公众人物毕业演讲 第83期:米歇尔奥巴马迪拉德大学(9)

 　　So, graduates

　　毕业生们

　　I hope that you understand that this day is not just the culmination of your own dreams

　　我希望你们理解 今天并不只是你们自己梦想的实现

　　but the realization of the dreams of so many who came before you

　　今天同时也是很多前人梦想的实现

　　And you should be so proud, and so happy, and so excited about your futures

　　你们应当对自己的未来感到自豪 高兴和激动

　　But what you shouldn't be is satisfied

　　但你们不能够就此满足

　　See, because

　　原因在于

　　while it is a wonderful thing that all of you are here today

　　没错 你们今天都取得了很棒的成就

　　we have to ask ourselves

　　但你们需要想想

　　what about all those geniuses who never get this chance

　　那些没能得到这种机会的人们

　　I'm talking about the young people from right here in New Orleans

　　我说的是新奥尔良以及全国范围内

　　and across the country who aren't part of a commencement like this one today

　　没有机会参加这种毕业典礼的年轻人

　　kids no different from all of us, kids who never made it out of high school

　　他们很多人同我们一样 但却没有成功读上大学

　　The fact is that today, the high school graduation rate for black students is improving

　　现如今 黑人学生的高中毕业率正在改善

　　but it is still lower than just about any other group in this country

　　但相比国内其它群体仍然较低

　　And while college graduation rates have risen for nearly every other demographic

　　尽管所有群体的大学毕业率数字都在提高

　　including African American women

　　包括非裔美国女性

　　the college graduation rate for African American men has flatlined

　　但非裔美国男性的大学毕业率却仅与之前持平

　　See, and the thing is, when our young people fall behind like that in school

　　年轻人一旦在学校里落后

　　they fall behind in life

　　就会在生活中落后

　　Last year, African Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to be unemployed

　　去年 非裔美国人的失业率比白人高一倍有余

　　They were almost three times as likely to live in poverty

　　贫困率是白人的三倍

　　And they were far more likely to end up in prison or be the victims of violent crimes

　　成为暴力犯罪受害者或罪犯的比率也比白人高很多