Donald Trump won the presidential election with the support of a majority of white Americans. Some of these Americans were on the far right, people whom we would characterise as white nationalists. Does it follow that Mr Trump’s election victory was based on extreme racist sentiments? No.

唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)在美国白人的多数支持下赢得了大选。其中一些美国人是极右翼，我们将他们称为白人民族主义者。这是否意味着特朗普的胜选基于极端种族主义情绪?并非如此。

Many people who supported Mr Trump were drawn to the Republican party platform because of its emphasis on limited government, individual freedoms and the rule of law. It is not always clear where Democratic party leaders stand on these basic American ideals.

许多特朗普支持者是因为共和党强调有限政府、个人自由和法治而被其政纲吸引的。民主党领袖在这些基本的美国政治理念上的立场并不总是很清楚。

In his inaugural address, the president offered a new vision of putting American interests first when it comes to tax policy, trade deals, immigration and defence, areas where the Democrats have been weak and ineffectual. Mr Trump emphasised patriotism and the unifying force of an American national identity, transcendent of race and ethnicity.

特朗普总统在就职演说中提出了新的愿景，即在税收政策、贸易协定、移民和国防等问题上把美国的利益摆在优先位置，这是民主党较为软弱和无效的领域。特朗普强调爱国主义以及超越种族和族裔的美国国家身份认同的凝聚力。

During the campaign, Mr Trump intuited the fatigue that many Americans feel due to overdoses of political correctness and identity politics. A more self-conscious white America is developing, especially among able-bodied white men who see themselves as disadvantaged in their competition with other racial and ethnic groups.

在竞选期间，特朗普凭直觉知道许多美国人因为过多上演的政治正确和身份政治而疲倦。一个更具自我意识的美国白人群体正在形成，尤其是在那些认为自己在与其他种族和族裔的竞争中处于不利地位的身体健全的白人男性之中。

White Americans have a reason to be concerned about their future. Studies by Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton document rising death rates for middle-aged white Americans from preventable causes such as drug abuse, liver disease and suicide. These have been called “deaths of despair”, mostly affecting people with a high school education or less.

美国白人有理由担忧他们的未来。普林斯顿大学(Princeton University)经济学家安妮•凯斯(Anne Case)和安格斯•迪顿(Angus Deaton)的研究证明，因为药物滥用、肝脏疾病和自杀等可预防的原因而导致的美国中年白人的死亡率正在上升。这些被称为“绝望的死亡”，主要影响高中及以下教育程度的人。

Whites live in a world where racial identity politics is played by every other group. They need only copy what other groups have done and use the language of multiculturalism and civil rights to undergird support for a more self-conscious white population.

白人生活在一个其他每一个群体都在利用种族身份政治的世界里。白人只需效仿其他群体的手段，利用多元文化主义和公民权利的言论来强化对更具自我意识的白人群体的支持。

We have heard a good deal about “white nationalism” recently. I define nationalism as the belief that people with a common language, heritage and culture should be able to maintain their differences from other groups. It can be positive if it revolves around allegiance to one’s country, and negative if it is narrowly focused on race. Nationalism in the positive sense differs from old-style, violently racist white supremacism.

我们最近听了很多有关“白人民族主义”的说法。我对民族主义的定义是一种信念，即认为拥有共同语言、遗产和文化的人们应该能够保持他们与其他群体的差异。如果民族主义围绕着忠于国家这个核心，这种民族主义可以是积极的，如果民族主义只注重种族，那么这种民族主义就是负面的。积极的民族主义不同于旧式的、暴力种族主义的白人优越主义。

White Americans have been concerned for years about a number of issues that have been mostly ignored by mainstream politicians. These included liberal immigration policies that rapidly changed the demographic make-up of the nation, structural changes in the economy that led to fewer job opportunities, anger about race-based affirmative action and fears about violent crime.

美国白人群体多年来一直担忧主流政治人士大多忽视的一些问题，包括迅速改变国家人口组成的自由移民政策、导致工作机会变少的经济结构变化、基于种族的平权行动导致的愤怒，以及对暴力犯罪的恐惧。

Mr Trump has vowed to address these issues, and to move the country away from identity politics and towards a national identity that recognises the ideals of the nation’s founding fathers. The president hopes to use patriotism to unite as many Americans as he can. For him to succeed, African-Americans and Hispanics have to get on board.

特朗普誓言解决这些问题，把这个国家带离身份政治，转向认可美国开国者所提出理念的国家身份认同。这位总统希望利用爱国主义尽他所能地团结更多美国人。如果他想要成功，非裔美国人和西班牙裔美国人必须加入其中。

Complaints about Mr Trump’s support from white Americans are misguided. They ignore the fact that the Democratic party has failed voters who care about lawlessness, welfare reform, illegal immigration and the breakdown of the family.

对特朗普得到美国白人支持的抱怨是错误的。这些抱怨忽视了一个事实：民主党让那些关注无法状态、福利改革、非法移民和家庭破裂的选民失望了。

With his actions and rhetoric, Mr Trump has signalled that all lives matter. This is a welcomed acknowledgment for whites who have grown tired of defending themselves against charges of racism.

特朗普用行动和言论表示，所有人都很重要。对于厌倦了在种族主义指控面前为自己辩护的白人而言，这样的承认受到他们的欢迎。

One hopes the world will give Mr Trump the same opportunity to succeed or fail that it extended to Barack Obama during his eight years in office.

本人希望，世界能够像在巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在任的8年中给他机会那样，也给特朗普同样的成功或失败的机会。

The writer is professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University

本文作者是美国范德堡大学(Vanderbilt University)政治学和法学教授