評(píng)論
打印
And yet, we have in this country this dynamic where we really don't like to talk about our problems.
然而，我們這個(gè)國(guó)家不喜歡討論存在的問(wèn)題。
We don't like to talk about our history.
我們不喜歡討論歷史。
And because of that, we really haven't understood what it's meant to do the things we've done historically.
正因如此，我們不能真正理解我們有史以來(lái)做了什么。
We're constantly running into each other. We're constantly creating tensions and conflicts.
我們不停地產(chǎn)生沖突。不停地制造緊張氣氛。
We have a hard time talking about race,
我們沒(méi)法討論種族問(wèn)題，
and I believe it's because we are unwilling to commit ourselves to a process of truth and reconciliation.
我相信是因?yàn)槲覀儾辉敢庹曇幌盗械氖聦?shí)，不愿意達(dá)成和解。
In South Africa, people understood that we couldn't overcome apartheid without a commitment to truth and reconciliation.
在南非，人們知道我們不能忘記種族隔離，除非我們誠(chéng)實(shí)面對(duì)，達(dá)成和解。
In Rwanda, even after the genocide, there was this commitment, but in this country we haven't done that.
在盧旺達(dá)，即使種族滅絕后，人們還是正視了，但是在美國(guó)我們不愿意這么干。
I was giving some lectures in Germany about the death penalty.
我也在德國(guó)談過(guò)死刑的問(wèn)題。
It was fascinating because one of the scholars stood up after the presentation and said,
結(jié)果很絕妙，因?yàn)樵谥v談后有個(gè)學(xué)者站起來(lái)說(shuō)：
"Well you know it's deeply troubling to hear what you're talking about."
“你要知道，聽(tīng)你談這個(gè)很痛心。”
She said, "We don't have the death penalty in Germany. And of course, we can never have the death penalty in Germany."
她說(shuō)：“我們德國(guó)沒(méi)有死刑。當(dāng)然了，我們德國(guó)永遠(yuǎn)也不可能有死刑。”
And the room got very quiet, and this woman said,
全場(chǎng)肅靜，這位女士說(shuō)：
"There's no way, with our history, we could ever engage in the systematic killing of human beings.
“因?yàn)槲覀兊臍v史，我們永不可能決定有系統(tǒng)地殺人。
It would be unconscionable for us to, in an intentional and deliberate way, set about executing people."
公開(kāi)化且下意識(shí)地執(zhí)行死刑，對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，是良心上無(wú)法接受的。”
And I thought about that.
我思考了這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
What would it feel like to be living in a world where the nation state of Germany was executing people,
如果我整天都看著德國(guó)人殺人，
especially if they were disproportionately Jewish? I couldn't bear it. It would be unconscionable.
毫無(wú)道理地屠殺猶太人，我會(huì)有什么感受？我無(wú)法忍受。那真是太不合理了。
And yet, in this country, in the states of the Old South,
但是，在我們這個(gè)國(guó)家，在南方各州，
we execute people -- where you're 11 times more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white than if the victim is black,
我們真的在屠殺，當(dāng)僅僅因?yàn)槭芎θ耸前兹硕皇呛谌耍惚慌兴佬痰臋C(jī)率上升十倍時(shí)，
22 times more likely to get it if the defendant is black and the victim is white
當(dāng)僅僅因?yàn)楸桓媸呛谌硕皇前兹耍惚慌兴佬痰臋C(jī)率上升二十一倍時(shí)，
in the very states where there are buried in the ground the bodies of people who were lynched. And yet, there is this disconnect.
在這些州，到處埋著被私刑處死的人。可是，我們還是漠不關(guān)心。
