滿嘴“民主平等人權法制”的西方人骨子裡仍然充滿種族優越感


Canada $100 Bill Controversy: Bank of Canada Apologizes After Accusations of Racism

去年11月，加拿大中央銀行推出市面流通的塑膠100元鈔票，背面圖像原先印有一名亞裔婦女正低頭，從醫學顯微鏡中埋頭工作，彰顯本國醫學成就，但經過本國8個focus groups顧問焦點小組批評後，決定撤走該亞裔婦女模樣，換上一名Caucasian woman 白人女子樣貌，事件引發傳媒評論員及華人團體質疑央行舉動，有racism or racial discrimination種族歧視之嫌, prompting complaints from Chinese groups and media commentators 。



Globe and Mail《環球郵報》報導這段新聞的標題：Woman’s ethnicity edited out of redesigned $100 bill。

Ethnicity意思是the fact of belonging to a particular race, nation, or tribe and their customs and traditions，是中性字眼，表示種族特點或族裔淵源，和class階級、gender性別、age年齡等不同因素，connotation要視乎context有關背境而決定作者取態。

《郵報》記者8月18月的文章這樣開頭：

The highly touted redesign of Canada’s $100 bill has come under fire amid revelations that currency designers edited out the ethnicity of a woman depicted on an early draft of the banknote, following complaints from focus groups。

報導彰顯了revelations真相被揭露和edited out設計經刪改過的程序，early design原本的族裔色彩被抹去，於是the redesign has come under fire，事件曝光後，引起了極大的爭議，擦出火花。

The controversy 爭 議 stems from an early draft of the banknote shown to focus groups 焦 點 小 組 in four Canadian cities. The initial design for the new C$100 note featured a picture of an Asian woman was scrapped or erased after focus groups expressed concern Asians should not be the only ethnic group represented.
根 據 Canadian Press 《加 新 社  》獲 得 的 內 部 文  件： a member of the focus groups from Fredericton suggested the image didn’t represent Canada, while the one from Montreal suggested the inclusion of an Asian without representing any other ethnicities was seen to be contentious只 有   亞  裔 人  士 ，看  起  來  可  能  引  至   爭  論。。  

《加 新 社 》報 導 ：Some focus groups shown the early composite of the proposed $100 bill said the yellow-brown hues on the bill made the woman at the microscope appear more Asian and “racialized” the banknote.

結 果 by the time the final design emerged, the woman appeared to be Caucasian rather than Asian.

Chinese Canadian National Council平權會national executive director全國總幹事Victor Wong黃煜文批評：

“It’s our position that the Bank caved to the criticism and that ‘s really unfortunate.”他認為央行屆從不公平的批評令人遺憾。

不少人認為focus groups are often unreliable and problematic, 今次問題的癥結，極可能出在8個  焦點小組身上，以及小組成員是否有足夠代表性，其憑甚麼理據批評新鈔票上的亞裔婦女模樣，不足以代表加拿大多元文化的特徵。

我個人認為作為代表本國的鈔票，可以在鈔票上反映出本國特色，multiplicity 多樣性and multiculturalism多元文化族裔是加國由來奉行的政策，故鈔票反映或提倡種族多元和諧 是好事，不必太講究「政治正確」（political correctness），作為發鈔央行，不應因某些個別人士批評而輕易對原先設計作出改變。

問題引起討論後幾天，發展出人意表， 央行行長簡尼(Mark Carney) 8月20日 罕有地承認央行處理今次事件的手法﹐未符合公眾所期望的公平標準：

“This was not the Bank’s intention and I apologize to those who were offended.”

他認為出現這情況並非央行的刻意安排﹐並向因此而被冒犯的人士道歉 。

簡尼發表書面聲明﹐解釋鈔票設計圖原先是參考一張真實相片 ：一名亞裔婦女在使用顯微鏡﹐但根據一貫做法﹐設計師正式為鈔票描繪圖像時﹐圖像不能與個別真人相似﹐因此﹐便將照片上女子的特徵剔除﹐結果女子變成一名白人婦女：“Efforts by the bank note designers to avoid depicting a specific individual resulted in an image that appears to represent only one ethnic group.” 無 憂 網 - 51



Read between the lines, 我個人認為 ：The apology, at best, is a qualified apology。有限度的道歉，充其量只是表演藝術 ，a performance art of damage control。

Mark Carney又承諾日後會檢討鈔票設計的程序：

 “We will be reviewing our design process in light of these events.”
簡尼並且親自主動致電黃煜文﹐解釋事件﹐並代表央行作出道歉﹐有中文傳媒聲稱足見他對華社的尊重。黃煜文相信華社大部分人，都接受簡尼的聲明。

Globe and Mail《環球郵報》對這次頗不尋常的反應和舉措，有如下的描述：

It’s not often that the Bank of Canada finds itself scrambling to contain a controversy.

But as Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney waded into the debate over the country’s new $100 bill, it was clear the central bank was in damage-control mode。

所謂damage-control也好，危機處理也好，很有公關成份。所謂道歉apology,也不等同認錯。

對於簡尼的聲明﹐全加華人協進會(平權會)多倫多分會臨時總幹事May Lui認為：平權會由始至終沒有要求央行道歉﹐只是希望央行能在事件中「承認錯誤」﹐以及日後在「加國人口中族裔代表上﹐有更好表達技巧」。可是行長在聲明中 ﹐都未有提及上述兩點。而所謂的「道歉」﹐亦只是含煳其辭。她希望﹐央行日後能自我監察﹐以及保持開放態度﹐繼續就種族﹑移民﹑加拿大如何製造身分認同等問題﹐與各族裔代表對話。

同樣對於簡尼的聲明，投書Globe and Mail的讀者Jeffery Ewner最心水清：

I was impressed by the focus groups’ perspicacity, and their thoughtful concerns about stereotypes and inclusiveness. But I couldn’t say the same for the Bank of Canada’s position. Now that the features of the woman illustrated appear to be Caucasian, the bank assures us that their policy “eschews depictions of ethnic groups on banknotes.”

Perhaps ignoring the obvious is something central banks just can’t help doing. But in Canada, at least, they shouldn’t have to be told that Caucasian is an ethnic group.
 
簡 尼 行 長 可 能 忘 記 ：A Caucasian is a member of any of the races of people who have pale skin，高 加 索 人 或 白 種 人 ，同 樣 也 是 一 個 族 裔 ，他 的 解 釋 難 以 抹 煞 事 件 中 種 族 定 型 ，白 人 才 是 主 流 種 族 中 心 論 ethnocentrism的 優 越 心 態 。

Ethnocentricity is based on the idea that one race, nation, group etc. is better or more important than any other。