瘋小貓的華麗冒險

將黑白兩方都稍稍安撫、表達理解與同情之後，開始嚴辭以對。

40	For the African-American community, that path (前情提要：the path of a more perfect union) means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure (方法手段) of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances (埋怨牢騷) -- for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs -- to the larger aspirations (理想抱負) of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling (暗喻: 突破性別不平等的限制), the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives -- by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to ([sə'kʌm] 屈服) despair or cynicism (譏諷); they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
41	Ironically, this quintessentially (最精髓最重要的) American -- and yes, conservative -- notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on (開始、著手) a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
42	The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country -- a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably (不可挽回的) bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen -- is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope -- the audacity (大膽無畏) to hope -- for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
43	In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails (使苦惱) the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt ( [o'vɝt] 明顯的) than in the past - are real and must be addressed (處理、解決). Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
44	In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand -- that we do unto (給予) others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture (聖經的經文) tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in (to have stake in...片語，意指休戚與共的利害關係。stake 原意是賭金，引申為押了賭注所以最後結果好壞都參有一份) one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

對黑人來說，這條通往更完美聯邦的道路代表著...
1. 擁抱我們過去的沉重負荷，但不要成為它的受難者；
2. 持續對抗生活中的各種不公義；
3. 將我們的埋怨（例如對醫療體系或教育的埋怨）與更遠大的理想抱負結合在一起；
4. 對我們自己的生活負責（而非坐困愁城）。

對白人來說，這條通往更完美聯邦的道路則代表著...
1. 理解族群問題真實存在而且必須解決；
2. 身體實踐，提供更多公平機會給每一個族群。

同時，他也忠告所有的白人黑人：『完成你的夢想並不一定要犧牲我的夢想！』如果所有膚色的人民都受到愈來愈好的教育、找到愈來愈好的工作，這個國家當然就會愈來愈繁榮。（我的延伸理解：這個世界並非零和遊戲，它可以愈來愈好，可以每個人、每個國家都一起變好。翻成台灣話：開放大陸市場並不會讓台灣人『男嘸工女嘸尪』好嗎？）

而這幾段話裡最讓我感動的，是歐巴馬再次評論 Reverend Wright 講道的內容（第42段）：『Reverend Wright 的那番話之中，最深的錯誤不在於他如何評論種族問題，而是他把這個國家說得好像是靜止不變的！說得好像我們從來沒有任何進展、說得我們好像仍然被綁在那個悲劇的過往！』

然而，在建國兩百年後，這個國家已經讓 Reverend Wright 的教眾（歐巴馬）得以競選這片土地上的最高職位，難道她從來沒有進展嗎？

多麼清脆響亮的一個耳光，重重打在那些甘願讓自己一輩子活在受難者心態裡的黑人腦門兒！

美國能夠改變！這也是她最棒的地方！回頭看看我們己經達成了多少成果，就是這些，給予我們面對未來的希望！勇於希望的無畏精神！（"The Audacity to Hope" 是歐巴馬寫的書，闡述其政治理想，是一本為了競選總統而出的書。）