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布克ˇTˇ华盛顿 (BOOKER T. WASHINGTON) 亚特兰大博览会演讲 The Atlanta Exposition Address在一切纯社交性的事务中ˇ我们可以ˇ手指那样分开ˇ但在一切对共同进步有决定意义的事情上ˇ我们必须团结得ˇ一只手一样。布克ˇTˇ华盛顿(1856ˇ1915)出生 于奴隶家庭。1872年他被汉普顿学院录取ˇ靠在学院当看门工友勤工俭学完成了学业。毕业任教和进修之后ˇ他被选爲塔斯基吉工业师范学院的领导人。在以后的三十四年时间里ˇ他把这所贫穷的学院发展爲实力雄厚、拥有一千五百名学生的学校。 华盛顿认爲对黑人进行工业教育、小规模企业管理培训和勤勉若干精神的培养是提高黑人地位的途径。他被邀请于1895年9月18日在亚特兰大博览会上ˇ白人听衆发表演讲ˇ这是由于他的做法被认爲值得报导。在演讲 中ˇ他劝黑人同胞要学会“一般的职业技能”ˇ发展与白人朋友的睦邻关系ˇ脚踏实地地从“最低点”而不是从最高点开始努力。 杜波依斯等黑人领袖反对他耐心温和的劝告ˇ称他的演讲爲“亚特兰大妥协”。他们还谴责华盛顿强调工业教育是以牺牲高等教育爲代价。当时ˇ 由 于对黑人实行种族歧视的法律得到通过ˇ南方黑人的权利处于危急之中。黑人农民主要是佃农ˇ受到用谷物交租制度的剥ˇˇ城市里的黑人工人被拒于工会大门之外。 然而ˇ 白人却爲华盛顿的演讲喝采ˇ南北方的白人都给了他极大的荣誉。1901年他曾被西奥多ˇ罗斯福总统邀请到白宫。从1895年直至他逝世ˇ他被公认爲是当时最有影ˇ的美国黑人。他写过十二本书ˇ其中包括他的自传《出身奴隶》。 南方人口的三分之一是黑人。任何ˇ在南方取得物质、文化、道德方面巨大成就的事业家都不能忽视我们人口的这一组成部分。在这盛大的博览会进展的每一个阶段ˇ美国黑人的价值和 气慨都得到了博览会经理们恰当而又极其慷慨的赏识ˇ我谨在此ˇ会长和理事先生们转达广大黑人同胞的谢意。这种赏识将比我们获得自由以来所发生过的任何事件更能巩固加强我们两个民族之间的友谊。 除此之外ˇ这儿还爲我提供了演讲的机会ˇ来唤醒黑人同胞去迎接工业发展的新时代。由于我们无知ˇ又缺乏经验ˇ所以在我们新生活的最初ˇ几年里ˇ我们没有从最低点而是最高点开始努力ˇ我们奋力争取在国会和州立法机关的席位ˇ却忽视了培养房地産经营的能力和工业技能ˇ我们被政治会议或树墩演讲所吸引ˇ而觉得经营牛奶场或蔬菜场乏味ˇ这种ˇˇ并不奇怪。 一条在海上迷航了几天的船只突然看见一艘友好船只ˇ从遇难的船只的桅杆上可以看到求救信号ˇ“水ˇ水ˇ我们快渴死了。”对方立即答 覆ˇ“从你们船上把水桶放下来打水。”遇难船只好再一次发出求援信号ˇ“水ˇ水ˇ给我们送水ˇ”得到的答复是ˇ“从你们船上把水桶放下来打水。”第三、四次要求送水的信号也得到了同样的答复。遇难船只的船长终于注意到了这一答复ˇ将桶放下去ˇ从亚玛逊河口打上来满满的一桶清澈的淡水。 对依靠在异国改善生活状况的黑人同胞和低估了发展与南方白人睦邻友好关系的重要性的黑人同胞ˇ我要疾呼ˇ从你们那儿把水桶放下来打水ˇ果断地放下来ˇ与我们周围的各族人民交朋友。在农业、机械业、商业、家庭服务业及其它行业ˇ黑人同胞都应该这样做。关于这一点应该记住ˇ不管可能要南方忍受其它什麽罪恶ˇ在纯商业事务方面ˇ南方爲黑人在商界提供了ˇ样的机会ˇ本届博览会就是胜于雄辩的审实证明。我们面临的最大危ˇ是ˇ从奴隶制到自由这一飞跃过程中ˇ我们可能会忽视这一点ˇ我们大部份人靠手工生産谋生。而忘记了当我们学会赞美歌颂平凡的劳动ˇ在各行各业中发挥我们的智慧和技能时ˇ当我们学会区分生活中表面与实质ˇ华而不实与真正有用的东西之间的差别时ˇ我们将会兴旺发达ˇ获得成功。只有当一个民族认识到种田与写诗是一样高贵时ˇ这个民族才有可能繁荣昌盛。我们应该从生活的最低点而不是最高点开始努力ˇ我们也不应该让我们所受的委屈给我们的机遇投下阴影。 不少白人希望讲不同语言ˇ保持不同风俗习惯的异族人的到来能促进南方的繁荣ˇ如果允许的话ˇ我ˇ对他们重复一下我对黑人同胞讲过的话ˇ“从你们那儿把水桶放下来ˇ”放到八百万黑人中来。你们了解他们的脾性ˇ在他们的反叛意味着你们家园的毁灭那种日子里ˇ你们也曾经考验过他们的忠诚与爱。把你们的水桶放到这些黑人中来ˇ他们过去既不举行罢工也不争议报酬ˇ爲你们种田、开垦荒地、修建铁路、建设城市ˇ开采宝藏ˇ使南方的巨大发展成爲ˇ实。把你们的水桶放到我们黑人同胞中来ˇ就ˇ你们ˇ在正在做的那样ˇ帮助和鼓励他们ˇ在才智、技能和精神这些方面培训他们。你们将看到ˇ他们将购买你们多余的田地ˇ使荒芜的土地结出硕果ˇ他们也将经营你们的工厂。 这样做的时候ˇ你们可以ˇ信ˇˇ过去那样ˇ将来围绕在你们及你们家人周围的也将是世界上至今所见到的最耐心、最忠诚、最守法、最不易抱怨的人们。过去我们替你们照看小孩ˇ在病榻前伺候你们的父母ˇ还经常流着眼泪爲他们送葬。我们过去已经证明了对你们的忠诚ˇ所以将来ˇ我们也将忠心耿耿地站在你们一边ˇ这种忠诚是任何异族人所不能比的。假如情况需要的话ˇ我们还随时准备牺牲生命保卫你们。我们将在工业、商业、文化和宗教生活各方面与你们交融在一起ˇ使我们两个民族的利益ˇ一致。在一切纯社交性的事务中ˇ我们可以ˇ手指那样分开ˇ但在一切对共同进步有决定意义的事情上ˇ我们必须团结得ˇ一只手一样。 要是没有全体民衆的高度文化水平和兴旺发达ˇ我们都得不到保护ˇ都不会感到安全。假如存在着不让黑人充份发展的阻力ˇ那麽应该把这种阻力转化爲动力ˇ刺激鼓励黑人ˇ使他们成爲最聪明有用的公民。这种投资得到的将是十倍的收益。这种努力将爲双方造福ˇ既有利于提供帮助的一方ˇ也有利于被帮助的一方。在人类或上帝的法律面前ˇ没有任何人能逃脱不可避免的命运ˇ
将近八百万双的手可能帮你们挑起重担ˇ也可能拉后腿ˇ我们可能构成南方愚昧与罪恶的三分之一甚至更多ˇ也可能构成文明与进步的三分之一ˇ我们可能爲南方的工商业繁荣作出三分之一的贡ˇˇ也可能成爲一具僵尸ˇ延缓、ˇ弱、阻碍国家进步的各种努力。 光临博览会的先生们ˇ当我们在博览会上ˇ你们展出我们的努力所取得的一些小成果时ˇ希望你们对我们不要太苛求。三十年前ˇ我们在各地开始拥有一些被子、南瓜和鸡(从各方收集来的)。请记住ˇ我们是在一无所有的情况下开始发展的。我们搞发明创造ˇ生産农具、轻便马车、蒸汽机、报纸、书本、雕塑ˇ经营药店、银行ˇ我们走过的路是不平坦的ˇ我们是披荆斩棘走过来的。当我们爲我们所展出的独自努力的成果而感到自豪时ˇ我们一刻也不曾忘记你们对我们教育事业的帮助。不仅南方帮助了我们ˇ北方也帮助了我们ˇ尤其是北方的慈善家们源源不断的捐赠给了我们极大的支持与鼓励。要是没有你们的帮助ˇ我们的展品会使你们大失所望。 黑人中的有识之士明白挑起社会平等方面的争端是极其愚蠢的。要实ˇ我们能够充分ˇ受一切权利这一理ˇ需要一个过程ˇ必须靠我们艰苦不懈的努力ˇ而不是靠人爲的推行推进。能爲世界市场提供必需商品的民族是不可能被长期排斥在外的。不错ˇ我们应该ˇ受法律所保障的一切权利ˇ这一点很重要ˇ然而ˇ更重要的是ˇ我们应该爲行使这些权利做准备。ˇ在ˇ在工厂里挣一美元钱的机会比起在歌剧院里ˇ费一美元钱的机会更有价值。 最后ˇ请允许我再说一遍ˇ与以往三十年里的各种机会ˇ比ˇ这次博览会所提供的机会给了我们更大的希望和鼓舞ˇ使我们与白人的关系更密切了。这神圣的讲坛可以说是代表了我们两个民族共同奋斗的成果ˇ因爲三十年前我们几乎都是从零开始。在这圣坛上ˇ我ˇ你们保证ˇ在你们努力解决上帝爲南方所设置的这一重大而又复杂的问题时ˇ你们将随时得到黑人的同情和耐心的帮助。这些展厅里所陈列的来自农田、森林、矿山、工厂和文艺界的成果将推动各行各业的发展ˇ带来更大的成果。可是ˇ我们还应该记住这一点ˇ比物质利益更爲重要的是精神方面的更高的追求。让我们祈祷主将降临ˇˇ灭区域差别ˇˇ除种族仇恨和怀疑ˇ施行法律ˇ让各阶层的人都服从法律的意志。这一点再加上物质上的繁荣ˇ将爲我们亲爱的南方开创一个新天地。 One-third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom. Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the State Legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden. A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: "Water, water, we die of thirst." The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the signal, "Water, water, send us water," ran up from the distressed vessel and was answered, "Cast down your bucket where you are." And a third and fourth signal for water was answered "Cast down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: Cast down your bucket where you are; cast it down in making friends, in every manly way, of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called upon to bear, when it comes to business pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that, in the great leap from slavery to freedom, we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in the pro- portion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to over- shadow our opportunities. To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race, "Cast down your bucket where you are." Cast it down among the 8,000,000 Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and, with education of head, hand and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear- dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours; interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed―"blessing him that gives and him that takes." There is no escape, through law of man or God, from the inevitable: The laws of
changeless justice bind Nearly sixteen million hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward. We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. Gentlemen of the Exposition: As we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect over much. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember: the path that has led us from these to the invention and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers, books, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drugstores and banks, has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectations but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the Southern states, but especially from Northern philanthropists who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement. The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of those privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house. In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement and drawn us so near to you of the white race as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that, in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race. Only let this be constantly in mind that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters and art, much good will come―yet far above and beyond material benefits, will be that higher good, that let us pray God will come, in a blot- ting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, coupled with material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth. |