lesson5

　　寧為黑人不為女子

　　Lesson Five I'd Rather Be Black than Female

　　我是第一位當選國會議員的黑人婦女，這使我不同凡響。

　　Being the first black woman elected to Congress has made me some kind of phenomenon.

　　國會中還有九位黑人議員和十位婦女議員，但我是第一位同時克服兩個不利因素的人。

　　There are nine other blacks in Congress； there are ten other women. I was the first to overcome both handicaps at once.

　　在這兩種不利因素中，是個女人比是黑人更糟。

　　Of the two handicaps， being black is much less of a drawback than being female.

　　如果我說做黑人比做婦女更糟糕，也許沒有人會對我的說法提出質疑。

　　If I said that being black is a greater handicap than being a woman， probably no one would question me.

　　為什么呢？因為“眾所周知”，美國存在著對黑人的歧視。

　　Why？ Because “we all know” there is prejudice against black people in America.

　　說美國存在著對婦女的歧視對于幾乎所有男人——還有大多數女人來說——卻是不可思議的。

　　That there is prejudice against women is an idea that still strikes nearly all men – and， I am afraid， most women – as bizarre.

　　許多年以來，多數人看不到社會存在著對黑人的歧視。

　　Prejudice against blacks was invisible to most white Americans for many years.

　　當黑人終于通過靜坐示威、聯合抵制和自由乘車游行的方式以示抗議，來提及這個問題時，他們覺得簡直難以置信。

　　When blacks finally started to “mention” it， with sit-ins， boycotts， and freedom rides， Americans were incredulous.

　　“誰，我們？”他們委屈地問道。

　　“Who， us？” they asked in injured tones.

　　“我們歧視黑人？”對美國白人來說，這是漫長而痛苦的再教育的開始。

　　“We're prejudiced？” It was the start of a long， painful reeducation for white America.

　　他們，包括那些自認為是自由主義者的白人——還需要許多年才能發現并消除他們實際上都持有的種族主義態度。

　　It will take years for whites – including those who think of themselves as liberals – to discover and eliminate the racist attitudes they all actually have.

　　消除對婦女的歧視的困難有多大？我確信這將會是一場更持久的斗爭。

　　How much harder will it be to eliminate the prejudice against women？ I am sure it will be a longer struggle.