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JamesWhiteSr_2014X-_我的一个租房小难题_
An 18-year-old, African-American male joined the United States Air Force and was assigned to Mountain Home Air Force Base and was a part of the air police squadron . 一个非裔美籍男孩在18岁加入了美国空军, 被分配到蒙恩荷马空军基地, 并加入了空军警卫中队。
African-American:非洲裔美国人(指美国黑人); United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) Air Force:n.空军; assigned:v.分配(某物);分派;指定;委派;(assign的过去分词和过去式) squadron:n.空军中队;一群;骑兵中队;分遣队;小舰队;vt.把…编成中队;
Upon first arriving there, the first goal that I had was for me to identify an apartment, so I could bring my wife and my new baby, Melanie, out to join me in Idaho. 我刚刚到达空军基地时, 第一件事情就是要找公寓, 然后把太太和刚出生的孩子Melanie 接来爱达荷州居住。
identify:v.识别:鉴定:确认:发现:
I immediately went to the personnel office, and talking with the guys in personnel, they said, "Hey, no problem finding an apartment in Mountain Home, Idaho. 我即时去找人事科办公室 跟他们讲述了我的情况 人事科的人说:「在这里找一个公寓没问题,
personnel:n.人事部门;全体人员;adj.人员的;有关人事的;
The people down there love us because they know if they have an airman who is coming in to rent one of their apartments, they'll always get their money." 这里的人都挺喜欢我们, 因为他们知道要是租客是空军 他们的租金总能收到。」
airman:n.飞行员,空军士兵;
And that was a really important thing. 在那时候这种认知很重要。
He said, "So here is a list of people that you can call, and then they will then allow you to select the apartment that you want." 人事科的人说:「这里有一份名单,你可以打电话给名单上的人 他们会让你选你想要的公寓。」
So I got the list; I made the call. 我从人事科拿了名单,打了第一个电话。
The lady answered on the other end and I told her what I wanted. 接电话的是一个女士,我给她讲解了一下我的需要。
She said, "Oh, great you called. 她说:「你打来正及时
We have four or five apartments available right now." 我们现在有4、5所公寓出租。」
She said, "Do you want a one-bedroom or two-bedroom ?" 她问:「你要一个卧室还是两个卧室？」
two-bedroom:adj.双卧室的;n.双卧室;
Then she said, "Let's not talk about that. 她又说:「我们别在电话说了,
Just come on down, select the apartment that you want. 你直接过来看看想要哪间。
We'll sign the contract and you'll have keys in your hand to get your family out here right away ." 看好我们就可以签约, 你就能拿着公寓的钥匙准备把家人接过来了。」
contract:v.收缩;感染;订约;n.合同;婚约; right away:立刻;
So I was excited. 我听了之后很兴奋。
I jumped in my car. I went downtown and knocked on the door. 马上开车到了市中心去敲她的门。
downtown:n.市区;闹市区;adv.在市区;在热闹街上;到闹市区;adj.闹市区的;
When I knocked on the door, the woman came to the door, and she looked at me, and she said, "Can I help you?" 一个女士开了门, 她看了看我,问:「有什么可以幫到你吗？」
I said, "Yes, I'm the person who called about the apartments. 我答:「我刚才打电话来看公寓。
I was just coming down to make my selection ." 看看哪间合适。」
selection:n.选择;选拔;挑选;被挑选的人(或物);
She said, "You know what? I'm really sorry, but my husband rented those apartments and didn't tell me about them." 她说:「真不好意思, 我先生把那些公寓都租出去了,却没告诉我。」
I said, "You mean he rented all five of them in one hour?" 我说:「你是说一个小时内他把5所公寓都租出去了？」
She didn't give me a response , and what she said was this: 她没有回答我的问题,
response:n.响应;反应;回答;
She said, "Why don't you leave your number, and if we have some openings, I'll give you a call?" 只是说:「要不这样,你把电话留下, 如果到时有人退租,我通知你？」
Needless to say, I did not get a call from her. 不用说,她之后没有打电话给我。
Needless:adj.不必要的,不需要的;多余的,无用的;
Nor did I get any responses from the other people that they gave me on the list where I could get apartments. 我按着人事科给我的名单询问其他公寓, 那些人也没有给我回音。
responses:n.回答,答复;反应;响应;(response的复数)
So as a result of that, and feeling rejected , 整件事让我觉得挺被拒绝的,
as a result:结果; rejected:adj.被拒的;不合格的;v.拒绝,驳回;(reject的过去式和过去分词)
I went back to the base, and I talked to the squadron commander . 我回到空军基地,找到了中队的指挥官
commander:n.指挥官;司令官;
His name was McDow, Major McDow.
I said, "Major McDow, I need your help." 我说:「McDow少校,我需要你的幫忙。」
I told him what happened, and here's what he said to me: 我告诉他我的遭遇,他跟我说
He said, "James, I would love to help you. 他说:「James,我很乐意幫助你。
But you know the problem: 但问题是,
We can't make people rent to folks that they don't want to rent to. 我们不能强让人把公寓租出去。
And besides , we have a great relationship with people in the community and we really don't want to damage that." 而且我们跟这个社区的关系挺好的, 不想因这事让大家关系紧张。」
besides:adv.此外;而且;prep.除…之外; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
He said, "So maybe this is what you should do. 他说:「要不这样,
Why don't you let your family stay home, because you do know that you get a 30-day leave. 你别把家人搬过来了 一年有30天的假期
So once a year, you can go home to your family, spend 30 days and then come on back." 你可以趁假期回家 30天后再回来。“
Needless to say, that didn't resonate for me. 不用说,他的话没有说服我。
resonate:vt.共鸣;共振;vi.共鸣;共振;
So after leaving him, I went back to personnel, and talking to the clerk, he said, "Jim, I think I have a solution for you. 我又回去了人事科 跟里面的文员解释了我的情况。 他说:「Jim,我有个办法。
solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答;
There's an airman who is leaving and he has a trailer. 有个飞行员要走了,
If you noticed, in Mountain Home, there are trailer parks and trailers all over the place. 如果你留意的话 蒙恩荷马很多地方都有居旅车和居旅车停车场。
trailers:n.[车辆]拖车(trailer的复数形式); v.用拖车载运(trailer的第三人称单数形式);
You can buy his trailer, and you'd probably get a really good deal because he wants to get out of town as soon as possible. 如果你把他的居旅车买了, 趁他赶着走,还可以买得便宜点。
as soon as:一…就;
And that would take care of your problem, and that would provide the solution for you." 有了这个居旅车 你的问题也就解决了。」
So I immediately jumped in my car, went downtown, saw the trailer -- it was a small trailer, but under the circumstances , 我听了之后马上赶去市中心去看那辆居旅车 看起来挺小的 但是当时的情况
circumstances:n.情况;环境;情形;(circumstance的复数)
I figured that was the best thing that I could do. 我没有别的办法了。
So I bought the trailer. 我就把居旅车买了。
And then I asked him, "Can I just leave the trailer here, and that would take care of all my problems, 我问人事科的文员:「我能把这居旅车留这里吗？ 这样我就不用找停放点了,
I wouldn't have to find another trailer park?" 我的问题就都解决了。」
He said, "Before I say yes to that, I need to check with management ." 他回答:「我要先问问管理人员再给你答复。」
management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段;
So I get back to the base, he called me back and management said, "No, you can't leave the trailer here because we had promised that slot to some other people." 我就先回基地了。 回到基地,人事科给我来电话,说: 「不行,你不能把居旅车停在那里 因为我们已经答应把那个位置给别人了。」
slot:n.位置;狭槽;水沟;硬币投币口;v.跟踪;开槽于;
And that was strange to me because there were several other slots that were open, but it just so happened that he had promised that slot to someone else. 我觉得这事挺奇怪 因为我看到其他位置都是空的 为什么刚好我放置的地方就刚好让给别人了？
slots:n.插槽;老虎机(slot的复数);
So, what I did -- and he said, "You shouldn't worry, Jim, because there are a lot of trailer parks." 我就问人事科 他说:「别担心了,Jim,还有很多能停放居旅车的地方。」
So I put out another exhaustive list of going to trailer parks. 他又给了我另一份名单去找能停放居旅车的地方。
exhaustive:adj.详尽的;彻底的;消耗的;
I went to one after another , after another. 我一个接一个地找。
one after another:adv.接连地;一个接一个地;
And I got the same kind of rejection there that I received when I was looking for the apartment. 但找到的却是同样的拒绝。
rejection:n.抛弃;拒绝;被抛弃的东西;盖帽;
And as a result, the kind of comments that they made to me, in addition to saying that they didn't have any slots open, one person said, "Jim, the reason why we can't rent to you, we already have a Negro family in the trailer park." 结果就是,他们给我的回复, 除了告诉我停放点都满了, 一个人还跟我说:「Jim,我们不租给你, 是因为我们已经有一个黑人家庭住在这个居旅车停放点了。」
in addition to:除…之外; Negro:n.黑人;adj.黑人的;
He said, "And it's not me, because I like you people." 他说:「这不是我的决定,我挺喜欢你们这些人的。」
(Laughs) （笑）
And that's what I did, too. I chuckled , too. 我当时也笑了
chuckled:vi.咯咯的笑,轻声地笑;n.轻笑,窃笑;vt.轻声笑着表示;
He said, "But here's the problem: 他说:「现在问题是
If I let you in, the other tenants will move out and I can't afford to take that kind of a hit." 如果我让你搬进来,其他租客会搬走了, 我不能承受这样的风险
tenants:n.房客;居住者(tenant的复数形式);v.租借(tenant的第三人称单数); afford:v.给予,提供;买得起;
He said, "I just can't rent to you." 所以我没有办法租给你。」
Even though that was discouraging , it didn't stop me. 这事虽然挺沮丧,
discouraging:adj.使人沮丧的;阻止的;v.使灰心;阻止;劝阻;(discourage的现在分词)
I kept looking, and I looked at the far end of the town in Mountain Home, and there was a small trailer park. 但是没有停止我继续寻找的决心。 我找到了蒙恩荷马的偏远地区, 那里有一个小型居旅停车场,
I mean, a really small trailer park. 小得不得了的居旅停车场。
It didn't have any paved roads in it, it didn't have the concrete slabs , it didn't have fencing to portion off your trailer slot from other trailer slots. 连里面的路都没有铺好, 没有水泥平板 没有围栏 来划分停放点。
paved:v.(用砖石)铺(地);(pave的过去分词和过去式) concrete:n.混凝土;adj.混凝土制的;确实的,具体的;vt.用混凝土覆盖 slabs:n.[木]平板; v.把…切成厚片; portion:n.部分;(食物的)一份;分担的责任;v.把…分成若干份(或部分);
It didn't have a laundry facility . 也没有能洗衣服的地方。
laundry:n.洗衣店,洗衣房;要洗的衣服;洗熨;洗好的衣服; facility:n.设施;设备;特别装置;特色;场所;天资;
But the conclusion I reached at that moment was that I didn't have a lot of other options . 但当时我明白 我没有其他选择了。
conclusion:n.结论;结局;推论; options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式)
So I called my wife, and I said, "We're going to make this one work." 我给太太打了个电话,说:「我们就这么着。」
And we moved into it and we became homeowners in Mountain Home, Idaho. 我们一家都搬过去了。 在爱达华州蒙恩荷马这个城市我们有了自己的家。
homeowners:n.私房屋主;自己拥有住房者;
And of course, eventually things settled down. 当然,事情后来也慢慢安定了。
eventually:adv.最后,终于; settled:adj.稳定的; v.结束; (settle的过去分词和过去式)
Four years after that, I received papers to move from Mountain Home, Idaho to a place called Goose Bay, Labrador . 四年后,我收到了命令,让我们从爱达华州的蒙恩荷马 搬到拉布拉多的古斯湾。
Labrador:n.拉布拉多(加拿大东部一地区);一种纽芬兰猎犬;
We won't even talk about that. It was another great location . (Laughter) 那里的环境很好,我就不多说了。（笑）
location:n.地方;地点;位置;定位
So my challenge then was to get my family from Mountain Home, Idaho to Sharon, Pennsylvania . 我那时面临的挑战是把家从爱达华州的蒙恩荷马 搬到宾夕法尼亚州的沙伦。
Pennsylvania:n.宾夕法尼亚州(美国州名);
That wasn't a problem because we had just purchased a brand-new automobile . 其实问题也不大,因为我们刚买了一辆新车。
purchased:v.买;购买;采购;(purchase的过去式和过去分词) brand-new:adj.崭新的;最近获得的; automobile:n.汽车;v.开汽车;坐汽车;adj.自动的;
My mother called and said she'll fly out. 我妈电话上说她会飞过来。
She'll be with us as we drive, she'll help us manage the children. 我们开车时她会幫我们照看孩子。
So she came out, her and Alice put a lot of food together for the trip. 所以她就来了,她跟我太太Alice准备很多路上的食物。
That morning, we left at about 5 a.m. 那天早上,我们5点就出发。
Great trip, having a great time, good conversation. 整个旅程很棒,大家都很喜欢,聊得也很开心。
Somewhere around 6:30, 7 o'clock, we got a little bit tired, and we said, "Why don't we get a motel so that we can rest and then have an early start in the morning?" 到了大概6点半、7点,我们开始有点累了。 我们就说:「不如找一家汽车旅店, 先住下来休息,明天一早再赶路。」
motel:n.汽车旅馆;
So we were looking at a number of the motels as we drove down the road , and we saw one, it was a great big, bright flashing light that said, " Vacancies , Vacancies, Vacanies." 我们开始寻找路上的汽车酒店, 我们看到一家,用红色霓虹灯写着: 「有空房,有空房,有空房」
motels:n.汽车旅馆(motel复数); down the road:只要沿着这条路;将来;在路上; flashing:n.防雨板,盖片; v.闪光; (flash的现在分词) Vacancies:n.空缺额;缺位(vacancy复数);
So we stopped in. 我们就停下来了。
They were in the parking lot , I went inside. 她们留在了停车场,我走进去汽车酒店。
parking lot:n.停车场;
When I walked inside, the lady was just finishing up one contract with some folks, some other people were coming in behind me. 当我进去的时候, 前台的女士正幫几位客人办好入住手续, 其他旅客也陆陆续续来到前台,跟在我的后面
And so I walked to the counter, and she said, "How can I help you?" 我来到前台, 她问:「有什么可以幫你吗？」
I said, "I would like to get a motel for the evening for my family." 我说:「我想租一晚房间给我的家人。」
She said, "You know, I'm really sorry, I just rented the last one. 她说:「真抱歉,最后一间刚租出了。」
We will not have any more until the morning." 明天早上才有空房。
She said, "But if you go down the road about an hour, 45 minutes, there's another trailer park down there." 她说:「如果你向前走大概45到60分钟, 那里有一个居旅车停车场。」
I said, "Yeah, but you still have the 'Vacancies' light on, and it's flashing." 我说:「但是你空房灯还亮着哪。」
She said, "Oh, I forgot." 她说:「哎呀,我忘了。」
And she reached over and turned the light off. 然后她伸手把灯关了。
She looked at me and I looked at her. 她看了看我,我看了看她
There were other people in the room. 房间里还有其他旅客。
She kind of looked at them. No one said anything. 她看了看他们,谁也没有说话。
So I just got the hint and I left, and went outside to the parking lot. 我明白她的意思,离开了汽车酒店,回到停车场,
hint:n.提示;暗示;迹象;窍门;v.暗示;透露;示意;
And I told my mother and I told my wife and also Melanie, and I said, "It looks like we're going to have to drive a little bit further down the road to be able to sleep tonight." 跟我妈、太太和女儿说 「看来我们要开远一点 才有地方睡了。」
And we did drive down the road, but just before we took off and pulled out of the parking lot, guess what happened? 我们那晚的确开到比较远的地方, 但我们倒车准备要离开的时候 猜发生了什么？
The light came back on. 霓虹灯竟然又亮起来了。
And it said, "Vacancies, Vacancies, Vacancies." 闪烁着「有空房,有空房,有空房」
We were able to find a nice place. 最后我们还是找到了一个不错的地方。
It wasn't our preference , but it was secure and it was clean. 虽然不是理想的地方,但也安全干净。
preference:n.偏爱;爱好;喜爱;偏爱的事物;
And so we had a great sleep that night. 我们那晚上睡得很好。
The piece that's important about that is that we had similar kinds of experiences from Idaho all the way through to Pennsylvania, where we were rejected from hotels, motels and restaurants. 那次经历的重点是 我们在爱达华州遭拒绝的的事情 在宾夕法尼亚也同样发生, 我们一路上被旅馆、旅店和饭店拒绝接待。
But we made it to Pennsylvania. 但我们最后还是来到宾夕法尼亚了。
We got the family settled. Everyone was glad to see the kids. 我们把家安定下来,大家都很高兴能看到孩子们。
I jumped on a plane and shot off to Goose Bay, Labrador, which is another story, right? 我坐飞机赶去了拉布拉多的古斯湾。 这又是另外一个故事了,对吧？
(Laughter) （笑）
Here it is, 53 years later, 今时今日,53年后
I now have nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren . 我现在有9个孙,2个重孙。
great-grandchildren:n.曾孙女,曾孙;
Five of the grandchildren are boys. 5个孙子是男孩。
I have master's, Ph.D., undergrad , one in medical school. 有读硕士、博士、学士,一个在读医学。
undergrad:n.大学肄业生;adj.大学生的(等于undergraduate);
I have a couple that are trending . 其他几个也在向此发展。
trending:n.[统计]趋势;v.伸向;趋向;(trend的现在分词)
They're almost there but not quite. (Laughter) 他们快拿到,但是还没。（笑）
I have one who has been in college now for eight years. 我还有一个孙子读了8年的大学。
(Laughter) （笑）
He doesn't have a degree yet, but he wants to be a comedian . 他还没拿到他的学位,但是想成为一名喜剧演员。
comedian:n.滑稽演员;喜剧演员;
So we're just trying to get him to stay in school. 我们尽可能让他继续留在学校,
Because you never know , just because you're funny at home, does not make you a comedian, right? 因为你永远不知道 也许在家搞笑,但在外面当喜剧演员不一定成功,对吗？
you never know:(非正式)很难说,不可预知;
(Laughter) （笑）
But the thing about it, they're all good kids -- no drugs, no babies in high school, no crime. 不管怎么样,他们都是好孩子: 不吸毒、高中不会意外怀孕、没犯罪。
So with that being the backdrop , 依照这样的背景,
backdrop:n.背景;背景幕;交流声;
I was sitting in my TV room watching TV, and they were talking about Ferguson and all the hullabaloo that was going on. 我一天在看电视, 电视在播弗格森和因他而起的骚动。
hullabaloo:n.喧嚣;吵闹声;吵吵喊喊的争论(等于hullaballoo);
And all of a sudden , one of the news commentators got on the air and she said, "In the last three months, eight unarmed African-American males have been killed by police, white homeowners, or white citizens." 突然,一个新闻评论员说: 「在过去3个月内 有8名没有携带武器的非裔美籍男士 被白人警察、市民或是房主杀害。」
all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地; commentators:n.评论员;注释者(commentator的复数); on the air:在广播,广播中; unarmed:adj.不带武器的;非武装的;不使用武器的;徒手的
For some reason, at that moment it just all hit me. 不知道为什么,当时我震惊了。
I said, "What is it? It is so insane . 我说:「怎么回事？太疯狂了。
insane:adj.疯狂的;精神病的;极愚蠢的;
What is the hatred that's causing people to do these kinds of things?" 怎样的仇恨能让人做出这样的事情？」
hatred:n.仇恨;憎恨;厌恶;
Just then, one of my grandsons called. 接着,我一个孙子打电话给我。
He said, " Granddad , did you hear what they said on TV?" 他说:「爷爷,你听新闻报导了吗？」
Granddad:n.爷爷;外公;
I said, "Yes, I did." 我说:「听了。」
He said, "I'm just so confused . 他说:「这让我很困扰。
confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
We do everything we do, but it seems that driving while black, walking while black, talking while black, it's just dangerous. 我们只是做自己的事情,但是在别人的眼中 作为黑人,我们开车、走路、讲话都让他们觉得我们很危险。
What can we do? We do everything that you told us to do. 我们能做什么？你教我们的我们都做了。
When stopped by the police, we place both hands on the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position. 警察截停我们的时候, 我们把双手放在方向盘12点钟的位置,
steering wheel:n.方向盘;(操)舵轮;
If asked to get identification , we tell them, 'I am slowly reaching over into the glove compartment to get my I.D.' 如果他们问起身份证件, 就告诉他们:我会慢慢从我置物箱里面拿出我的身份证。
identification:n.鉴定,识别;认同;身份证明; glove compartment:n.(汽车前排座位前放小物件的)杂物箱;
When pulled out of the car to be searched, when laid on the ground to be searched, when our trunks are opened to be searched, we don't push back, we don't challenge because we know, you've told us, 'Don't you challenge the police. 他们要我们走出车外搜查, 要我们趴在地上搜身, 要我们打开后尾箱给他们看, 我们不反抗,因为我们记得你说过 「不要挑战警察。
After it's over, call us and we'll be the ones to challenge." 等一切结束了,给我们打电话,让我们来挑战警察。」
He said, "And this is the piece that really bugs me: 他说:「这件事带给我很多困扰
bugs:n.缺陷;虫子;窃听器;(bug的复数)v.窃听;使烦恼;(bug的第三人称单数)
Our white friends, our buddies , we kind of hang together . 我的哥们、白人朋友,我们经常在一起,
buddies:n.伙伴,好朋友;v.交朋友;(buddy的第三人称单数和复数) hang together:符合,一致;同心协力;结合在一起;
When they hear about these kinds of things happening to us, they say, 'Why do you take it? 他们听到这个消息的时候,他们说 你怎么还能忍受呢？
You need to push back. You need to challenge. 你应该要反抗,你应该要挑战,
You need to ask them for their identification.'" 你应该向他们拿他们的证件。」
And here's what the boys have been taught to tell them: "We know that you can do that, but please do not do that while we're in the car because the consequences for you are significantly different than the consequences for us." 我的孙子会这样回答他们: 「我知道你可以这样做但是当我们在你车里的时候 请不要这样做。 因为我跟你的后果 是不一样的。」
consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数); significantly:adv.意味深长地;值得注目地; different than:不同于;
And so as a grandparent, what do I tell my grandsons? 所以,作为爷爷,我应该怎么跟孙子说呢？
How do I keep them safe? How do I keep them alive? 我怎样才能保护他们的安全,让他们继续好好的活着呢？
As a result of this, people have come to me and said, "Jim, are you angry?" 这一报导之后,很多人问我 「Jim,你不生气吗？」
And my response to that is this: "I don't have the luxury of being angry, and I also know the consequences of being enraged ." 我的回答是: 「我没有这种奢侈的权利去生气, 因为我知道生气会有什么后果。」
luxury:n.奢侈,奢华;奢侈品;享受;adj.奢侈的; enraged:v.使异常愤怒;激怒;触怒;(enrage的过去分词和过去式)
So therefore, the only thing that I can do is take my collective intellect and my energy and my ideas and my experiences and dedicate myself to challenge, at any point in time, anything that looks like it might be racist . 所以,我唯一可以做的是 把我的知识、精力、想法、经历 在任何时候,致力于挑战 任何可能发生的种族歧视。
collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词; intellect:n.智力,理解力;知识分子;思维逻辑领悟力;智力高的人; dedicate:vt.致力;献身;题献; racist:n.种族主义者;种族主义的;
So the first thing I have to do is to educate, the second thing I have to do is to unveil racism , and the last thing I need to do is do everything within my power to eradicate racism in my lifetime by any means necessary . 我首先要做的是教育, 其次是揭露种族歧视的陋行, 最后是尽我人生中最大的力量、 想尽一切办法根除种族歧视。
unveil:n.揭幕;计划公布;v.为…揭幕;(首次)展示,介绍; racism:n.种族主义,种族歧视;人种偏见; eradicate:vt.根除,根绝;消灭; by any means necessary:不择手段;以任何必要手段;
The second thing I do is this: 我要做的第二件事是:
I want to appeal to Americans. 我要呼吁所有的美国人
appeal:n.上诉;吸引力;申诉;魅力;v.上诉;呼吁;申诉;恳求;
I want to appeal to their humanity , to their dignity , to their civic pride and ownership to be able to not react to these heinous crimes in an adverse manner. 呼吁他们的人性与尊严、 呼吁他们作为市民的使命感与骄傲, 不要消极面对这些丑恶的罪行。
humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科; dignity:n.尊严;高贵; civic:adj.市的;公民的,市民的; react:v.起反应;回应;(对食物等)有不良反应,过敏;起化学反应; heinous:adj.可憎的;极凶恶的; adverse:adj.不利的;相反的;敌对的(名词adverseness,副词adversely);
But instead, to elevate your level of societal knowledge, your level of societal awareness and societal consciousness to then collectively come together, all of us come together, 而是应该多提升对社会的了解、 提升对社会的感悟和知觉, 然后大家一起联合起来,
elevate:vt.提升;举起;振奋情绪等;提升…的职位; societal:adj.社会的; awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道; consciousness:n.意识;知觉;觉悟;感觉; collectively:adv.共同地,全体地;
to make sure that we speak out against and we challenge any kind of insanity , any kind of insanity that makes it okay to kill unarmed people, regardless of their ethnicity , regardless of their race, regardless of their diversity makeup. 确保我们揭露、挑战所有不合理的事情、 疯狂可以杀害手无寸铁的人的想法 无论他们是什么种族、 无论他们是什么族群、 无论文化上有何不同。
speak out:畅所欲言;大胆地说;大声地说; insanity:n.疯狂;精神错乱;精神病;愚顽; regardless:adj.不管的; v.不顾后果地; ethnicity:n.种族划分; diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化:
We have to challenge that. It doesn't make any sense. 我们必须挑战这些事情。这些事情是不合理的。
The only way I think we can do that is through a collective. 只有我们团结一致,才能达成这一目标。
We need to have black and white and Asian and Hispanic just to step forward and say, "We are not going to accept that kind of behavior anymore." 我们需要白裔、非洲裔、华裔和拉丁裔 一起向前宣告 「我们再也不能接受这样的事情继续发生。」
black and white:adj.印刷的;黑白混合的;用笔写的; Hispanic:adj.西班牙的;