Hello everyone!
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great american, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation. this momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the negro still is not free. one hundred years later, the life of the negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. one hundred years later, the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. one hundred years later, the negro is still languished in the corners of american society and finds himself an exile in his own land. and so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable rights" of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 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."
Thank you!
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great american, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation. this momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the negro still is not free. one hundred years later, the life of the negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. one hundred years later, the negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. one hundred years later, the negro is still languished in the corners of american society and finds himself an exile in his own land. and so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every american was to fall heir. this note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable rights" of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 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."
Thank you!
大家好！
我很高興今天能和你們一起，在歷最偉大的**，在我們國(guó)家歷最偉大的一次。
五年前，一個(gè)偉大的美國(guó)人，在他的象征性的影子，我們今天站，簽署了解放宣言。這項(xiàng)重要法令的頒布，為希望的人已經(jīng)被凋零的不公正火焰烤焦的百萬黑人奴隸杰出的明燈。它如歡樂的黎明，結(jié)束了他們囚禁的漫長(zhǎng)黑夜。
但一百年后，黑人依然沒有自由。一百年后，黑人的生活依然悲慘地蹣跚于種族隔離和歧視的枷鎖。一百年后的今天，黑人仍生活在物質(zhì)繁榮的海洋中的一個(gè)孤島上。一百年后的今天，黑人仍然萎縮在美國(guó)社會(huì)的角落里，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在自己的土地上流放。所以我們今天來到這里，要把這駭人聽聞的情況公諸于眾。
在一個(gè)意義上，我們已經(jīng)來到我們國(guó)家的首都來兌現(xiàn)一張支票。我們共和國(guó)的建筑師們寫下憲法和獨(dú)立宣言的輝煌篇章時(shí)，他們簽署了一張每一個(gè)美國(guó)人都能繼承的一張票據(jù)。這張期票向所有人承諾，是的，黑人和白人，都享有不可剝奪的權(quán)利”的“生命”，自由和對(duì)幸福的追求。”這是明顯的今天，美國(guó)已經(jīng)拖欠著這張期票，只要她的有色公民而言。美國(guó)沒有履行這項(xiàng)神圣的義務(wù)，而是給了黑人一張不好的支票，這張支票已經(jīng)被標(biāo)上了“資金不足”。
謝謝你！
