 each and were intended to be affordable for returning World War II veterans. But, according to Levittown’s racial covenants, none of the houses could “be used or occupied by any person other than members of the Caucasian race,” with one exception: servants.这是个有超过17,000栋完全相同房屋的社区。它们每栋售价约为$7,000美元，计划为从二战回归的退伍军人提供可负担的房屋。但是，根据莱维敦的种族条款，所有房屋「不得被高加索人种（白人）以外的其他种族者使用或持有」，只有佣人例外。Between 1950 and 1970, the population of the American suburbs nearly doubled as white people flocked to more racially homogenous areas in a phenomenon known as “white flight.” The suburbs spread, replacing native ecosystems with miles of pavement and water-guzzling lawns. And their diffuse layout necessitated car travel. American automobile production quadrupled between 1946 and 1955, cementing the nation's dependence on cars.从1950到1970年，美国市郊人口增加了约一倍，白人大量涌入纯白人社区，这个现象称为「白人群飞」。白人在市郊扩散，用数英里的道路和耗水的草坪取代原有的生态系统。而它们扩散的布局令汽车变成必需品。1946到1955年间，美国汽车产量翻了四倍，加强了每个人对汽车的依赖。Federal programs like the G.I. Bill offered American veterans favorable lending rates for buying homes. But it was difficult for people of color to take advantage of such resources. Racial covenants restricted them from certain neighborhoods. 美国军人权利法案等的联邦法案向退伍军人提供购房的低息贷款。但有色人种难以获得这些资源。种族条款限制他们进入特定社区。And, at the same time, government programs labelled neighborhoods of color bad investments and often refused to insure mortgages in those areas. Therefore, banks usually wouldn’t lend money to people purchasing property in neighborhoods of color— a practice that became known as redlining. So, instead of owning homes that increased in value over time, creating wealth that could be passed to future generations, many people of color were forced to spend their income on rent.而同时，政府计划把有色人种社区标记为劣等投资，拒绝为那些地区提供抵押贷款投保。因此，银行通常不会借钱给购买有色人种社区物业的人。这种做法被称为红线制度。因此有色人种无法拥有随时间增值的房屋传给下一代，他们也被迫把收入花在租金上。And even when they were<i> </i>able to buy property, their home’s value was less likely to increase. The suburbs boasted cul-de-sacs and dead ends that minimized traffic. Meanwhile, city planners often identified redlined neighborhoods as inexpensive areas for industrial development. 而就算他们能够买、房产也难于升值。市郊地区都拥有死胡同，最大程度限制了该地区的交通。同时，城市规划师常把红线社区列为适合工业发展的便宜地区。So, the massive freeway projects of the mid-20th century disproportionately cut through redlined neighborhoods, accompanied by heavy industry and pollution. As a result, many neighborhoods of color experience higher rates of drinking water contamination, asthma, and other health issues.因此二十世纪中期的大型高速公路项目不成比例地大量跨越红线社区，伴随着重工业和污染。因此，很多有色人种社区的居民有更高机率受食水污染、哮喘和其他健康问题所苦。People targeted by racial covenants increasingly challenged them in court and, in 1968, they were finally banned under the Fair Housing Act. But the damage had been done. Racial covenants concentrated wealth and amenities in white neighborhoods and depressed the conditions and home values in neighborhoods of color. 被种族条款针对的人们越来越多在法院上诉，而1968年的公平住房法案终于禁止了这些条款。但是伤害以成，无法消除。种族条款使财富和便利设施集中在白人社区，并且压低了有色人种社区的生活素质和房屋价值。As of 2020, about 74% of white families in the US owned their homes, while about 44% of Black families did. That gap is greatest in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Across the country, neighborhoods remain segregated and 90% of all suburban counties are predominantly white.在2020年，74%的白人家庭拥有自己的房屋，而黑人家庭则只有44%。明尼苏达双子城的差距最为严重。纵观美国全地，种族隔离仍然存在，而90%的市郊县，白人占大多数。Some landlords, real estate agents, and lenders still discriminate against people based on race— rejecting them, steering them to and away from certain neighborhoods, or providing inaccessibly high interest rates. Gentrification and exclusionary zoning practices also still displace and keep people of color out of certain neighborhoods.有些地主、地产经纪和放贷者，仍然会歧视有色种族，拒绝他们，让他们远离或集中在特定社区，亦或者提供难以负担的高利息。高档化和排他性的分区措施仍然逼使有色人种远离特定社区。Racial covenants are now illegal. But they can still be seen on many housing deeds. The legacy of racial covenants is etched across the pristine lawns of the American suburbs. It’s a footnote in the demographic divides of every city. And it’s one of the insidious architects of the hidden inequalities that shape our world.现在种族条款是违法的，但它们仍然常见于很多房产契约上。种族条款的遗害仍然在美国市郊的崭新草坪上留有痕迹，这是每个城市种族差异的脚注。同时也是塑造世界隐藏不平等的阴险建筑师之一。
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