PART 1 Expressions
1. Try being a white person who adopts the trappings of black culture while still living in the white community.
trappings: things such as money, influence, possessions etc that are related to a particular type of person, job, or way of life
The family were in government for generations and evidently loved the trappings of power.
2. But when they see you as a fellow tribe member attempting to disavow the tribe, that is something they will never forgive.
disavow: to say that you are not responsible for sth that you do not know about it, or that you are not involved with it
Margrethe Vestager, the EU antitrust chief who became the tech industry’s prime tormentor after taking up her post in 2014, has disavowed any political agenda.
avow: to make a public statement about sth you believe in
He avowed his commitment to Marxist ideals.
3. The most common colored slur was boesman. “Bushman.” “Bushie.”
a slur on/ against sth: an unfair criticism that is intended to make people dislike sb or sth
Milton regarded her comment as a slur on his country.
How dare she cast a slur on my character?
4. One of the most sinister things about apartheid was that it taught colored people that it was black people who were holding them back.
sinister: 1.evil or productive of evil
Trump’s blunt assertion that his 2016 election had to overcome a vast voter-fraud conspiracy that nearly succeeded has brought a latent prejudice into the light in its most sinister dimensions.
2. presaging ill fortune or trouble
a sinister atmosphere
5. Then, just as you think you’re closing in on the finish line, some fucking guy named Nelson Mandela comes along and flips the country on its head.
close in on sb/ sth: to move closer to sb or sth
finish line/ finishing line: the line at which a race ends
James crossed the finish line in just under four minutes.
6. So you can imagine how weird it was for me. I was mixed but not colored—colored by complexion but not by culture.
complexion: 肤色；面色; 局面
Drinking water is good for complexion.
put a different/ new/ fresh complexion on sth: make a situation or event seem different
This document puts a different complexion on the matter.
7. I was so happy that a girl had spoken to me that it didn’t fully sink in that they’d stolen my bicycle.
sink in: if information, facts etc sink in, you gradually understand them or realize their full meaning
He paused a moment for his words to sink in.
The implications of Labor's defeat were beginning to sink in.
8. Then one of them, this kid who was the ringleader of the group, walked over.
ringleader: someone who leads a group that is doing sth illegal or wrong
the ringleader of a new international drugs ring
9. I shrugged it off and went back to picking berries.
shrug sth off: to treat sth as unimportant and not worry about it
We can't just shrug these objections off.
10. She was trying to defuse the situation, but I couldn’t see that.
defuse: 本意为“查出爆炸物的引信”;
defuse a situation/ crisis/ row etc, defuse tension/ anger etc: to improve a difficult or dangerous situation, for example by making people less angry or by dealing with the cause of a problem
Beth's quiet voice helped to defuse the situation.
The agreement was regarded as a means of defusing ethnic tensions.
PART 2 Thoughts
Looking in that boy's eyes, I realized how much he and I had in common. He was a kid. I was a kid. He was crying. I was crying. He was a colored boy in South Africa, taught how to hate and how to hate himself. Who had bullied him that he needed to bully me? He'd made me feel fear, and to get my revenge I'd unleashed my own hell on his world. But I knew I'd done a terrible thing.
Punishment of the wicked belongs to God, we should learn to forgive.
He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.
--- Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights
今天早上出门前看到这一段的时候写下了《呼啸山庄》里的上面两句话。本来想着今天晚上写一段关于懂得宽宥他人的重要性的话。但是今天实习完回到家意外地和家人发生了大的争执，大吵了一架， 然后我在房间里一边哭着一边在笔记本上写下：我出国以后能不回来就不回来了。忽然发现我这是在用这种特殊的方式去报复家人，原来一个受伤的心是那么容易激起报复的欲望。当然慢慢冷静下来以后那一时的冲动念头也往往会散去，会慢慢尝试去理解对方去宽容对方。就像世界上没有两片相同的树叶，世界上也没有两个完全想法一致的人，即使朝夕相处的人也总也无法逾越的鸿沟。人与人的伤害是无法避免的，有些是有道理的，但有些就是没有道理的。就像那个欺负Trevor的小孩，并不是真的仇恨或者讨厌Trevor而只是把从别处受到的伤害加到了无辜的Trevor身上而已。伤害并不可怕，复仇心也很平常，但可拍的是复仇心会再次引发伤害形成一个恶性循环。学习刑法的时候看过的很多案例最初都是由一些无关紧要的小矛盾引起的，最终酿成惨烈的刑事案件，因为当事人都太执着于自己受到的伤害为了解一时之气而冲动行事。但事实是，报复对方的同时也是在惩罚自己。