The Great Migration and the power of a single decision | Isabel Wilkerson

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Vera LIN

Imagine with me this scene.

請和我一起想像這個情境，

It's a scene that played out in nearly all of our families.

幾乎在我們所有人家中 都會上演這個情境，

It's a scene in which a young person,

在這個情境中，有一個年輕人，

somewhere in our family tree,

位在家譜中的某一處，

somewhere in our lineage

來自家系中的某一家族，

had a heartbreaking decision to make.

他得做出一個讓人心碎的決定。

It was a decision to leave all that they had known.

這個決定是他要離開 所有他熟悉的一切，

And all of the people that they had loved

離開所有他愛的人，

and to set out for a place far, far away

前往一個很遠很遠的、

that they had never seen

完全陌生的地方，

in hopes that life might be better.

只希望在那裡過上更好的生活。

Migration is usually a young person's endeavor.

遷徙通常是年輕人才會 試圖去做的事情。

It's the kind of thing that you do when you're on the cusp of life.

是一件你在人生的關口時會做的事。

And so, there is, in all of our families,

所以，在我們所有人的家庭中，

過去都曾有一個這樣的年輕人。

this young person somewhere in our background.

That person is standing at a dock,

那個人站在碼頭，

about to board a ship

準備登船，

that will cross the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean.

將要橫渡大西洋或太平洋。

That person is loading up a truck

那個人在把東西裝載到卡車上，

that will cross the Rio Grande.

準備開車穿過格蘭河。

Or that person is standing

或著，那個人站在車站月台上，

at a railroad platform

about to board a train that will cross rivers and mountains

準備上火車，穿越河流及山岳，

out of the Jim Crow South

離開南方的吉姆克勞， （註：克勞實行種族隔離制）

to what they hope will be freedom in the North.

到能找到自由的北方。 （註：克勞實行種族隔離制）

And there, with this young person

在這個年輕人身旁，

as they are about to board that ship,

當他準備要登上那艘大船、

that boat,

那艘輪船、

that truck, that train,

那輛卡車、那列火車時，

are the people who raised them.

有養育他的人為他送行，

Their mother, their father,

他的母親、他的父親、

their aunt, their uncle, their grandparents,

他的姑姑、叔叔、他的祖父母。

whoever it might have been who had gotten them to this point.

陪著他走到這一步的任何人，

Those older people

這些較年長的人將無法 和他一起踏上這橫渡之旅。

were not going to be able to make the crossing with them.

And as they looked into the eyes of the people who had raised them,

當他望向那些養育他的人，

there was no guarantee

沒有人可以擔保

that they would ever see them alive again.

他會再與他們活著相見。

Remember, there was no Skype,

別忘了，那時沒有 Skype、

no e-mail, no cell phones

沒有電子郵件、沒有手機，

not even reliable long-distance telephone service.

甚至沒有可靠的長途電話服務。

And even if there had been,

就算有長途電話，

many of the people that they were leaving did not even have telephones.

許多留下的人也都住在 沒有電話的地方。

This was going to be a complete break

這趟旅程將會將他們完全分離，

from all that they knew

他將離開所熟悉的一切，

and all of the people that they loved.

以及所有他愛的人。

And the very next time

而他下一次

that they might hear anything about the people who had raised them

聽到這些養育他的人的任何消息，

might be a telegram saying, "Your father has passed away."

很可能就是一封電報 寫著「你的父親過世了。」

Or, "Your mother is very, very ill.

或「你的母親病得非常非常重，

You must return home quickly if you are to see her alive again."

若你想見她最後一面， 你必須要盡快回家。」

That is the magnitude of the sacrifice

那就是犧牲的程度，

that had to have happened in nearly all of our families

這幾乎在我們所有人的 家族中都發生過，

just for us to be here.

如今我們才會在這裡。

A single decision that changed the course of families

一個決定，改變了家族後代、

and lineages and countries and history

國家、歷史的方向，

to the current day.

以及今日的樣貌。

One of these migration streams

其中一股遷徙浪潮特別顯著，

stands out in ways that we may not realize.

我們可能還沒注意到，

It was called the Great Migration.

它被稱為「大遷徙 (the Great Migration)」，

It was the outpouring of six million African Americans

有六百萬非裔美國人

from the Jim Crow South

從實施吉姆克勞法的南方

to the cities of the North and West,

移居到北方和西方的城市，

from the time of World War I until the 1970s.

時間是一次大戰到 1970 年代間。

It stands out because this was the first time in American history

它之所以特別，是因為 這是美國史上第一次，

that American citizens had to flee the land of their birth

美國公民必須逃離自己的出生地，

just to be recognized as the citizens that they had always been.

只為了讓自己的公民身份 能像過去一樣被承認。

No other group of Americans

不曾有過其他的美國人族群

has had to act like immigrants

需要做到像移民者一樣

in order to be recognized as citizens.

才能讓自己的公民身份被承認。

So this great migration was not a move.

這次大遷徙並不是搬家，

It was actually a seeking of political asylum

而是在自己的國家內尋求政治庇護。

within the borders of one's own country.

They were defecting a caste system known as Jim Crow.

他們在逃離俗稱 「吉姆克勞」的等級制度。

It was an artificial hierarchy

那是種人造階級制度，

in which everything that you could and could not do

你能做什麼、不能做什麼，

was based upon what you looked like.

都由你的外貌來決定。

This caste system was so arcane that it was actually against the law

這個等級制度很不可思議，

for a black person and a white person

它甚至禁止黑人和白人

to merely play checkers together in Birmingham.

一起在伯明罕市下棋。

You could go to jail

如果你被逮到和不同種族的 人下棋，可能會因此坐牢。

if you were caught playing checkers with a person of a different race.

Someone must have seen a black person and a white person

一定是有某人看到了 一個黑人和一個白人

playing checkers with someone in some town square.

在某個鎮上的廣場下棋，

And maybe the wrong person was winning

也許不該贏的人贏了，

or they were having too good of a time,

或是他們玩得太開心，

but whatever it was that this person saw,

不論他們在下棋時

with this black person and this white person playing checkers,

這個人看到的是什麼，

they felt the entire foundation of Southern civilization was in peril.

他必定感覺到整個 南方文明的根基有危險，

And decided that it was worth taking the time

於是他決定花些時間

to write this down as a law.

把這狀況寫入法律。

This caste system was so arcane

這個等級制度很不可思議，

that in courtrooms throughout the South there was actually a black Bible

在南方各地的法庭 竟同時備有一本黑人聖經

and an altogether separate white Bible

與一本白人聖經，

to swear to tell the truth on in court.

讓不同種族的人們 發誓說實話時使用。

The very word of God was segregated

在吉姆克勞的南方，

in the caste system of the Jim Crow South.

連神的話語都被做了種族隔離。

The same sacred object

同樣是聖物

could not be touched by hands of different races.

卻不容被不同種族的手觸碰。

This artificial hierarchy,

這種人造階級制度

because it goes against human desires to be free,

因為違反了人類對自由的渴望，

required a tremendous amount of violence to maintain.

所以需要大量的暴力才能維持它。

Such that every four days, somewhere in the American South,

以致於每四天， 在美國南方的某個地方，

every four days an African American was lynched

每四天，就有一個非裔 美國人被私刑處死，

for some perceived breach of protocol in this caste system

只因為有人覺得他破壞了 等級制度的某些協定，

in the decades leading up to the start of the Great Migration.

這是大遷徙前數十年來的社會樣貌。

This caste system had been put in place for many, many reasons.

會實施這個等級制度，有許多理由。

But one of them was to maintain the economic order of the South,

其中之一是要維持南方的經濟秩序，

which required not just a supply of cheap labor

南方經濟不只仰賴廉價的勞工，

but an oversupply of cheap labor to work at the will of the land.

還需要超量的廉價勞力 來完成土地的耕作，

This Great Migration began when the North had a labor problem.

大遷徙始於北方出現勞工問題時，

The North had a labor problem

北方有勞工問題

because it had been relying on cheap labor from Europe --

是因為它一直仰賴歐洲的廉價勞工，

immigrants from Europe --

來自歐洲的移民者，

to work the factories and the foundries and the steel mills.

在工廠、鑄造廠、鋼廠裡工作。

But during World War I,

但一次大戰期間，

migration from Europe came to a virtual halt.

歐洲人停止移民美國，

And so the North had a labor problem.

北方因此出現了勞工問題。

And so the North decided to go and find the cheapest labor in the land

所以他們決定要在國內 尋找最便宜的勞力，

which meant African Americans in the South,

也就是在南方的非裔美國人。

many of whom were not even being paid for their hard work.

他們當中有很多人 做了苦力卻都沒有薪水，

Many of them were working

許多人為取得在他們 耕地上的居住權而工作。

for the right to live on the land that they were farming.

They were sharecroppers and not even being paid.

他們是佃農，沒有薪水，

So they were ripe for recruitment.

所以他們早已準備好被招聘了。

But it turned out

然而，

that the South did not take kindly to this poaching of its cheap labor.

南方對於廉價勞工被竊取 這件事十分憤慨，

The South actually did everything it could to keep the people from leaving.

於是盡一切所能，不讓人們離開。

They would arrest people from the railroad platforms.

他們在車站月台逮捕人。

Remember, putatively free American citizens.

別忘了，那些人該是 自由的美國公民。

They would arrest them from their train seats.

他們可能會從火車座位上被帶走，

And when there were too many people to arrest,

當要逮捕的人太多時，

they would wave the train on through

他們會揮手讓火車 不要停下來，直接通過，

so that people who had been hoping

這麼一來，一直抱著希望、

and saving

一直在存錢、

and praying for the chance to get to freedom

不停的禱告希望得到自由的人們，

had to figure out: How now will we get out?

就得要為下一步做打算。

And as they made their way out of the South,

當他們順利離開南方，

away from Jim Crow,

遠離吉姆克勞法，

they followed three beautifully predictable streams

他們循著三條可預期的路線前進，

as is the case in any migration throughout human history.

如同人類史上每一次的移民潮。

In this particular case, there were three streams.

在這個特別的案例中，有三條路線，

One was the migration along the East Coast

第一條路線沿著東岸，

from Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia

從佛羅里達、喬治亞、 卡羅來納、維吉尼亞，

to Washington DC, to Philadelphia,

到華盛頓特區、費城、

New Jersey, New York and on up the East coast.

新澤西、紐約，沿著東岸向北走。

There was the Midwest stream,

還有中西部的路線，

which carried people from Mississippi, Alabama,

這條路線會帶著人們從 密西西比、阿拉巴馬、

Tennessee and Arkansas

田納西和阿肯色，

to Chicago, to Detroit, to Cleveland and the entire Midwest.

到芝加哥、底特律、 克里夫蘭和整個中西部。

And then there was the West Coast stream,

還有條西岸路線，

which carried people from Louisiana and Texas

這條路線會帶著人們從 路易斯安那和德州，

out to California.

向西到加州去。

And when they really wanted to get away,

當他們真的想要逃離時，

they went to Seattle.

他們會去西雅圖。

And when they really, really wanted to get away,

當他們真的真的想要逃離時，

they went to Alaska,

他們會到阿拉斯加，

the farthest possible point within the borders of the United States

這是美國境內能去的地方中，

from Jim Crow South.

離吉姆克勞法最遠的。

Before the Great Migration began,

在大遷徙開始之前，

90 percent of all African Americans were living in the South.

90% 的非裔美國人住在南方。

Nearly held captive in the South.

幾乎是被囚禁在南方。

But by the time this Great Migration was over,

大遷徙結束時，

nearly half were living all over the rest of the country.

一半的人住到了美國的其他地方，

So this ended up being nearly a complete redistribution

所以，結果幾乎算是 一次人口的再分配。

of part of an entire people.

This Great Migration was the first time in American history

大遷徙是美國史上第一次

that the lowest caste people

最低等級的人

signaled that they had options and were willing to take them.

伸張他們有選擇權，並做出選擇。

That had not happened in the three centuries

非裔美國人在美國的前三個世紀

in which African Americans had been on that soil at that time.

都不曾發生這樣的事，

It had not happened in 12 generations of enslavement

在種族隔離前的一個世紀，

整整十二個代的奴役 世代間不曾發生過。

that preceded nearly a century of Jim Crow.

How many "greats"

你要在「祖父母」前面

do you have to add to the word "grandparent"

加上多少個「曾」字，

to begin to imagine how long enslavement lasted in the United States?

才能想像美國的奴役世代持續了多久？

Secondly, this Great Migration was the first time in American history

第二，這次大遷徙是美國史上第一次

that the lowest caste people

最低等級的人

actually had a chance to choose for themselves

真的有機會為自己做選擇，

what they would do with their God-given talents

選擇要如何運用自己的天賦，

and where they would pursue them.

以及在哪裡進行。

Think about those cotton fields

想想那些棉花田、

and those rice plantations

稻田、

and those tobacco fields

菸田

and those sugar plantations.

以及那些甘蔗園。

On those sugar plantations,

在那些甘蔗園裡，

and on those tobacco fields,

在那些菸田上，

and on those rice plantations,

在那些稻田上，

and on those cotton fields

在那些棉花田上，

were opera singers,

有著歌劇演唱家、

jazz musicians,

爵士音樂家、

playwrights,

劇作家、

novelists,

小說家、

surgeons,

外科醫生、

attorneys,

律師、

accountants,

會計師、

professors,

教授、

journalists.

記者，

And how do we know that?

我們怎麼會知道？

We know that because that is what they and their children

我們之所以會知道是因為 這些是他們、他們的孩子，

and now their grandchildren and even great-grandchildren

以及現在是他們的孫子， 甚至曾孫，

have often chosen to become

通常會做出的職業選擇，

once they had the chance to choose for themselves

一旦他們有機會為自己選擇

what they would do with their God-given talents.

如何運用自己的天賦才能時。

Without the Great Migration,

若沒有大遷徙，

there might not have been a Toni Morrison as we now know her to be.

可能就不會有我們今天 所熟知的托妮·莫里森，

Her parents were from Alabama and from Georgia.

她的父母來自阿拉巴馬和喬治亞，

They migrated to Ohio,

他們移居到俄亥俄，

where their daughter would get to do something

在那裡，他們的女兒才能去做

that we all take for granted at this point,

一些今天看起來理所當然的事，

but which was against the law and against protocol for African Americans

這些事在當時會違反法律 及非裔美國人應遵守的協議，

at the time that she would have been growing up in the South,

若她父母那時留在南方，

讓她在南方長大的話。

had they stayed.

And that is just to walk into a library

這些事包括走進圖書館

and take out a library book.

借出一本書。

Merely by making the single decision to leave,

光是「決定離開」這件事，

her parents assured that their daughter would get access to books.

她的父母就確保了 他們的女兒能夠取得書籍。

And if you're going to become a Nobel laureate,

如果你要成為諾貝爾獎得主，

it helps to get a book now and then.

有時能夠看本書是有幫助的，

You know, it helps.

那是有幫助的。

Music as we know it was reshaped by the Great Migration.

我們所知道的音樂 也被大遷徙重塑過。

As they came North, they brought with them,

到北方時，音樂保留在 人們的心中與記憶中，

on their hearts and in their memories,

the music that had sustained the ancestors --

那些是伴隨他們祖先的音樂，

the blues music, the spirituals and the gospel music

藍調、靈歌、福音音樂、

that had sustained them through the generations.

世世代代支撐著他們的音樂。

And they converted this music into whole new genres of music.

他們將這些音樂轉變成 全新的音樂類型。

And got the chance to record this music,

他們得到機會

錄製他們創造的新音樂，

this new music that they were creating,

and to spread it throughout the world.

並散播到全世界去。

Without the Great Migration, "Motown" would not have existed.

若沒有大遷徙，就不會有 摩城唱片 (Motown)，

The founder, Berry Gordy, his parents were from Georgia.

它的創辦人貝里戈迪的 父母來自喬治亞。

They migrated to Detroit.

他們移居到底特律。

And when he got to be a grown man, he decided he wanted to go into music.

他長大後決定進入音樂這一行，

But he didn't have the wherewithal to go all over the country

但他沒有資源走到全國各地

looking for the best talent,

尋找最有才華的人，

and it turned out he didn't have to.

然而，他根本不用這麼做。

It turned out that there he was,

他發現，在他身邊

surrounded by children of the Great Migration

圍繞著大遷徙的孩子們，

whose parents had brought this music up with them during the journey.

他們的父母在這趟旅程中 一直都帶著這些音樂。

And among those children were these three girls,

在這些孩子當中，有三個女孩，

there was Mary Wilson,

包括瑪莉·威森、

Florence Ballard

弗洛倫斯·巴拉德，

and there was a third one:

以及第三位，

Diana Ross.

黛安娜·羅斯。

We might not know Diana Ross' name had there been no Great Migration.

如果不是大遷徙，我們可能 不會知道黛安娜·羅斯。

Because like a lot of Americans and a lot of human beings in general,

因為和許多美國人 及許多一般人一樣，

she might not have existed because her parents might not have met.

若她的父母沒有相遇，就不會有她。

Her mother was from Alabama,

她的母親來自阿拉巴馬，

father from West Virginia,

父親來自西維吉尼亞，

they migrated to Detroit, different years,

他們在不同年分移居到底特律，

met, married, had her and her siblings,

相遇、結婚，生了她和她的手足，

and thus a legend was born.

傳奇就這麼誕生了。

Jazz was a creation of the Great Migration.

爵士是大遷徙的產物，

And one of the greatest gifts of the Great Migration.

也是大遷徙所創造最棒的禮物之一。

Starting with Louis Armstrong, who was born in Louisiana

爵士從路易·阿姆斯壯開始， 他生於路易斯安那，

and migrated on the Illinois Central Railroad to Chicago,

從伊利諾中央鐵路移居到芝加哥，

where he got the chance to build on the talent

在那裡，他有機會可以發揮

that was within him all along.

他一直都擁有的才華。

Miles Davis.

邁爾士·戴維斯，

His parents were from Arkansas.

他的父母來自阿肯色。

They migrated to southern Illinois,

他們移居到伊利諾，

where he would get the chance to build on the talents

在那裡，他有機會可以鍛鍊

that were within him all along

那些與生俱來的才華，

but which could have gone fallow in the cotton country of Arkansas.

如果待在阿肯色，這才華可能 就被荒廢在棉花田裡了。

John Coltrane.

約翰·柯川，

He migrated at the age of 16

他在十六歲時從北卡羅來納

from North Carolina to Philadelphia,

移居到費城，

where, upon arrival in Philadelphia, he got his first alto sax.

抵達費城時，他得到了 人生中第一把中音薩克斯風。

And there are lovers of jazz who cannot imagine a world

爵士熱愛者很難想像世界上沒有

without John Coltrane having gotten a hold of a saxophone.

拿著薩克斯風的約翰·柯川，

Thelonious Monk.

塞隆尼斯·孟克，

Michael Jackson.

麥可·傑克森，

Jesse Owens.

傑西·歐文斯，

Prince.

王子（音樂家），

August Wilson.

奧古斯特·威森（作家），

Richard Wright.

理察·賴特（作家），

Ralph Ellison.

拉爾夫·艾里森（作家），

Michelle Obama.

蜜雪兒·歐巴馬。

These are all a few of the millions of people

這些只是幾個例子，還有數百萬人

who were products of the single decision to migrate.

都是「遷徙」這個決定下的成果。

The people of the Great Migration

大遷徙的人

met with tremendous resistance in the North.

在北方遇到極大的抵制，

And they were not able to defeat all social injustice.

他們無法打敗所有的社會不公。

But one person

但一個人，

added to another person,

加上另一個人，

added to another person,

再加上另一個人，

multiplied by millions,

乘上數百萬，

were able to become the advance guard of the civil rights movement.

就能夠成為民權運動的先鋒。

One person added to another person,

一個人加上另一個人，

added to another person,

再加上另一個人，

multiplied by millions,

乘上數百萬，

acting on a single decision,

都因為單一個決定而行動，

were able to change the region that they had been forced to flee.

就得以改變他們曾被迫逃離的地方。

They had more power in leaving

他們的離開，比留下更有力量。

than by staying.

By their actions,

透過行動，

these people who had absolutely nothing

這些一無所有的人，

were able to do what a president of the United States,

能夠做到美國總統

亞伯拉罕·林肯做不到的事。

Abraham Lincoln, was not able to do.

These people, by their actions,

透過行動，這些人得以做到

were able to do

what the Emancipation Proclamation could not do.

解放奴隸宣言做不到的事。

These people, by their actions,

透過行動，這些人

were able to do what the powers that be,

得以做到當權者，

North and South,

不論南方或北方，

could not or would not do.

做不到或不願做的事。

They freed themselves.

他們解放了自己。

Thank you.

謝謝！

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）