How to raise a Black son in America | Clint Smith

Translator: Asri Suharjono Reviewer: Amelia Josephine

Growing up, I didn't always understand

Ketika tumbuh dewasa, saya tidak selalu mengerti

why my parents made me follow the rules that they did.

mengapa orang tua memaksa saya mematuhi aturan mereka.

Like, why did I really have to mow the lawn?

Seperti, kenapa sih saya harus memotong rumput?

Why was homework really that important?

Kenapa PR begitu pentingnya?

Why couldn't I put jelly beans in my oatmeal?

Kenapa saya tidak boleh menaruh Jelly bean dalam oatmeal saya?

My childhood was abound with questions like this.

Masa kecil saya dipenuhi hal seperti ini.

Normal things about being a kid and realizing that sometimes,

Hal yang lumrah bagi anak kecil yang menyadari bahwa kadang kala

it was best to listen to my parents even when I didn't exactly understand why.

lebih baik mematuhi saja orang tua kita walau kita tak tahu alasannya.

And it's not that they didn't want me to think critically.

Dan bukan karena mereka tak mau saya berpikir kritis.

Their parenting always sought to reconcile the tension

Mereka selalu mencari jalan tengah

between having my siblings and I understand the realities of the world,

antara kesadaran saya dan saudara atas kenyataan di dunia ini

while ensuring that we never accepted the status quo as inevitable.

dengan memastikan bahwa kami tidak menganggap status quo itu mutlak.

I came to realize that this, in and of itself,

Saya menyadari bahwa hal ini, dalam dan akan penerapannya,

was a very purposeful form of education.

merupakan bentuk pendidikan yang sangat bermakna.

One of my favorite educators, Brazilian author and scholar Paulo Freire,

Salah satu pengajar kesukaan saya, Penulis dan sarjana Brasil, Paulo Freire

speaks quite explicitly about the need for education

mengungkapkan dengan tegas perlunya pendidikan

to be used as a tool for critical awakening and shared humanity.

sebagai sarana pembangkit kesadaran kritis dan penyebar kemanusiaan.

In his most famous book, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed,"

Dalam bukunya, "Pengajaran Bagi Orang Tertindas"

he states, "No one can be authentically human

dia mengatakan. "Tidak ada yang bisa jadi manusia seutuhnya

while he prevents others from being so."

selama dia menghalangi orang lain untuk itu."

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, this idea of humanity,

Saya banyak memikirkan hal ini, ide tentang kemanusiaan,

and specifically, who in this world is afforded the privilege

dan khususnya, siapa di dunia ini yang mendapat keleluasaan

of being perceived as fully human.

untuk dianggap sebagai manusia utuh.

Over the course of the past several months,

Selama beberapa bulan terakhir,

the world has watched as unarmed black men, and women,

dunia menyaksikan pria dan wanita kulit hitam yang tak bersenjata,

have had their lives taken at the hands of police and vigilante.

telah kehilangan nyawa mereka di tangan polisi dan penjahat.

These events and all that has transpired after them

Kejadian ini serta kejadian lainnya yang mengikuti

have brought me back to my own childhood

membawa saya kembali ke masa kecil saya

and the decisions that my parents made about raising a black boy in America

serta cara orang tua saya membesarkan anak kulit hitam di Amerika yang sedang tumbuh

that growing up, I didn't always understand in the way that I do now.

saya dulunya tidak mengerti seperti sekarang ini.

I think of how hard it must have been, how profoundly unfair it must have felt

Saya pikir betap beratnya dan betapa tidak adil rasanya buat mereka,

for them to feel like they had to strip away parts of my childhood

dimana mereka seperti mencabut sebagian masa kecil saya

just so that I could come home at night.

hanya supaya saya tetap bisa pulang ke rumah malam hari.

For example, I think of how one night,

Contoh, saya ingat pada suatu malam,

when I was around 12 years old, on an overnight field trip to another city,

saat saya berusia 12 tahun, dalam suatu perjalanan ke luar kota,

my friends and I bought Super Soakers

saya dan teman teman membeli pistol air

and turned the hotel parking lot into our own water-filled battle zone.

dan menjadikan tempat parkir sebagai arena tempur air kami.

We hid behind cars,

Kami bersembunyi di belakang mobil,

running through the darkness that lay between the streetlights,

bersembunyi dalam kegelapan di antara lampu jalan,

boundless laughter ubiquitous across the pavement.

tawa riang kami terdengar jelas di sepanjang jalan.

But within 10 minutes,

Dan 10 menit kemudian,

my father came outside, grabbed me by my forearm

ayah keluar, mencengkeram lengan saya

and led me into our room with an unfamiliar grip.

dan menyeret saya ke kamar kami dengan cengkeraman yang aneh.

Before I could say anything,

Sebelum saya sempat berbicara,

tell him how foolish he had made me look in front of my friends,

betapa dia telah membuatku terlihat konyol di depan temanku,

he derided me for being so naive.

dia mencela betapa bodohnya diriku.

Looked me in the eye, fear consuming his face,

Menatap mataku, rasa takut terlihat jelas di wajahnya,

and said, "Son, I'm sorry,

dan katanya, "Nak, maafkan aku,

but you can't act the same as your white friends.

tapi kau tak boleh seperti temanmu yang berkulit putih.

You can't pretend to shoot guns.

Jangan bermain tembak-tembakan.

You can't run around in the dark.

Jangan berkeliaran di kegelapan.

You can't hide behind anything other than your own teeth."

Jangan bersembunyi selain di belakang gigimu."

I know now how scared he must have been,

Aku tahu betapa takutnya dia saat itu,

how easily I could have fallen into the empty of the night,

betapa mudahnya aku jadi korban malam itu,

that some man would mistake this water

jika ada orang yang menyangka bahwa mainanku

for a good reason to wash all of this away.

sebagai alasan untuk menghabisiku.

These are the sorts of messages I've been inundated with my entire life:

Inilah pesan yang saya terima selama hidup saya:

Always keep your hands where they can see them, don't move too quickly,

Letakkan tanganmu agar bisa terlihat selalu, jangan bergerak terlalu cepat

take off your hood when the sun goes down.

lepaskan tudungmu setelah matahari terbenam.

My parents raised me and my siblings in an armor of advice,

Orang tuaku membesarkanku dan saudaraku dalam benteng nasehat,

an ocean of alarm bells so someone wouldn't steal the breath from our lungs,

lautan peringatan supaya tak seorangpun akan mencuri nafas kami,

so that they wouldn't make a memory of this skin.

supaya mereka tak mengingat warna kulit ini.

So that we could be kids, not casket or concrete.

Agar kami tetap jadi anak anak, bukan mayat.

And it's not because they thought it would make us better than anyone else

Dan bukanlah mereka ingin kami lebih baik dari anak yang lain

it's simply because they wanted to keep us alive.

tapi hanya agar kami tetap hidup.

All of my black friends were raised with the same message,

Semua teman kulit hitamku tumbuh dengan pesan yang sama,

the talk, given to us when we became old enough

ruang bicara, yang diberikan jika kami cukup tua

to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground,

dianggap sebagai paku yang siap dipalu ke tanah,

when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared.

ketika orang menyamakan warna kulit kami sesuatu yang patut ditakuti.

But what does it do to a child

Tapi apa akibatnya bagi seorang anak kecil

to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child?

yang tumbuh dengan anggapan bahwa anda tak bisa jadi sekedar anak kecil?

That the whims of adolescence are too dangerous for your breath,

Bahwa menjadi remaja terlalu berbahaya bagi hidupmu,

that you cannot simply be curious,

anda tidak boleh terlalu ingin tahu

that you are not afforded the luxury of making a mistake,

dan anda tidak boleh berbuat salah,

that someone's implicit bias

dan opini samar dari seseorang saja

might be the reason you don't wake up in the morning.

dapat menyebabkan anda tak dapat bangun esok pagi.

But this cannot be what defines us.

Tapi ini tak boleh jadi cap kami.

Because we have parents who raised us to understand

Karena orang tua kami mengajarkan kami untuk memahami

that our bodies weren't meant for the backside of a bullet,

bahwa tubuh kami bukanlah untuk jadi sasaran tembak,

but for flying kites and jumping rope, and laughing until our stomachs burst.

tapi untuk bermain layangan dan tali, dan tertawa sampai perut kami sakit.

We had teachers who taught us how to raise our hands in class,

Guru mengajarkan kami mengacungkan tangan di kelas

and not just to signal surrender,

bukan sebagai tanda menyerah,

and that the only thing we should give up

dan satu satunya hal yang harus kami buang

is the idea that we aren't worthy of this world.

adalah anggapan bahwa kami tak layak hidup didunia

So when we say that black lives matter, it's not because others don't,

Jadi saat kami bilang nyawa kami penting, bukannya yang lain tidak.

it's simply because we must affirm that we are worthy of existing without fear,

cuma memastikan bahwa kami pun layak hidup tanpa rasa takut

when so many things tell us we are not.

saat orang lain beranggapan kami tak layak.

I want to live in a world where my son

Saya ingin dunia dimana anak saya

will not be presumed guilty the moment he is born,

tidak dianggap bersalah begitu dia dilahirkan,

where a toy in his hand isn't mistaken for anything other than a toy.

ketika mainan di tangannya tidak dianggap bukan mainan.

And I refuse to accept that we can't build this world into something new,

Dan saya menentang anggapan kita tak bisa membangun dunia yang baru,

some place where a child's name

dunia dimana nama seorang anak

doesn't have to be written on a t-shirt, or a tombstone,

tidak harus ditulis di kaos, atau di batu nisan,

where the value of someone's life

dimana harga sebuah nyawa

isn't determined by anything other than the fact that they had lungs,

tidak ditentukan oleh hal lain selain bahwa dia punya paru paru,

a place where every single one of us can breathe.

dimana semua orang dapat bernafas.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.

(Applause)

(tepuk tangan)