Juneteenth is a deeply emotional moment for enslaved people,
对于被奴役的人来说,六月节(六月十九日)是非常激动人心的一天,
because, for decades, for centuries, enslaved people, prayed for, hoped for, fought for
因为几十年,甚至是几百年来,
in the form of slave rebellions, running away, bought their freedom when they could.
被奴役的人一直在以奴隶叛乱,逃跑,甚至是在能购买自由的时候购买自由等方式祈祷、期盼和抗争。
And if you read slave narratives, if you listen to spirituals from the era of slavery,
如果你看过讲奴隶的故事,或者听过奴隶制时代的灵歌,
you know that enslaved people longed for freedom.
你就知道被奴役的人有多么渴望自由。
"Let my people go."
“放我的同胞走吧。”
This was something that had been hoped for but many believed may never come.
自由是他们期盼已久但很多人都觉得永远不会降临的一个东西。
"Let my people go."
“放我的同胞走吧。”
"That day master promised so, to give we forty dollars a month in pay.
“那天,主人答应每个月给我们四十块钱的工资。
A lot of the boys said they ain't want it.
很多孩子都说他们不想要钱。
They rather go free, you know."
他们更想要自由,你知道嘛。”
"Being able to go wherever they wanted.
“能够去任何他们想去的地方。
Being able to wander about; for enslaved people, it was an expression of their freedom."
能够四处走动,对被奴役的人来说,这就是拥有自由的表现。”
"Well, Nat Porter was the one that belonged to Mrs. Porter, the one of our white folk's neighbors.
“是这样的,纳特·波特本来是Porter夫人,就是我们的白人邻居的一个奴隶。
Soldiers come along, we all sitting on the fence,
后来,有士兵来了,当时我们大家都坐在栅栏上看热闹,
and a colored soldier come along and ask her did she want to go with him, and she said yes.
一位非白人士兵走过来,问她想不想跟他走,她说想。
She mounted one of them horses.
于是,她骑上了他们的一匹马。
She went on with him.
和他一起走了。
I never did see her and hear tell of her no more."
从那以后我就再也没见过她,也没听到过有关她的消息。”
"When I think about Juneteenth,
“当我想到六月节,
I think about it in the context of Emancipation Day celebrations that began Jan 1, 1863
我会把它放在解放日庆祝活动的背景下来思考,解放日的庆祝活动开始于1863年1月1日,
and took on a whole new meaning when slavery was formerly abolished after 1865.
到1865年奴隶制废除之后,这项庆祝活动便被赋予了全新的含义。
You would have had African American veterans who fought in the Civil War be prominent in these celebrations, dressed in their military garb.
过去,你会看到参加过南北战争的非裔退伍军人,穿着军装的他们在这些庆祝活动中显得十分引人注目。
Speeches from enslaved people, the most prominent Black politicians,
被奴役的人,最杰出的黑人政治家纷纷登台演讲,
singing of hymns, spirituals, discussions of registering to vote.
唱赞美诗,唱灵歌,讨论投票登记。
Enslaved people celebrating, in public, their newfound freedom, was an act of resistance.
被奴役的人群庆祝,而且公开地庆祝他们新得到的自由,这便是一种抵抗。
Because we have to remember, slavery came to an end after a four years bloody, bloody civil war.
因为我们必须铭记,奴隶制是在我们经历了四年极其血腥的内战之后才结束的。
Still the bloodiest conflict in American history.
迄今为止依然是美国历史上最为血腥的一次战争。
Many people in the South and in the nation, who didn’t want to see slavery abolished, fought tooth and nail to block the 13th amendment.
很多南方乃至其他地方的人不想看到奴隶制被废除,他们便费尽心思地阻止《第十三条修正案》。
"Coming forth to carry me home."
“来接我回家。”
"The abolition of slavery created a huge humanitarian crisis in the South.
“奴隶制的废除在南方引发了一场巨大的人道主义危机。
Suddenly, four million people have very little means to take care of themselves,
400万人在一夜之间失去了照顾自己,
to support themselves, and do so in a really, really hostile environment.
养活自己,而且是在非常非常恶劣的历史条件下养活自己的能力。
So the military was necessary to make sure that enslaved people got the food, the medicine,
于是,他们便只能让军队来保障被奴役的人能够拥有食物、医药、
the shelter that they needed in order to survive.
以及生存所需的住所。
They’re also there to protect, to the extent that that was possible,
他们的军队还肩负着保护黑人,在可能的情况下保护黑人的责任,
free people from violence, from recriminations from slave holders, from Confederates who still hadn’t given up the fight."
以及把人们从暴力中,从奴隶主的相互指责中,从仍未死心,仍在抗争的联邦军的手底下解放出来的责任。”
"I remember and the Yankees stop here, and the Yankees stop right here on the courthouse square.
“我记得北方佬就在这儿,就在法院广场这儿停下的。
And they prosecuting people, you know.
他们告发我们,你知道嘛。
We boys would go out and see them, and they'd take them, hang them by his thumb.
我们的孩子跑出去看他们,他们就把他们给掳走,把他们的手指吊起来。
That's the punishment they got.
这就是他们受到的惩罚。
Next time you see, there come a whole troop of Yankees, all riding horses, big guns a-hanging on in there.
第二次看到他们的时候,他们来了一整个军队,所有人都骑着马,背着长枪。
And I say, 'Mama, where they going?'
我就问,‘妈妈,他们要去哪儿?’
Said, 'They all going home now.'"
(妈妈)说,‘回他们老家。’”
"When the last Federal troops leave the South,
“对南方人来说,
its a signal to southerners that the Federal government
最后一批联邦军离开南方
wasn’t going to put its might into ensuring the civil rights of black people would be observed.
就表明联邦政府日后并不会全力以赴确保黑人的公民权利得到遵守。
You have, 20, 30 years later, Black people being lynched in public,
即便是过了二三十年,也依然有黑人在公共场合被私刑处死,
and there isn’t a federal anti-lynching law to protect them.
联邦政府还没有反对私刑的律法来保护他们。
In most communities in America, there is a history of lynching and racial violence,
美国大多数社区都曾有过私刑或种族暴力问题,
and very few communities have marked that, and commemorated that."
但很少有社区记录或者是纪念这件事。”
"Every decade since the end of slavery,
“奴隶制结束后,自1865年以来,每隔十年,
Black people have been more educated, accrued more wealth, more status in American society, every decade since 1865.
黑人的受教育水平,财富水平和社会地位都在不断地提高。
But, there’s been one constant, and that constant is the presence of random racist violence."
但有一点一直没有变,那就是任意的种族主义暴力一直存在。”
"What I see in George Floyd’s murder was a white police officer
“乔治·弗洛伊德被杀案中,我所看到的是一名白人警察
attempting to dominate and to subdue a black man who was not resisting, who could not resist.
试图控制和制服一个并没有抵抗,也没有能力抵抗的黑人男子的意图。
Even though slavery came to an end in 1865,
尽管奴隶制在1865年就结束了,
the desire to master and dominate black bodies do not.
但控制和支配黑人的躯体的欲望依然没有结束。
And we have never dealt with that."
我们却从未触碰过这一问题。”
"Hands up. Don't shoot."
“手已经举起来了,别开枪。”
"These are the kind of stark realities that are highlighted during Juneteenth..."
“这些都是庆祝六月节期间突出的严酷现实……”
"If Black people’s lives can be expunged through racist violence, and no one is held accountable,
“如果黑人的生命可以通过种族主义暴力抹去,还没有人被追究,
how free are we?"
那我们有多自由?”
Are we free?"
我们真的自由了吗?”