公众人物毕业演讲 第81期:米歇尔奥巴马迪拉德大学(7)

 　　He said and these are his words he said

　　我引用他的原话 他说

　　For twenty years I was a slave on these streets

　　我在这些街道上当了二十年奴隶

　　It was a penitentiary offense to educate a Negro

　　为黑人提供教育曾是应处监禁的罪行

　　I have seen my fellow-servants whipped for trying to learn

　　我亲眼见到过尝试学习的奴隶同胞受到鞭刑

　　but today here I am

　　而今天我站在这里

　　speaking where a building is to be erected for the education of the children of my people

　　为一座黑人儿童教育建筑的奠基发表讲话

　　He goes on to say, I wonder

　　他继续说道 我想知道

　　if this is the world I was born in

　　这个世界是否不同于我所生在的世界

　　See, in the course of his short lifetime

　　在他短暂的一生中

　　Emperor saw education go from being a crime for black folks

　　皇帝见证了黑人教育从不被允许的犯罪行为

　　to being a real possibility for his kids and grandkids

　　转变为了能够为其子孙提供的正当行为

　　So no wonder he

　　毫不奇怪

　　was asking whether this was the same world he'd been born into

　　他会问 这个世界是否不同于他所生在的世界

　　See, for a man like Emperor getting an education

　　对于皇帝这样的人 获得教育

　　could open up a whole new world of opportunity

　　让充满机会的全新世界得以开启

　　An education meant having real power

　　教育意味着真正的力量

　　It meant you could manage your own money

　　意味着你可以掌控自己的钱

　　It meant you couldn't get swindled out of land or possessions

　　意味着别人不能再忽悠你在虚线上签名

　　when somebody told you to just sign on the dotted line

　　借此骗取你的土地或财产

　　sometimes even determined whether or not you could vote

　　教育甚至决定了你能否投票

　　So most folks back then saw education as the key to real and lasting freedom

　　当时 很多人都将教育看成是真正持久自由的关键

　　That's why

　　正是因为这些

　　when New Orleans University

　　新奥尔良大学

　　and the other African American college in town

　　和镇上另一所非裔美国人大学

　　Straight University, first opened their doors

　　正直大学 首次开启大门时

　　one of the biggest problems they faced was too many students

　　它们碰到的最大问题之一便是学生太多

　　That's right too many students

　　真的 学生太多

　　Many of these students barely spoke English

　　很多学生英语都说不好

　　they'd grown up speaking Creole or French

　　很多人说克里奥尔语或法语

　　Few had ever seen the inside of a classroom or even been taught their ABCs

　　有些人甚至没见过教室 连ABC都没人教过他们

　　But let me tell you, those students were hungry

　　不过我可以告诉你们 这些学生非常渴望

　　you hear me Hungry

　　他们非常渴望

　　They studied like their lives depended on it

　　他们拼了命地学习

　　They blazed through their lessons

　　激昂奋进

　　And that hunger for education

　　这种学习的渴望

　　lasted for generations in the African American community here in New Orleans

　　在新奥尔良非裔美国人群体中持续了好多代人