Michelle Obama’s Speech to the Democratic National Convention

August 17, 2020

米歇尔·奥巴马民主党大会演讲

2020年8月17日

Good evening, everyone. It’s a hard time, and everyone’s feeling it in different ways. And I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune in to a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that. But I am here tonight because I love this country with all my heart, and it pains me to see so many people hurting.

各位，晚上好。这是一个艰难时世，每个人都通过不同的方式感受到了这一点。我知道很多人此时此刻都不愿意参加政治大会，不愿意操心政治。相信我，我明白。但是今晚，我还是来到这里，因为我全心全意地爱着这个国家，因为我为看着如此多的人正在受伤害而感到痛苦。

I’ve met so many of you. I’ve heard your stories. And through you, I have seen this country’s promise. And thanks to so many who came before me, thanks to their toil and sweat and blood, I’ve been able to live that promise myself.

我见过你们很多人。我听过你们的故事。通过你们，我看到了这个国家的应许。感谢这么多前人的辛劳、汗水和热血，我才能生活在这个应许实现的现实中。

That’s the story of America. All those folks who sacrificed and overcame so much in their own times because they wanted something more, something better for their kids.

这就是美国的故事。那些人，在自己的时代里不惜牺牲、克服重重困难，只为他们想给自己的孩子争取更多更好的东西。

There’s a lot of beauty in that story. There’s a lot of pain in it, too, a lot of struggle and injustice and work left to do. And who we choose as our president in this election will determine whether or not we honor that struggle and chip away at that injustice and keep alive the very possibility of finishing that work.

这个故事里有很多的美好，也有很多的苦痛，很多的斗争，很多的不公，还有很多的留给我们要做的工作。在这次选举中选择谁作为我们的总统，将决定我们是否尊重这种斗争，能否消除这些不公正，可否保持完成这些工作的可能性。

I am one of a handful of people living today who have seen firsthand the immense weight and awesome power of the presidency. And let me once again tell you this: The job is hard. It requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listen – and an abiding belief that each of the 330 million lives in this country has meaning and worth.

作为生活在今天亲眼目睹了总统这个职位的巨大分量和令人敬畏的权力的少数人之一，让我再一次告诉你：这份工作有多艰巨。它需要清醒的决断力，对复杂和挑战性问题的掌控力；需要对事实和历史的忠实，道德的指南针和倾听的能力 —— 还需要持之以恒地相信，这个国家的3.3亿人的每一个生命都有意义和有价值。

A president’s words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job.

总统的话语有力量影响市场。他们可以挑起战争，也可以调停和平；可以召唤我们更好的天使，也可以唤醒我们最坏的本能。在这份工作中，你根本无法伪装。

As I’ve said before, being president doesn’t change who you are; it reveals who you are. Well, a presidential election can reveal who we are, too. And four years ago, too many people chose to believe that their votes didn’t matter. Maybe they were fed up. Maybe they thought the outcome wouldn’t be close. Maybe the barriers felt too steep. Whatever the reason, in the end, those choices sent someone to the Oval Office who lost the national popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

正如我以前说过的，成为总统并不会改变你是谁，它却能揭示你是谁。对，选举总统也能揭示我们是谁。四年前，太多的人选择相信他们的选票无关紧要。也许他们受够了。也许他们已经受够了，也许他们认为结果不会很接近，也许是觉得障碍太陡峭……不管原因是什么，这些选择，最终将一个在大选中比对手少了300万张选票的人送进了白宫。

In one of the states that determined the outcome, the winning margin averaged out to just two votes per precinct – two votes. And we’ve all been living with the consequences.

在决定结果的一个州，获胜率平均每个选区只有两票。就因为这两张选票，我们到现在都得生活在这个后果里。

When my husband left office with Joe Biden at his side, we had a record-breaking stretch of job creation. We’d secured the right to health care for 20 million people. We were respected around the world, rallying our allies to confront climate change. And our leaders had worked hand-in-hand with scientists to help prevent an Ebola outbreak from becoming a global pandemic.

当我的丈夫和乔·拜登离任时，我们创造了创纪录的就业机会。我们确保了2000万人享有医疗保健的权利。我们在世界各地受到尊重，团结我们的盟友应对气候变化。我们的领导人与科学家携手合作，帮助防止埃博拉病毒爆发演变成全球疫情。

Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless. Too many have lost their health care; too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent; too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely. Internationally, we’ve turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances championed by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower.

而四年后，这个国家的情况已经大不相同。超过15万人死亡，我们的经济由于这位总统长期以来对病毒的轻描淡写而陷入混乱。数百万人失业，太多的人失去医疗保健；太多人在食物和房租等基本生活必需品上苦苦挣扎；太多社区陷入困境，不得不纠结于是否以及如何安全地开学。在国际上，我们不仅背弃了我丈夫达成的协议，而且也背弃了里根和艾森豪威尔等总统倡导的联盟。

And here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office. Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy. kouyi.org

在美国国内，乔治·弗洛伊德、布伦娜·泰勒以及无休止的无辜的有色人种继续被谋杀，陈述着一个简单的事实：黑人的生命也是命，仍然遭到国家最高机构的嘲笑。因为每当我们向白宫寻求一些领导力或者安慰，或者任何半点的稳定，我们得到的却是混乱，分裂，以及完全彻底的缺乏同情心。

Empathy. That’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes; the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don’t stand in judgment. We reach out because, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” It is not a hard concept to grasp. It’s what we teach our children.

同情心：这是我最近一直在思考的问题。换位思考的能力；承认别人的经历也有价值。我们大多数人都会不假思索地这样去做。如果我们看到有人受苦或挣扎，我们不会站在评判。我们伸出援手，因为，“若非上帝恩典，我亦同遭此难”，这并不是一个难以理解的概念。我们就是这样教给孩子的。

And like so many of you, Barack and I have tried our best to instill in our girls a strong moral foundation to carry forward the values that our parents and grandparents poured into us. But right now, kids in this country are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another. They’re looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time about who we are and what we truly value.

和你们很多人一样，巴拉克和我也竭力教导我们的女儿们建立一个强大的道德基础，以传承我们父母和祖父母灌输给我们的价值观。但现在，我们这个国家的孩子们却正在目睹当我们不再要求彼此的同情时，会发生什么。他们茫然四顾，开始怀疑我们从前教导他们的——我们是谁，我们真正的价值是什么——是否一直在欺骗他们。

They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain.

他们看到有人在杂货店里大喊大叫，不愿戴上口罩来保护我们的安全；他们看到有人在别人只是在做自己的事就报警，仅仅因为他们的肤色；他们看到有人拥有某种权利，认定只有某些人属于这里，贪婪是好的，胜利是一切，因为只要你走在最前面，其他人发生什么都无所谓。他们还看到，当同情心的匮乏被激发成彻底的鄙视会发生什么。

They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemies of the state while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists. They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages, and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protesters for a photo-op.

他们看到我们的领导人给公民同胞贴上“国家公敌”的标签，同时给手持火炬的白人至上主义者壮胆。他们惊恐地看到孩子们被强行从他们的家庭里扯出来，扔进笼子里；他们还看到，我们的国家领导人用胡椒喷雾和橡皮子弹对付和平的抗议者，只是为了拍个宣传照。

Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation. A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating, because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation. kouyi.org

可悲。这就是展示给下一代的美国 —— 一个不仅政策表现不佳，而且德行表现难堪的国家。这不仅令人失望；这让人非常愤怒，因为我知道整个国家的家庭和社区中存在着善良和仁慈。

And I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right. This is not who we want to be.

我知道，无论我们的种族、年龄、宗教或政治立场如何，如果我们关闭噪音和恐惧，真正敞开心扉，我们就知道，这个国家正在发生的事情是不对的。这不是我们想要的。

So what do we do now? What’s our strategy? Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, “When others are going so low, does going high still really work?” My answer: Going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight.

那么，我们现在应该怎么办?我们的策略是什么?过去四年里，很多人都问过我，“当别人都往低处走，向高处走还有用吗？”我的回答是：向高处走，这是唯一有效的方法。因为如果我们也往低处走，如果我们也用同样的方法贬低和非人化别人，那么我们就变成了淹没其他一切的丑陋噪音的一部分，我们就贬低了自己，我们也贬低了我们为之而战斗的事业。

But let’s be clear, going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain’s top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences. And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold hard truth.

但我们要清楚：往高处走，并不意味着面对恶毒和残忍时要面带微笑说好话。往高处走，意味着去走更艰难的道路，意味着我们要艰难地爬上山顶；往高处走，意味着我们要坚决地反对仇恨，同时记住我们是上帝之下的一个国家。想要生存，我们就必须找到一种方法跨越我们的分歧，共同生活，共同工作。往高处走，还意味着我们要用唯一能真正让我们自由的事物去解开谎言和不信任的枷锁，那就是：冷酷而坚硬的真相。

So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is. kouyi.org

所以让我尽我所能诚实和清晰地说出来：唐纳德·川普是我们国家的错误的总统。他有足够的时间证明他能做这项工作，但他显然力不胜任。他无法胜任当下，他不能成为我们需要他成为的人。事实就是这样。

Now, I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic convention. But enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I’m feeling. You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children.

此时此刻，我很清楚，我的信息不会被某些人听到。我们生活在一个严重分裂的国家，而我又是一名在民主党全国代表大会上发言的黑人女性。但此时此刻，你们已经足够了解我。你们知道我所言是我的真实感受。你们知道我讨厌政治。而你们也知道，我关心这个国家。你们知道，我有多关心我们所有的孩子。

So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.

因此，如果你们能从我今晚的话中得到一点东西，那就是：如果你们认为事情不可能变得更糟，相信我，他们会变得更糟；如果我们不在这次选举中做出改变，他们就会变得更糟。我们要想对结束这种混乱有任何希望，我们就必须把票投给乔·拜登，就像我们的生命取决于此。

I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith. He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country. And he listens. He will tell the truth and trust science. He will make smart plans and manage a good team. And he will govern as someone who’s lived a life that the rest of us can recognize. kouyi.org

我了解乔。他是个体面的有信仰指引的正人君子。他曾经是一位了不起的副总统。他知道如何拯救经济，如何抗击疫情，如何领导我们的国家。他善于倾听。他诚实讲话，他相信科学。他会制定明智的计划，建设优秀的团队。他将以我们其他人都能认可的生活方式治理国家。

When he was a kid, Joe’s father lost his job. When he was a young senator, Joe lost his wife and his baby daughter. And when he was vice president, he lost his beloved son. So Joe knows the anguish of sitting at a table with an empty chair, which is why he gives his time so freely to grieving parents. Joe knows what it’s like to struggle, which is why he gives his personal phone number to kids overcoming a stutter of their own.

乔还是个孩子的时候，他的父亲失业了；当乔还是个年轻的参议员时，他失去了妻子和年幼的女儿；在他担任副总统时，他失去了他的爱子。乔深知坐在一张空椅子旁边的痛苦，这就是为什么他把大量的时间花在悲痛的父母身上。乔深知挣扎的滋味，所以他把自己的电话号码给了那些正在克服口吃的孩子。

His life is a testament to getting back up, and he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward.

乔的人生就是重新站起来的见证，他必将以同样的勇气和激情引导我们振作起来，帮助我们疗愈，指引我们前进。

Now, Joe is not perfect. And he’d be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president. And his ability to learn and grow – we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now. Because Joe Biden has served this nation his entire life without ever losing sight of who he is; but more than that, he has never lost sight of who we are, all of us.

是的，乔并不完美。他会是第一个告诉你这一点的人。但没有完美的候选人，也没有完美的总统。而他学习和成长的能力 —— 我们从中发现的正是我们许多人当下急缺的谦卑和成熟。乔·拜登为这个国家服务了一生，但他从未忘记自己是谁；然而，更重要的是，他也从未忘记我们是谁，我们所有人。

Joe Biden wants all of our kids to go to a good school, see a doctor when they’re sick, live on a healthy planet. And he’s got plans to make all of that happen. Joe Biden wants all of our kids, no matter what they look like, to be able to walk out the door without worrying about being harassed or arrested or killed. He wants all of our kids to be able to go to a movie or a math class without being afraid of getting shot. He wants all our kids to grow up with leaders who won’t just serve themselves and their wealthy peers but will provide a safety net for people facing hard times.

乔・拜登希望我们所有的孩子都能上好学校，生病时能看医生，生活在一个健康的星球上，而他也拥有实现这些目标的计划；乔·拜登希望我们所有的孩子，无论外表如何， 都可以走出家门而不用担心被骚扰、被逮捕或被杀害；乔·拜登希望我们所有的孩子都能去看电影或上数学课而不用担心被枪杀；乔·拜登希望我们所有的孩子在成长过程中的领导人，都不只为自己和富裕的同阶层人服务，还能为面临困境的人们提供安全网。

And if we want a chance to pursue any of these goals, any of these most basic requirements for a functioning society, we have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting. They’re closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods. They’re purging voter rolls. They’re sending people out to intimidate voters, and they’re lying about the security of our ballots. These tactics are not new. kouyi.org

想要有机会实现这些目标，实现一个正常运转的社会最基本的要求，我们就必须给乔·拜登投上不可忽视的一票。因为此时此刻，那些知道自己无法在投票箱赢得公平竞争的人，正竭尽所能阻止我们投票。他们正在关闭少数族裔社区的投票站；他们正在清洗选民名单；他们派人恐吓选民；他们还对我们选票的安全问题撒谎。这些伎俩并不新鲜。

But this is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning. We have got to vote like we did in 2008 and 2012. We’ve got to show up with the same level of passion and hope for Joe Biden. We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.

但现在不是我们停止投票以示抗议的时候，也不是和那些没有机会获胜的候选人玩游戏的时候。我们必须像2008年和2012年那样投票。我们必须展示出同样的对乔·拜登投票的激情和希望；我们必须提前投票，如果可以的话，亲自投票；我们今晚就要申请邮寄选票，马上寄出，并确保他们收到。然后，确保我们的朋友和家人也这样做。

We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.

我们要穿上舒适的鞋子，戴上口罩，带上棕色袋子的晚餐，也许还有早餐，因为如果有必要，我们情愿整晚排队等候。

Look, we have already sacrificed so much this year. So many of you are already going that extra mile. Even when you’re exhausted, you’re mustering up unimaginable courage to put on those scrubs and give our loved ones a fighting chance. Even when you’re anxious, you’re delivering those packages, stocking those shelves, and doing all that essential work so that all of us can keep moving forward.

你看，我们今年已经牺牲了这么多。你们中的很多人都已经在做额外的努力了。即使你筋疲力尽，你也会鼓起难以想象的勇气穿上手术服，给我们的亲人一个战斗的机会。即使在你焦急的时候，你也在送那些包裹，在那些货架上存货，做着那些必不可少的工作，让我们所有人都能继续前进。

Even when it all feels so overwhelming, working parents are somehow piecing it all together without child care. Teachers are getting creative so that our kids can still learn and grow. Our young people are desperately fighting to pursue their dreams.

即使一切让人不堪重负，在职的父母们仍然在缺乏儿童看护所的情况下，尽可能地拼凑出这一切；老师们变得越来越有创造力，好让我们的孩子们学习和成长；而我们的年轻人，也在竭力追求自己的梦想。

And when the horrors of systemic racism shook our country and our consciences, millions of Americans of every age, every background rose up to march for each other, crying out for justice and progress.

当系统性种族主义的恐怖震撼了我们的国家和我们的良心，数百万不同年龄、不同背景的美国人站出来为彼此游行，大声疾呼正义和进步。

This is who we still are: compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another. And it is well past time for our leaders to once again reflect our truth.

我们，仍然是这样的人：富于同情、坚忍不拔、为人正直，我们的命运彼此相连。现在，是我们的领导人再次反映我们的真相的时候了。

So, it is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes like John Lewis who said, “When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.” That is the truest form of empathy: not just feeling, but doing; not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids. kouyi.org

我们，也正因为此，有责任在历史进程中加入我们的声音，我们的选票，去呼应英雄约翰·刘易斯所说过的话：“当你看到不正确的事情，你必须说些什么，你必须做点什么。”这就是最真实的同情心：不只是感觉，而是行动；不只是为了我们自己或我们的孩子，而是为了所有人，为了我们所有的孩子。

And if we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.

如果我们想在我们的时代保持进步的可能性，如果我们想在这次选举后还能够直视我们的孩子的眼睛，我们就必须重申我们在美国历史上的地位。我们必须竭尽所能，把我的朋友，乔·拜登选为下一任美国总统。

Thank you all. God bless.

谢谢大家，上帝保佑。