長久以來的種族歧見不只造就了黑人的憤怒,同時也累積了白人的憤怒。

35In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged (給予特權) by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away (悄悄溜走); in an era of stagnant (停滯的) wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus (用校車/公車接送) their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing (撈到、弄到) a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment (憤怒) builds over time.

36Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company (交際場合). But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking (揭露) bogus (假造的、不實的) claims of racism while dismissing legitimate (合法合理正當的) discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

37Just as black anger often proved counterproductive (產生不良後果的), so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits (罪犯) of the middle class squeeze -- a corporate (公司的) culture rife (充滿著) with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists (說客) and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

38This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy -- particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

39But I have asserted a firm conviction (信念) -- a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people -- that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.


看了這麼多段下來,你應該已經習慣了歐巴馬一箭穿心的演講風格...

這幾段赤裸裸描述了白人的憤怒:『大部分勞工階級與中產階級的美國白人並不覺得他們有什麼特權。他們的移民經驗告訴他們,從來沒有誰伸出援手,他們靠自己胼手胝足建立一切。一生努力工作,但常常眼睜睜看著工作機會移到海外,或者奮鬥一輩子後的退休金化為烏有。他們對未來感到焦慮,他們的夢想正在從手中溜走。在這個工資停滯不前的全球競爭時代,機會是零合遊戲,你的夢想得從我的手中奪走。所以,當他們得送小孩坐公車到城市另一端上學時、當他們聽說某個黑人又撈到一個好工作或大學入學名額只因為要補償他們自己從未犯下的社會不公義、當有人說他們對市區犯罪的恐懼只不過是偏見,憤怒便隨時間逐漸累積。』

歐巴馬再次強調,『理解』是『合解』的第一步,所以黑人們也應該試著理解白人的憤怒。

他當然知道黑白之間的歧見已經存在百年,不可能靠一次選舉就消彌,但是他對他的信仰有信心、對美國人有信心,只要大家一起努力,就可以一步一步向前,走過黑白之間的傷口、邁向更完美的國家。



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