瘋小貓的華麗冒險

接下來這段，歐巴馬敘述了他的生長背景，藉以點出美國民主及民族融合的可貴。

8	I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression (一次大戰後的蕭條時代) to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber (轟炸機) assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on (傳承) to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue (色澤，這裡指膚色), scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
9	It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional (普通的，傳統的) candidate. But it is a story that has seared (灼燒、烙印) into my genetic (基因的) makeup (構成) the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.
10	Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation (誘惑) to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens (種族的有色眼鏡), we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition (結合、聯盟) of African Americans and white Americans.
11	This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators (時事評論者) have deemed (認為= think) me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface (種族間的緊張情勢冒出水面) during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured (搜索 = seek) every exit poll (出口民調，在投票所出口做的選後民調) for the latest evidence of racial polarization (種族兩極化，亦即黑人支持黑人、白人支持白人), not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
12	And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive (分裂的、歧見的) turn.
13	On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication (暗示) that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action (照顧弱勢族群的積極行動，鼓勵雇用有色人種或女性，避免種族/性別歧視等等社會不公); that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed (睜大眼的，這裡是天真的意思) liberals to purchase racial reconciliation ([rɛkənˌsɪlɪ'eʃən] 調和、和解) on the cheap (purchase...on the cheap 用便宜價錢買得). On the other end, we've heard my former pastor (牧師), Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary (縱火的、煽動的) language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate (貶損、詆毀) both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

選舉之初，許多人戴著有色眼鏡看待這場選戰。政論家見獵心喜，希望看到黑白大對決。但事實上呢？歐巴馬讓大家跌破眼鏡，他甚至在某些白人比率極高的州贏過希拉蕊。這說明了美國人民真心渴望團結，拒絕被分裂。

接著，歐巴馬非常坦然地說出了大多數美國人感到尷尬、不知如何開口所以乾脆假裝不存在的事實：『很多人覺得應該讓我參選總統。彷彿我若贏得了初選候選資格，美國人就算是與黑人大合解了。』

這真的很難說出口，因為一說出來就表示他拒絕了這樣的『補償』。選舉中，任何模糊地帶的票源都要努力吸收，同情票也是票啊，哪有人像他這樣把選票往外推？歐巴馬妻子的先人曾為黑奴，如果在台灣，這還不拿出來大哭特哭、搏取同情嗎？而且就算你哭得希哩嘩啦，對手也無法說這是奧步。因為這些悲情都是事實 -- 雖然與選舉本身毫無關係。

但是歐巴馬很勇敢、很誠實。他希望大家投票給他是因為肯定他的能力，而非他的膚色。

我真的非常佩服他說出這些話。

除了『輕鬆大和解』的想法之外，民間還瀰漫著另一種聲音 -- 就是歐巴馬的牧師 Reverend Jeremiah Wright 那樣的言論 -- 極力反美反白人。

對於這樣的煽情言論，歐巴馬的批評同樣直率：『這種煽動性語言加深種族對立、傷害國家認同、除了觸怒白人，也同時觸怒了黑人！』

接下來他會怎麼繼續呢？與牧師劃清界線？叫牧師退黨（我亂講的）？還是轉過身來訴求悲情？