{"id":228656,"date":"2021-03-16T10:25:34","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T14:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=228656"},"modified":"2021-03-16T10:25:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T14:25:38","slug":"the-arrogant-racism-of-rejecting-a-white-translator-in-favor-of-someone-who-is-preferably-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-arrogant-racism-of-rejecting-a-white-translator-in-favor-of-someone-who-is-preferably-black\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arrogant Racism Of Rejecting A White Translator In Favor Of Someone Who Is \u2018Preferably Black\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-arrogant-racism-of-rejecting-a-white-translator-in-favor-of-someone-who-is-preferably-black%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=228656&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1159.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>A translator from Spain, V\u00edctor Obiols, was recently commissioned to provide a Catalan translation of Amanda Gorman\u2019s \u201cThe Hill We Climb\u201d poem, which went viral after her performance at Biden\u2019s Inauguration on January 20.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, once the project was completed, Obiols said the publisher chose to reject him as the translator because they instead wanted someone who was \u201ca woman, young, activist and preferably black.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-56340162\"><span>BBC News<\/span><\/a><span>, Obiols \u201cwas asked to translate Gorman\u2019s poem and a foreword by Oprah Winfrey into Catalan several weeks ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBut the editor of Barcelona publisher Univers told Spain\u2019s Efe news agency on Wednesday that after the translation was complete, the company received a request from the US group Viking Books for the work to be carried out by a female activist with African-American origins, if possible,\u201d the report added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Speaking with the AFP news agency, V\u00edctor Obiols said, \u201cThey told me that I am not suitable to translate it. They did not question my abilities, but they were looking for a different profile, which had to be a woman, young, activist and preferably black.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBut if I cannot translate a poet because she is a woman, young, black, an American of the 21st Century, neither can I translate Homer because I am not a Greek of the eighth century BC. Or could not have translated Shakespeare because I am not a 16th-Century Englishman,\u201d Obiols added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is almost identical to a story in the Netherlands,<\/span> <span>with Dutch translator Marieke Lucas Rijneveld \u2014 who is \u201coutspoken on issues including gender equality and mental health\u201d and \u201cidentifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns they\/them\u201d \u2014<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-56334369\"><span>stepping down<\/span><\/a> <span>after Janice Deul described the selection of a white translator as \u201cincomprehensible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019m not saying a black person can\u2019t translate white work, and vice versa,\u201d Janice Deul said. \u201cBut not this specific poem of this specific orator in this Black Lives Matter area, that\u2019s the whole issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This viewpoint is absurd for two reasons. Firstly, it is based on an unjustified level of sheer arrogance that the so-called \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d movement is a pinnacle moment in human development, and that Amanda Gorman surpasses all other poets and writers in terms of cultural significance.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sure, other works of literature are important, but apparently none are as important as Amanda Gorman\u2019s poetry. Obiols may have translated Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, but he simply doesn\u2019t \u201cdeserve\u201d to touch the holy work of Gorman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Secondly, it\u2019s based on the abjectly racist logic that spoken or written content is only \u201ctruly\u201d understandable by those of the same skin color as the author. The entire purpose of language is to provide us with the ability to communicate with one another, allowing us to explore ideas and concepts. If we refuse people the ability to even translate one set of words to another based on skin color alone, why should we then let one person even read or speak another person\u2019s words if their differences are suddenly viewed as culturally invalid?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As Obiols implied, soon there will be no translations of past or present work remaining which will be left accessible, except for the work created by those who \u201clook like us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>How are we supposed to learn from one another then?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><em>@ighaworth<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A translator from Spain, V\u00edctor Obiols, was recently commissioned to provide a Catalan translation of Amanda Gorman\u2019s \u201cThe Hill We Climb\u201d poem, which went viral after her performance at Biden\u2019s &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2310533,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1159.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"The Arrogant Racism Of Rejecting A White Translator In Favor Of Someone Who Is \u2018Preferably Black\u2019","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fb_image-1159.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"The Arrogant Racism Of Rejecting A White Translator In Favor Of Someone Who Is \u2018Preferably Black\u2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2310533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}