从前有一个人,他有一个梦。他梦到一块和平与和谐的土地。他梦到一个人们不因肤色而被论断的地方。他梦到一个国家不同肤色的小子们玩在一起。他梦到一个国家,在其中所有的人都是平等的。有些人不喜欢他的梦。他们说这个梦永远不会实现。有些人则对他的梦喝采。他们想实现这个梦。这个崇高的理想对某些人而言,它还只是一个幻想。

　　In 1963,this man,Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.,expressed his vision in the famous speech,"I Have a Dream."But the dream-rooted in the American Dream-wasn't really new.From the beginning,this nation of immigrants welcomed people desiring freedom and a new start.However,the coming together of different races and ethnic groups created some tensions.The early Americans (except for the native "Indians")were almost all white Europeans.As more immigrants arrived,European groups fit into society easily.Others found it more difficult.

　　这个人,马丁路德.金恩博士,在一九六三年的一篇有名的演讲"我有一个梦"当中表达了他的理想.其实这个根植于"美国梦"的理想,并不是个完全新潮的主意.从一开始,这个由移民所组成的国家,便欢迎渴望自由和新开始的人来到.但是,不同种族的到来亦带来了紧张的气氛.早期的美国人(除了印地安原住民之外)几乎全是来自欧洲的白人.当更多的移民抵达时,欧洲团体较容易适应这个社会,其它团体则较感困难.

　　Black people were the only "immigrants"who didn't choose to come to America.For hundreds of years,Africans were taken from their homes to be slaves in the New World.Even George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had slaves.The phrase "all men are created equal"didn't apply to blacks in their day.The end of the Civil War finally brought freedom to the slaves in 1865,but blacks still had a lower position in society.Many Southern states practiced segregation to "keep blacks in their place."Blacks and whites went to different schools,ate at different restaurants,even drank from different water fountains.

　　黑人是唯一非出于自愿而到美国来的"移民".几百年以来,非洲人自其家园被迫带到新世界为奴.即使乔治.华盛顿和汤玛士.杰弗逊也曾蓄奴.那句"人类生而平等"的话,在他们的时代并不适用于黑人.一八六五年,南北战争的结束终于为黑奴带来自由,但是黑人的社会地位仍然较低.许多南方的州实行种族隔离政策以使"黑人不会跨越界限".黑人和白人上不同的学校,在不同的餐馆吃饭,甚至连喝水都用不同的饮水机.