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So it's 2006.
故事發生在2006年。
My friend Harold Ford calls me.
我的朋友哈羅德?福特找我幫忙。
He's running for U.S. Senate in Tennessee,and he says, Mellody, I desperately need some national press. Do you have any ideas?
他是田納西州的參議員，他說：麥勒迪，我急需找一個國家媒體。 你能幫我嗎？
So I had an idea. I called a friend who was in New York at one of the most successful media companies in the world,and she said, Why don't we host an editorial board lunch for Harold?
我想到一個主意，我給一個在紐約的朋友打電話，她所在的公司是世界上最成功的媒體公司之一，她說，為何不邀請哈羅德參與編輯部的午宴呢？
You come with him.
你可以跟他一起來。
Harold and I arrive in New York.
哈羅德隨我抵達紐約，
We are in our best suits.
身著我們最好的套裝，
We look like shiny new pennies.
看起來像金光燦燦的硬幣。
And we get to the receptionist, and we say,We're here for the lunch.
到達接待處后，我們說，我們是過來吃午餐的。
She motions for us to follow her.
她示意我們跟著她走。
We walk through a series of corridors,and all of a sudden we find ourselves in a stark room,at which point she looks at us and she says,Where are your uniforms?
經過長長的走廊，突然，我們發現自己到了一個空曠的房間里，隨后她打量著我們，說，你們的工作制服呢？
Just as this happens,my friend rushes in.
就在這時，我的朋友沖了進來，
The blood drains from her face.
臉紅得都要滲出血了。
There are literally no words, right?
真得很無語，是吧？
And I look at her, and I say,Now, don't you think we need more than one black person in the U.S. Senate?
我轉向她，說，現在，你不覺得美國參議院至少需要一位黑人嗎？
Now Harold and I,we still laugh about that story,and in many ways, the moment caught me off guard,but deep, deep down inside,I actually wasn't surprised.
如今，哈羅德跟我,我們還把這個故事當笑話講，無論怎么說，那一刻令我措手不及，但在我內心最深處，我真的不覺得驚訝。
And I wasn't surprised because of something my mother taught me about 30 years before.
我之所以不驚訝，是因為大概30年前我母親給我上了一堂課。
You see, my mother was ruthlessly realistic.
我母親是不折不扣的現實主義者。
I remember one day coming home from a birthday party where I was the only black kid invited,and instead of asking me the normal motherly questions like, Did you have fun? or How was the cake?
我記得有一天， 參加完一個只有我一個黑人受邀的生日宴會后，回到家后，母親沒問一些母親們通常會關心的問題，如玩得開心嗎？或者蛋糕好吃嗎？
my mother looked at me and she said,How did they treat you?
我的母親看著我說，他們對你的態度如何？
I was seven. I did not understand.
那時我方才7歲，我不明白這個問題。
I mean, why would anyone treat me differently?
我想，為什么別人會對我有所不同呢？
But she knew.
但是我母親知道。
And she looked me right in the eye and she said,They will not always treat you well.
她看著我的眼睛，說，別人不會總是對你笑臉相迎。
Now, race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable.
如今在美國，種族話題是讓人感到極不舒服的話題之一。
You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment,it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail.
在晚宴會或工作場所中提到這個話題，無異于觸碰了雷區。
There is shock,followed by a long silence.
人們會感到震驚，隨即陷入長久的沉默。
And even coming here today,I told some friends and colleagues that I planned to talk about race,and they warned me, they told me, don't do it,that there'd be huge risks in me talking about this topic,that people might think I'm a militant black woman and I would ruin my career.
甚至對于今天的這個演講，當我告訴一些朋友和同事我計劃談談種族問題時，他們警告我說，不要這么做，談論這個話題會帶來巨大的風險，人們也許會認為我是一位激進的黑人女性，這會毀了我的事業。
And I have to tell you,I actually for a moment was a bit afraid.
我必須向你們坦誠，有時候我確實有一點擔心。
Then I realized,the first step to solving any problem is to not hide from it,and the first step to any form of action is awareness.
但后來我意識到，解決任何問題的第一步是不逃避，任何行動的首要條件是意識到問題的存在。
And so I decided to actually talk about race.
因此我決定要談談種族問題。
And I decided that if I came here and shared with you some of my experiences,that maybe we could all be a little less anxious and a little more bold in our conversations about race.
我堅信，如果我在此跟你們分享一些我的故事，或許會稍微緩解一下我們對這個話題的焦慮感，會讓我們更有膽量來談論種族問題。
Now I know there are people out there who will say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right?
我知道有很多人會說，巴拉克奧巴馬當選美國總統意味著種族歧視不復存在，沒錯吧？
But I work in the investment business,and we have a saying:The numbers do not lie.
但我在投資行業工作，我們這行有句俗語：數據不會說謊。
And here, there are significant,quantifiable racial disparities that cannot be ignored,in household wealth, household income, job opportunities, healthcare.
在今天的美國，數據表明有不可忽視的大量的種族不平等存在，如家庭財富，家庭收入工作機會，醫療服務。
One example from corporate America:
舉一個美國企業的例子：
Even though white men make up just 30 percent of the U.S. population,they hold 70 percent of all corporate board seats.
盡管白人占美國人口總數的30%，他們占據了70%的企業董事會席位。
Of the Fortune 250,there are only seven CEOs that are minorities,and of the thousands of publicly traded companies today, thousands,only two are chaired by black women,and you're looking at one of them,the same one who, not too long ago,was nearly mistaken for kitchen help.
財富250強的企業中，只有7位CEO是少數族裔出身，在數以千計的公司的董事會主席中，只有兩位是黑人女性，其中一位就站在你們眼前，就是那位在不久之前，差點被誤以為是廚房打下手的人。
