I Have a Dream (Excerpt)

by Martin Luther King, Jr

“我无法呼吸”“黑人的命也是命”“没有正义就没有和平”“对种族主义说不！”……美国黑人乔治·弗洛伊德在白人警察暴力执法后死亡所引发的抗议活动仍在继续。“无法呼吸”的弗洛伊德正是当下美国黑人在政治、经济、法律、福利等多重社会不公中挣扎求生的一个象征符号。今天，我们一起重温美国黑人民权运动领袖马丁·路德·金的演讲。

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked“insufficient funds”. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are a insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of “now”. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. “Now” is the time to make real the promises of Democracy. “Now”is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. “Now” is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. “Now” is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degen erate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?”

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of traveling, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.

We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”.

We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

就有色公民而言，今天美国显然没有承兑这张本票。美国拒不履行这项神圣的义务，只是退给黑人同胞一张空头支票，上面盖着“现金不足”的印戳。但是，我们绝不相信正义的银行已经破产。我们绝不相信，这个国家装满机遇的巨大宝库居然会出现“现金不足”的窘况。因此，我们要求兑现这张支票，这张支票一经兑现将给予我们宝贵的自由和正义的保障。

此外，我们来到这个神圣之地，也是为了提醒美国，事情的解决已经迫在眉睫，再没时间让我们奢谈冷静，或拿渐进主义当镇静剂了。现在是实现民主诺言的时候了；现在是走出种族隔离的荒芜阴暗的深谷，踏上种族平等的光明大道的时候了；现在是向上帝所有的儿女打开机会之门的时候了；现在是把我们的国家从种族不平等的流沙中拯救出来，安放在手足之情铸就的磐石之上的时候了。

忽视时间的紧迫性，这对美国来讲，后果不堪设想的。自由平等的爽朗秋天不到来，黑人义愤填膺的酷暑就不会过去。1963 年并不意味着斗争的结束，而仅仅是一个开始。如果这个国家依然无动于衷，我行我素，那么，那些希望黑人只要发泄一下怒火就会心平气和的人就会猛醒。黑人一天得不到他的公民权利，美国就不可能安宁和平静。抗争的飓风将继续动摇这个国家的基石，直至光明璀璨的正义之日浮现眼前。

但是，对于站在通向正义殿堂温暖的门槛上的同胞们，有些话我是必须要说的。在争取合法地位的过程中，我们切不可因错误之举而犯罪；我们切不要为了满足对自由的渴望而捧着敌对和仇恨之杯痛饮。我们在斗争中必须自尊自重，纪律严明。我们不能容忍我们富于创造的抗争沦为粗野的暴动。我们应该一次次地将自己升华到用灵魂的力量对抗对手的有形暴力的崇高境界。

席卷整个黑人社会的了不起的新战斗精神，不应该把我们引入不信任所有白人的歧途，因为许多白人兄弟已经认识到：我们彼此的命运紧紧相连，我们彼此的自由密不可分。今天，他们来参加我们这个集会就是对此最好的证明。我们不能独自前行。

而当我们行动时，我们就必须确保勇往直前，我们无路可退。有人问热衷于民权运动的人：“你们什么时候才能满足？”

我们绝不会满足，只要黑人仍然是警察不堪形容的野蛮暴行的牺牲品。

我们绝不会满足，只要我们在外奔波而疲倦的身躯仍然不能栖身于公路旁的汽车旅馆和城市里的旅馆。

我们绝不会满足，只要黑人的基本活动范围只能从小的贫民区转移到稍大的贫民区。

我们绝不会满足，只要我们的孩子仍然会看到“白人专用”的告示，那些剥夺了他们的人格、践踏了他们自尊的告示。

我们绝不会满足，只要密西西比州的黑人依然不能参加选举投票，而纽约的黑人依然认为自己的投票毫无意义。

是的，我们并不满足，也将不会满足，除非正义和公正犹如江河之波涛，汹涌澎湃，滚滚而来。