傑西‧傑克遜 (JESSE JACKSON)

在民主黨全國大會上的演說 Speech to the Democratic National Convention

    共同的基礎!

    傑西‧傑克遜(1941─ )生於南卡羅來納州格林維爾，在貧困中長大。他進伊利諾伊大學，接著轉入歷史上為黑人創辦的北卡羅來納農業和技術學院，以後又在芝加哥神學院學習。於1968年被委任為浸禮會牧師。

    在大學期間，傑克遜曾在阿拉巴馬州塞爾馬與小馬丁‧路德‧金一起遊行，同南方基督教領袖聯合會建立了聯繫。傑克遜是一位具有超凡魅力的演說家，他常激勵青少年勤奮學習，努力工作，相信自己。

    傑克遜在八十年代積極參與競選政治活動。他在芝加哥領導了一場投票人登記運動，促成該市選出第一位黑人市長。1984年傑克遜競選民主黨總統候選人提名。成為首位認真爭取擔任總統職務的黑人候選人。1988年他再次競選民主黨總統候選人提名，票數僅次於麻塞諸塞州州長邁克爾‧杜卡基斯。

    傑克遜1988年7月20日在佐治亞州亞特蘭大市民主黨全國大會上的演說成為這次競選活動激動人心的高潮，因為它標誌著黑人作為美國政治的一支重要力量已臻成熟。

    ……我們今天相聚在一個十字路口，一個需要作出決斷的時刻。

    我們將發展壯大，兼收並蓄，取得統一和力量呢，抑或陷入分裂和軟弱無能的境地?

    我們來到亞特蘭大──古老南方的搖籃，新興南方的熔爐。

    今晚有一種喜慶的意味，因為我們從種族鬥爭的戰場依據法律從根本上轉移到經濟的共同基礎上。明天，我們將需要邁上新臺階。

    共同的基礎！

    想想耶路撒冷吧，很多道路在那兒會合。一個小村莊成了三大宗教──猶太教、基督教和伊斯蘭教──的誕生地。

    為什麼那個村子如此得天獨厚呢? 因為它提供了一個交匯點，讓不同的人聚在一起，讓不同的文化、不同的文明能匯合併找到共同的基礎。

    當人們聚會的時候，總是鮮花盛開，空中瀰漫著新春的芳香。

    再比方紐約，生氣勃勃的大都市。是什麼使紐約這 麼特別呢?

    是自由女神銅像的召喚──把你們的疲倦、貧窮、擁擠不堪、渴望自由呼吸的民眾交給我吧。

    不僅局限於英國人。

    許多人，許多文化，許多語種──有一點是共同的，他們渴望自由呼吸。……

    共同的基礎！

    這便是今晚對我黨提出的挑戰。

    左翼。右翼。進步將不是通過漫無邊際的自由主義或凝固呆滯的保守主義得以實現，而是依靠起關鍵作用的主體的共同生存。飛翔需要兩翼。

    不論你是雄鷹或鴿子，你不過是棲息在同一環境，同一世界中的一隻鳥。

    《聖經》教導說，當獅子和羔羊躺在一起時，兩種動物都不會害怕，將在山谷裏和睦相處。這聽上去似乎不可能。獅子捕食羔羊；羔羊遇上獅子自當逃走。但是即令獅子和羔羊也能找到共同的基礎。為什麼呢？

    因為獅子和羔羊都不願森林著火，獅子和羔羊都不願酸雨降臨，獅子和羔羊都不能在一場核戰爭中倖存。如果說獅子和羔羊能找到共同的基礎，我們作為文明的人類當然也能做到。

    唯我們走到一起之時，我們才贏得了勝利。……

    共同的基礎。

    美國不是由一支線、一種顏色、一塊布料製成的毯子。我童年在南卡羅來納格林維爾居住，那時祖母買不起毯子，但她並不怨天尤 人，我們也並沒有凍死。相反，她找來一些舊布塊──羊毛、絲綢、華達呢、麻袋布的碎片──只能用來擦鞋的碎布片。但是碎布片當然用不久。祖母勤勞的手拿起針線把它們縫在一起，做成一條被子，美感、力量和文化的象徵。

    民主黨黨員們，現在我們必須縫製這樣一條被子。農民們，你們爭取合理的價格，但你們不能單獨行動。你們的布料不夠大。工人們，你們為合理的工資而鬥爭。你們是對的，但你們的布料不夠大。婦女們，你們爭取可比價值和同工同酬。你們是對的，但你們的布料不夠大。婦女們，母親們，你們爭取生活正面的學前教育、日托和育嬰期的照顧，而不是生活負面的牢房福利待遇，你們是對的，但你們的布料不夠大。

    學生們，你們爭取獎學金。你們是對的，但你們的布料不夠大。黑人和拉丁美洲人，當我們為民權鬥爭時，我們是對的，但我們的布料不夠大。同性戀者們，當你們反對歧視，爭取愛滋病的治療時，你們是對的，但你們的布料不夠大。保守派和進步人士們，當你們為自己的信仰奮鬥，右翼、左翼，雄鷹、鴿子──按你們的觀點看，你們是對的，但你們的觀點不夠全面。

    可是切莫絕望。應該像我的祖母那樣聰明，把布片碎料拼湊在一起，用一根線縫成一整塊。當我們形成統一和具有共同基礎的一條巨大的被單時，我們將有力量帶來保健、住房、職業、教育，給我們國家帶來希望。

    我們人民將贏得勝利。我們站在反動的漫漫長夜的終點。我們今晚團結一致，決心朝新的方向前進。有些人認為，社會利益來自個人利益，把社會生活看作增加私人財富的手段。幾乎有八年時間，我們被這些人牽著鼻子走。他們已準備犧牲很多人的共同利益以滿足極少數人的私利和對錢財的貪慾。我們信任一個為公眾服務的，作為我們的民主手段的政府，而不是為追求私人財富的貴族服務的工具：……

    我只是想把常識提到更高水準。第二次世界大戰結束已43年了，我們現在每年耗費一千五百億美元保衛歐洲和日本。如今我們比七年前在歐洲駐紮著更多部隊，然而戰爭的威脅從未像現在這麼遙遠。德國和日本成了債權國──這意味著它們有了剩餘。我們則是債務國──這意味著我們欠了債。

    讓它們更多地分擔它們自己的防務責任吧──我們可以用一部分開支建造像樣的房屋!

    用一部分開支培養教育我們的孩子。     將一部分開支用於長期保健服務。     將一部分開支用於消除這些貧民窟，讓美國重新運轉！

    不論是白色、黑色或棕色的皮膚，飢餓的嬰兒癟塌的肚皮顏色都一樣。稱之為痛苦，稱之為創傷，稱之為折磨。大多數窮人並未靠福利度日。

    有些窮人目不識丁，看不懂報上的招聘廣告。讀懂招聘廣告的窮人則找不到與他們的技能相配的職業。我知道他們每天辛勞工作。我曾生活在他們中間。我就是他們的一員。

    我知道他們工作。他們一早出門趕乘公共汽車，他們每天幹活。他們養育別人的孩子，他們每天幹活。他們打掃街道，他們每天幹活。他們駕駛有司機室的運貨車，他們每天幹活。他們在昨晚你們下榻的旅館裏換床單，但卻得不到 一份工會契約。他們每天幹活。

    不必再一一列舉了。他們並不懶惰。必須有人站出來為他們辯護，因為這是正確的，而他們無法為自己說話。他們在醫院裏幹活。我知道他們在那兒工作。他們為發著高燒，受病痛折磨的人擦身。他們為病人倒便盆。他們為病人洗便桶。沒有什麼工種比他們的更低賤了，可是他們一旦病倒，卻不能躺在他們每天整理的床鋪上。美國啊，這可不好。我們的國家不該這樣。……

    而我們的孩子們，美國的年輕一代，現在你們把頭抬起來。我們能贏得勝利。我們決不能讓你們被毒品、暴力、過早懷孕、輕生、犬儒主義、悲觀絕望所毀掉。我們能贏得勝利。

    不論今晚你們在哪裡，我要求你們懷有希望和夢想。不要淹沒你們的夢想。最重要的是鍛 鍊；即便在服藥期間也要夢見你不再需要藥物的一天。即便住在貧民窟也要夢見你重新站起來的一天。你們決不能停止夢想。面對現實，對。但不要滿足於現狀；夢見的應是理想的世界。懷有夢想吧。面對痛苦，但是愛心、希望、信念和夢想將幫助你從痛苦中超脫出來。把希望和想像當作生存和進步的武器吧，但是你們要堅持夢想，美國的年輕一代。做和平之夢。和平是合情合理的；而戰爭在這個時代是荒謬的，不可能打贏。

    夢見這樣的教師吧，他們為生活而不是為謀生而工作。夢見這樣的醫生吧，他們對公眾健康比對私人財富更關心。夢見這樣的律師吧，他們對公正比對一場審判更關切。夢見這樣的傳教士吧，他們對預言比對牟取暴利更關心。夢見你們行進在正確合理的價值觀念的大路上。……

    不要投降，不要認輸。為什麼我能這樣要求你們呢? 傑西‧傑克遜，你不瞭解我的處境。你經常上電視。你不理解。我看見你和大人物們在一起。你不理解我的處境。我理解。你們近來確實看見我上電視，但你們不明白是我造就了我自己。當他們看到我競選入主白宮，他們弄不懂為什麼我參加競選，可是他們沒有看到我是從什麼家庭脫穎而出，參加競選的。

    我的經歷值得一提。我過去並沒有一直上電視。記者們過去並不總是等在我家門外。當我那年10月8日出生在南卡羅來納格林維爾時，沒有哪個記者問我母親她叫什麼名字。沒人願意記下我家的住址。沒人預料我母親會取得成功。沒人預料我會取得成功。要知道，我是由一個十幾歲的母親所生，而她的母親生她時也只有十幾歲。

    我理解。我深知被拋棄的滋味，我知道人們對你刻薄，說你一錢不值，微不足道，而且永遠成不了氣候。我理解。傑西‧傑克遜是我的第三個名字。我是被人收養的。當我沒有名字時，祖母給了我她的名字。我用傑西‧伯恩斯這一姓名直到十二歲。那時我不想有空白，祖母便給我取了個名字延續下去。我懂得什麼時候沒人知道你的名字。我懂得什麼時候你沒有名字。我理解。

    我不是在醫院裏出生的。我母親沒有醫療保險，我生在家裏的床上。我確實懂得。我生在一個只有三間屋的房子裏， 盥洗室設在後院，床邊放著尿桶，家中沒有冷、熱自來水。我懂。糊牆紙用作裝飾嗎? 不，用來擋風。我懂。我是勞動人民出身，所以無論你是黑人或白人，我都理解你。

    我懂得幹活的滋味。我不是生在富貴人家。我的手生來是拿鏟子的。我母親是個勞動婦女，天天很早趕去上班，襪子都走破了。她當然不好受，但是她自己穿破襪子，好讓我的兄弟和我穿上相配的襪子，免得在學校被人恥笑。

    我理解。感恩節那天下午三點，我們沒吃上火雞，因為那時母親正在給別人烤火雞。我們只得踢足球玩。到六點左右母親才從阿爾塔維特公共汽車上下來；接著我們取出吃剩的食物，在晚上八點吃我們的火雞──殘羹剩菜、肉、酸果果醬。我確實理解。

    他們給你們──你們這些今晚在街頭巷尾的廉價公寓裏觀看這一電視廣播的人──貼上所有這些希奇古怪的標籤。我理解。把你們稱為流浪漢，說你們可鄙，不能成功，無足輕重，出身下賤，低人一等。當你看見傑西‧傑克遜，當我的名字列入候選人名單，你也就被提名了。

    我生在貧民窟，但貧民窟生活並不是我的命運，貧民窟生活也不是你的命運，你能夠成功。抬起頭來挺起胸，你能夠成功。有時天會變黑，但黎明總會到來。你不要屈服。痛苦培育個性。個性培育信念。最後信念將不會消失。

    你不該屈服。你或許可能，或許不能達到目標，但是你該明白你完全勝任，你該堅持到底。我們決不屈服。美國將越變越好。始終抱著希望，始終抱著希望，始終抱著希望吧。明晚以後，始終滿懷希望吧。

    我非常愛你們。我非常愛你們。

. . . We meet tonight at a crossroads, a point of decision.

      Shall we expand, be inclusive, find unity and power; or suffer division and impotence?

      We come to Atlanta, the cradle of the old south, the crucible of the new South.

      Tonight there is a sense of celebration because we are moved, fundamentally moved, from racial battlegrounds by law. to economic common ground, tomorrow we will challenge to move to higher ground.

      Common ground!

      Think of. Jerusalem－ the intersection where many trails met. A small village that became the birthplace for three great religions－ Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

      Why was this village so blessed? Because it provided a crossroads where different people met, different cultures, and different civilizations could meet and find common ground.

      When people come together, flowers always flourish and the air is rich with the aroma of a new spring.

      Take New York, the dynamic metropolis. What makes New York so special?

      It is the invitation of the Statue of Liberty－  give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses who yearn to breathe free.

      Not restricted to English only.

      Many people, many cultures, many languages－ with one thing in common, they yearn to breathe free. . . .

      Common ground'

      That is the challenge to our party tonight.

      Left wing. Right wing. Progress will not come through boundless liberalism nor static conservatism, but at the critical mass of mutual survival. It takes two wings to fly.

      Whether you're a hawk or a dove, you're just a bird living in the same environment, in the same world.

      The Bible teaches that when lions and lambs lie down together, none will he afraid and there will be peace in the valley. It sounds impossible. Lions eat lambs. Lambs sensibly flee from lions. But even lions and lambs find common ground. Why?

      Because neither lions nor lambs want the forest to catch on fire. Neither lions nor lambs want acid rain to fall. Neither lions nor lambs can survive nuclear war. If lions and lambs can find common ground, surely, we can as well, as civilized people.

      The only time that we win is when we come together....

      Common ground.

      America's not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth. When I was a child growing up in Greenville, S.C.. and grandmother could not afford a blanket, she didn't complain and we did not freeze. Instead, she took pieces of old cloth－ patches, wool, silk, gabardine, crockersack on the patches－ barely good enough to wipe off your shoes with.

      But they didn't stay that way very long. With sturdy hands and a strong cord, she sewed them together into a quilt, a thing of beauty and power and culture.

      Now, Democrats, we must build such a quilt. Farmers, you seek fair prices and you are right, but you cannot stand alone. Your patch is not big enough. Workers, you fight for fair wages. You are right. But your patch is not big enough. Women, you seek comparable worth and pay equity. You are right. But your patch is not big enough. Women, mothers, who seek Head Start and day care and pre-natal care on the front side of life, rather than jail care and welfare on the back side of life, you're right, but your patch is not big enough.

      Students, you seek scholarships. You are right. But your patch is not big enough. Blacks and Hispanics, when we fight for civil rights, we are right, but our patch is not big enough. Gays and lesbians, when you fight against discrimination and a cure for AIDS, you are right, hut your patch is not big enough. Conservatives and progressives. when you fight for what you believe, right-wing, left-wing, hawk, dove－ you are right, from your point of view, but your point of view is not enough.

      But don't despair. Be as wise as my grand- mama. Pool the patches and the pieces together, bound by a common thread. When we form a great quilt of unity and common ground we'll have the power to bring about health care and housing and jobs and education and hope to our nation.

      We the people can win. We stand at the end of a long dark night of reaction. We stand tonight united in a commitment to a new direction. For almost eight years, we've been led by those who view social good coming from private interest, who viewed public life as a means to increase private wealth. They have been prepared to sacrifice the common good of the many to satisfy the private interest and the wealth of a few. We believe in a government that's a tool of our democracy in service to the public, not an instrument of the aristocracy in search of private wealth. . . .

      I just want to take common sense to high places. We're spending $150 billion a year defending Europe and Japan 43 years after the war is over. We have more troops in Europe tonight than we had seven years ago, yet the threat of war is ever more remote. Germany and Japan are now creditor nations－ that means they've got a surplus. We are a debtor nation－ it means we are in debt.

      Let them share more of the burden of their own defense－ use some of that money to build decent housing!

      Use some of that money to educate our children!

      Use some of that money for long-term health care!

      Use some of that money to wipe out these slums and put America back to work! . . .

      Whether white, black or brown, the hungry baby's belly turned inside out is the same color. Call it pain. Call it hurt. Call it agony. Most poor people are not on welfare.

      Some of them are illiterate and can't read the want-ad sections. And when they can, they can't find a job that matches their address. They work hard every day, I know. I lived amongst them. I'm one of them.

      I know they work. I'm a witness. They catch the early bus. They work every day. They raise other people's children. They work every day. They clean the streets. They work every day. They drive vans with cabs. They work every day. They change the beds you slept in these hotels last night and can't get a union contract. They work every day.

      No more. They're not lazy. Someone must defend them because it's right, and they cannot speak for themselves. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commode. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick, they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right. We are a better nation than that. . . .

      And then, for our children, young America, hold your head high now. We can win. We must not lose you to drugs and violence, premature pregnancy, suicide, cynicism, pessimism and despair. We can win.

     Wherever you are tonight, I challenge you to hope and to dream. Don't submerge your dreams. Exercise above all else, even on drugs, dream of the day you're drug-free. Even in the gutter, dream of the day that you'll be up on your feet again. You must never stop dreaming. Face reality, yes. But don't stop with the way things are; dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain, but love, hope, faith, and dreams will help you rise above the pain.

      Use hope and imagination as weapons of survival and progress, but you keep on dreaming, young America. Dream of peace. Peace is rational and reasonable. War is irrational in this age and unwinnable.

      Dream of teachers who teach for life and not for a living. Dream of doctors who are concerned more about public health than private wealth. Dream of lawyers more concerned about justice than a judgeship. Dream of preachers who are concerned more about prophecy than profiteering. Dream on the high road of sound values. . . .

      Don't surrender and don't give up. Why can I challenge you this way? Jesse Jackson, you don't understand my situation. You be on television. You don't understand. I see you with the big people. You don't understand my situation. I understand. You're seeing me on TV but you don't know the me that makes me, me. They wonder why does Jesse run, because they see me running for the White House. They don't see the house I'm running from.

      I have a story. I wasn't always on television. Writers were not always outside my door. When I was born late one afternoon, October 8th, in Greenville, S.C., no writers asked my mother her name. Nobody chose to write down our address. My mama was not supposed to make it. And I was not supposed to make it. You see, I was born to a teen-age mother who was born to a teen-age mother.

      I understand. I know abandonment and people being mean to you, and saying you're nothing and nobody, and can never be anything. I understand. Jesse Jackson is my third name. I'm adopted. When I had no name, my grandmother gave me her name. My name was Jesse Burns until I was 12.So I wouldn't have a blank space, she gave me a name to hold me over. I understand when nobody knows your name. I understand when you have no name. I understand.

      I wasn't born in the hospital. Mama didn't have insurance. I was born in the bed at home. I really do understand. Born in a three-room-house, bathroom in the backyard, slop jar by the bed, no hot and cold running water. I understand. Wallpaper used for decoration? No. For a windbreaker. I understand. I'm a working person's person, that's why I understand you whether you're black or white.

      I understand work. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had a shovel programmed for my hand. My mother, a working woman. So many days she went to work early with runs in her stockings. She knew better, but she wore runs in her stockings so that my brother and I could have matching socks and not be laughed at at school.

      I understand. At 3 o'clock on Thanksgiving Day we couldn't eat turkey because mama was preparing someone else's turkey at 3 o'clock. We had to play football to entertain ourselves and then around 6 o'clock she would get off the Alta Vista bus: then we would bring up the leftovers and eat our turkey－ leftovers, the carcass, the cranberries around 8 o'clock at night. I really do understand.

      Every one of these funny labels they put on you, those of you who are watching this broadcast tonight in the projects, on the corners, I understand. Call you outcast, low down, you can't make it, you're nothing, you're from no- body, subclass, underclass－ when you see Jesse Jackson, when my name goes in nomination, your name goes in nomination.

      I was born in the slum, but the slum was not horn in me. And it wasn't born in you, and you can make it. Wherever you are tonight you can make it. Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don't you surrender. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end faith will not disappoint.

      You must not surrender. You may or may not get there, but just know that you're qualified and you hold on and hold out. We must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. On tomorrow night and beyond, keep hope alive.

      I love you very much. I love you very much.