What is Juneteenth, and why is it important? - Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio

翻译人员: Gia Hwang 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

One day, while hiding in the kitchen,

一天，夏洛特·布鲁克斯躲在厨房里，

Charlotte Brooks overheard a life-changing secret.

无意中听到了改变她一生的秘密。

At the age of 17, she’d been separated from her family

17 岁时，她被带离家人，

and taken to William Neyland’s Texas Plantation.

来到威廉·尼兰的德克萨斯种植园。

There, she was made to do housework at the violent whims of her enslavers.

在那里，奴役她的人 颐气指使，强迫她做家务。

On that fateful day, she learned that slavery had recently been abolished,

就在决定命运的那一天， 她得知奴隶制最近被废除了，

but Neyland conspired to keep this a secret from those he enslaved.

但尼兰密谋对那些 被他奴役的人保守这个秘密。

Hearing this, Brooks stepped out of her hiding spot, proclaimed her freedom,

听到这里，布鲁克斯从藏身之处 走出来，宣布自己自由了，

spread the news throughout the plantation, and ran.

并将消息传播整个种植园后，跑了。

That night, she returned for her daughter, Tempie.

当天晚上，她回来接自己的女儿泰佩，

And before Neyland’s spiteful bullets could find them, they were gone for good.

在尼兰恶毒的子弹击中他们前， 他们永远地消失了。

For more than two centuries,

在长达两个多世纪里，

slavery defined what would become the United States—

奴隶制决定了后来的美国——

from its past as the 13 British colonies to its growth as an independent country.

从过去的 13 个英国殖民洲 逐渐壮大成为独立国家。

Slavery fueled its cotton industry and made it a leading economic power.

奴隶制推动了它的棉花工业， 使它成为主要的经济强国。

10 of the first 12 presidents enslaved people.

前 12 位总统中， 有 10 位奴役人民。

And when US chattel slavery finally ended,

当美国的奴隶制最终结束时，

it was a long and uneven process.

经历了一个漫长而曲折的过程。

Enslaved people resisted from the beginning—

被奴役的人们从一开始就通过逃跑、

by escaping, breaking tools, staging rebellions, and more.

破坏工具、叛乱等方式进行抵抗。

During the American Revolution, Vermont and Massachusetts abolished slavery

在美国独立战争期间，佛蒙特州 和马萨诸塞州废除了奴隶制，

while several states took steps towards gradual abolition.

而其他几个州也采取了 逐步废除奴隶制的措施。

In 1808, federal law banned the import of enslaved African people,

1808 年，联邦法律 禁止从非洲进口奴隶，

but it allowed the slave trade to continue domestically.

但允许国内继续买卖奴隶。

Approximately 4 million people were enslaved in the US

1860 年亚伯拉罕·林肯 当选总统时，

when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860.

美国约有 400 万人被奴役。

Lincoln opposed slavery, and though he had no plans to outlaw it,

林肯反对奴隶制，尽管他没有 宣布奴隶制非法的计划，

his election caused panic in Southern states,

但他的当选在南方各州引起了恐慌，

which began withdrawing from the Union.

这些州开始退出联邦。

they vowed to uphold slavery and formed the Confederacy,

他们发誓要维护奴隶制， 并成立了邦联，

triggering the start of the American Civil War.

美国内战由此爆发。

A year into the conflict, Lincoln abolished slavery in Washington, D.C.,

内战一年后，林肯废除了 华盛顿特区的奴隶制，

legally freeing more than 3,000 people.

合法解放了 3 千多人。

And five months later, he announced the Emancipation Proclamation.

五个月后，他宣布了 《解放奴隶宣言》，

It promised freedom to the 3.5 million people enslaved in Confederate states.

承诺给联盟州 350 万 被奴役的人以自由。

But it would only be fulfilled if the rebelling states didn’t rejoin the Union

1863 年 1 月 1 日开始生效时， 南方蓄奴州并不归联邦政府管辖，

by January 1st, 1863.

And it bore no mention of the roughly 500,000 people in bondage

它也没有提及特拉华州、 马里兰州、肯塔基州和密苏里州，

in the border states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri

这些尚未脱离联邦的边境州，

that hadn’t seceded.

那里大约有 50 万奴隶。

When the Confederacy refused to surrender,

当南方邦联拒绝投降时，

Union soldiers began announcing emancipation.

联邦士兵开始宣布解放奴隶，

But many Southern areas remained under Confederate control,

但是许多南方地区 仍在南方联盟的控制之下，

making it impossible to actually implement abolition throughout the South.

这使得在整个南方 不可能真正地废除奴隶制。

The war raged on for two more years, and on January 31st, 1865,

战争又持续了两年，

1865 年 1 月 31 日， 国会通过了第十三条修正案，

Congress passed the 13th Amendment.

It promised to end slavery throughout the US—

承诺在美国各地结束奴隶制——

except as punishment for a crime.

对于依法判罪的人惩罚除外。

But to go into effect, 27 states would have to ratify it first.

但要使其生效，必须 先得到 27 个州的批准。

Meanwhile, the Civil War virtually ended with the surrender

与此同时，1865 年 4 月 9 日，

of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on April 9th, 1865.

南方邦联将军罗伯特·E·李投降， 美国内战也随之结束。

But although slavery was technically illegal in all Southern states,

但是，尽管奴隶制在所有 南方州严格来说都是非法的，

it still persisted in the last bastions of the Confederacy.

但仍然存在于 南部联盟的最后堡垒中。

There, enslavers like Neyland continued to evade abolition until forced.

在那里，像尼兰这样的奴隶主继续 逃避废除奴隶制，直到被迫废除。

This was also the case when Union General Gordon Granger marched his troops

6 月 19 日，联邦军将军戈登·格兰杰

into Galveston, Texas, on June 19th

率领军队进入德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿，

and announced that all enslaved people there were officially free—

宣布那里所有被奴役的人 正式获得自由——

and had been for more than two years.

类似情况已存在两年多。

Still, at this point, people remained legally enslaved in the border states.

尽管如此，在这一点上， 边境各州奴隶仍然合法，

It wasn’t until more than five months later, on December 6th, 1865,

直到五个多月后， 1865 年 12 月 6 日，

that the 13th Amendment was finally ratified.

第十三条修正案才最终获得批准，

This formally ended chattel slavery in the US.

才正式结束了美国的奴隶制度。

Because official emancipation was a staggered process,

因为正式的解放是一个交错过程，

people in different places commemorated it on different dates.

不同地方的人纪念日期也不一样。

Those in Galveston, Texas, began celebrating “Juneteenth”—

德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿的人们 开始庆祝“六月节“——

a combination of “June” and “nineteenth”—

是“六月”（June）和“第十九” （Nineteenth）的合成词——

on the very first anniversary of General Granger’s announcement.

在格兰杰将军宣布 这一消息的一周年纪念日。

Over time, smaller Juneteenth gatherings gave way to large parades.

随着时间的推移，规模较小的 六月借集会被大型游行取代，

And the tradition eventually became

而这一传统

最终成为最广泛的解放庆典。

the most widespread of emancipation celebrations.

But, while chattel slavery had officially ended,

但是，虽然奴隶制 已正式退出历史舞台，

racial inequality, oppression, and terror had not.

但种族不平等、 压迫和恐怖并未结束，

Celebrating emancipation was itself an act of continued resistance.

庆祝解放本身就是持续的反抗行为。

And it wasn't until 2021 that Juneteenth became a federal holiday.

而且，直到 2021 年， 六月节才成为联邦假日。

Today, Juneteenth holds profound significance as a celebration

今天，六月节有着深远的意义，

它庆祝奴隶制的终结， 正义追求所有人的真正自由，

of the demise of slavery, the righteous pursuit of true freedom for all,

and a continued pledge to remember the past and dream the future.

并继续承诺铭记过去，展望未来。