I Have A Dream
I Have A Dream
—— by Martin Luther King
Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on
August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior(战士),
Pocket Books, NY 1968
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we
stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation(奴隶解放宣言). This momentous
(意义重大的) decree(法令) came as a great beacon(指引) light of hope to
millions of Negro slaves who had been seared(烤焦) in the flames of
withering(使干枯的) injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long
night of captivity(囚禁). But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic
(悲惨的) fact that the Negro is still not free.
One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled
(削弱) by the manacles(手铐，脚链，束缚) of segregation(种族隔离) 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 languishing(苦思，渴望) in the corners
of American society and finds himself an exile(被放逐者) in his own land.
So we have come here today to dramatize(戏剧地表现) an appalling(惊骇的)
condition. In a sense we have 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(有约束力的) note to which every American was to fall heir
(继承人，后嗣).
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable
(不可剥夺的) rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is
obvious today that America has defaulted(不履行) on this promissory note
insofar(在..范围内) as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of
honoring this sacred(神圣的) obligation(义务), America has given the Negro
people a bad 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 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(神圣的) 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(使平静的) drug of gradualism(按步就班，渐进). Now is the time
to rise from the dark and desolate(荒凉的) valley of segregation to the
sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of
opportunity
to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the
quicksands(流沙，危险的事物) of racial injustice to the solid rock of
brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and
to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering(闷热的)
summer of the Negro's legitimate(合法的) discontent(不满) will not pass until
there is an invigorating(鼓舞的) 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(旋风) of revolt(反抗) 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(开始
)
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
ourthirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred(憎恨).
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and
discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into
physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic(宏伟庄严的)
heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous(非凡的) new militancy(交战) which has engulfed(卷入) the
Negro community must not lead us to 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(命运) is tied up with our destiny and their
freedom is inextricably(不可避免的) bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge(发誓) that
we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the
devotees(献身者) of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never
be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue(疲惫) of travel,
cannot gain lodging(住房) in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the
cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility(迁移) is
from a smaller ghetto(犹太人区) to a larger one. 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(正义)
like a mighty(强大的) stream.
I am not unmindful(不留意) that some of you have come here out of great
trials and tribulations(磨难). Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells.
Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you
battered(打碎) by the storms of persecution(迫害) and staggered by the winds
of police brutality(野蛮，残忍). You have been the veterans of creative
suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned(不该得到的)
suffering is redemptive(挽回).
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back
to Louisiana, go back to the slums(平民窟) and ghettos of our northern cities,
knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not
wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in
spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a
dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed信条): "We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills
of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will
be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that
one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the
heat of injustice and oppression(压迫), will be transformed into an oasis(绿洲
)
of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character. I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips
are presently dripping with the words of interpositi and nullification(无用)
, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black
girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and
walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream
that one day every valley shall be exalted(升起), every hill and mountain
shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked(弯曲)
places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with
which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew(砍) out of
the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to
transform the jangling(嘈嚷的) discords(不一致) of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to
pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for
freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with
a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I
sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's(朝圣者) pride, from
every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation,
this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious(巨大的)
hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New
York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let
freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from
the curvaceous(曲线优美的) peaks of California! But not only that; let free
dom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout
Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every
molehill(鼹鼠打洞扒出泥土堆成的土堆) of Mississippi. From every mountainside,
let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and
every hamlet(小村落), from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews
and Gentiles(非犹太人), Protestants(新教徒) and Catholics, will be able to
join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last!
free at last! thank God Almighty(全能), we are free at last!"
