So it's 2006. My friend Harold Ford calls me. He's running for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, and he says, "Mellody, I desperately need some national press. Do you have any ideas?" So I had an idea. I called a friend who was in New York at one of the most successful media companies in the world, and she said, "Why don't we host an editorial board lunch for Harold? You come with him."
那是在2006年 我的朋友Harold Ford給我打電話 他正在競選田納西州美國參議員 他說:「Mellody,我現在非常需要接觸 全國性的媒體,你有什麼辦法嗎? 」 我想到了一個主意, 於是給一個朋友打電話 這位朋友在紐約 一家世界上最著名的媒體公司任職 她說:「為什麼不為Harold 舉辦一個媒體主編的午餐會呢? 你和他都來參加。 」
Harold and I arrive in New York. We are in our best suits. We look like shiny new pennies. And we get to the receptionist, and we say, "We're here for the lunch." She motions for us to follow her. We walk through a series of corridors, and all of a sudden we find ourselves in a stark room, at which point she looks at us and she says, "Where are your uniforms?"
於是Harold和我來到紐約 我們穿著最好的禮服 我們看起來像是閃閃發亮的硬幣 我們來到接待處,說: 「我們來參加午餐會。 」 她示意我們跟她走 我們穿過一連串的走廊 最後發現我們來到 一個空空蕩蕩的房間 她看著我們說: 「你們的工裝呢? 」
Just as this happens, my friend rushes in. The blood drains from her face. There are literally no words, right? And I look at her, and I say, "Now, don't you think we need more than one black person in the U.S. Senate?"
聽到這句話 我的朋友窘住了 血液湧到臉上 徹底無語了,對嗎? 我看著她,說: 「現在,你不覺得我們在美國參議院 需要不止一位黑人嗎? 」
Now Harold and I -- (Applause) — we still laugh about that story, and in many ways, the moment caught me off guard, but deep, deep down inside, I actually wasn't surprised. And I wasn't surprised because of something my mother taught me about 30 years before. You see, my mother was ruthlessly realistic. I remember one day coming home from a birthday party where I was the only black kid invited, and instead of asking me the normal motherly questions like, "Did you have fun?" or "How was the cake?" my mother looked at me and she said, "How did they treat you?" I was seven. I did not understand. I mean, why would anyone treat me differently? But she knew. And she looked me right in the eye and she said, "They will not always treat you well."
Harold和我…… (鼓掌) 現在回憶起來還是覺得很有趣 無論怎麼說,這句話的確讓我措手不及 但是在更深層次的內心裡 我其實一點都不吃驚 那是因為 我的母親在30年前教給我的某些東西 我的母親是極為現實的一個人 我記得,有一天參加一個 生日聚會之後回到家 我是唯一一個被邀請的黑人小孩 她並沒有問我那些 大多數母親都會問的問題 比如「過得愉快嗎? 或者「蛋糕好吃嗎? 」 我母親看著我說: 「他們怎麼對待你? 」 我只有7歲,不明白什麼意思 為什麼有人會用不同的方式對待我? 但是她知道 她直勾勾地看著我的眼睛說: 「他們永遠不會好好待你。 」
Now, race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable. You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment, it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail. There is shock, followed by a long silence. And even coming here today, I told some friends and colleagues that I planned to talk about race, and they warned me, they told me, don't do it, that there'd be huge risks in me talking about this topic, that people might think I'm a militant black woman and I would ruin my career. And I have to tell you, I actually for a moment was a bit afraid. Then I realized, the first step to solving any problem is to not hide from it, and the first step to any form of action is awareness. And so I decided to actually talk about race. And I decided that if I came here and shared with you some of my experiences, that maybe we could all be a little less anxious and a little more bold in our conversations about race.
種族,在美國是讓人 感覺最不舒服的話題之一 在晚宴上或者在工作場所 提出這個話題 絕對會讓談話的氣氛 急轉直下 長時間沉默之後 是眾人的震驚 即使今天來到這裡 我告訴一些同事和朋友 我打算談一談種族 他們警告我,不要談這個話題 由我來談這件事 風險太大了 人們會覺得我是個激進的黑人女性 我的職業會被毀掉 而我必須要說 有那麼一陣,我的確比較害怕 但是我知道 解決任何問題的第一步 都是不要回避 任何行動的第一步 都是意識到問題的存在 於是我決定就來談談種族問題 我決定來到這裡,和你們分享 我個人的經歷 或許這可以減少大家的一些焦慮 增加大家的一些勇氣 來真正面對種族問題
Now I know there are people out there who will say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right? But I work in the investment business, and we have a saying: The numbers do not lie. And here, there are significant, quantifiable racial disparities that cannot be ignored, in household wealth, household income, job opportunities, healthcare. One example from corporate America: Even though white men make up just 30 percent of the U.S. population, they hold 70 percent of all corporate board seats. Of the Fortune 250, there are only seven CEOs that are minorities, and of the thousands of publicly traded companies today, thousands, only two are chaired by black women, and you're looking at one of them, the same one who, not too long ago, was nearly mistaken for kitchen help. So that is a fact. Now I have this thought experiment that I play with myself, when I say, imagine if I walked you into a room and it was of a major corporation, like ExxonMobil, and every single person around the boardroom were black, you would think that were weird. But if I walked you into a Fortune 500 company, and everyone around the table is a white male, when will it be that we think that's weird too?
我知道很多人會說 巴拉克奧巴馬的成功當選 說明種族歧視早已不復存在了 對嗎? 我在投資行業工作 在業內有一句話: 數字不會說謊 這裡有一些重要的 可量化的種族差異現象 無法被忽視 包括家庭財產、家庭收入 就業機會、醫療保障 美國企業的一項資料顯示 即使白人男性 占美國總人口的30% 但他們佔據了財富250強企業 中董事會席位的70% 只有7位CEO來自少數民族 在如今數千家公開上市的企業中,數千家 只有兩位黑人女性總裁 你們眼前的就是其中之一 而就是這個人,在不久之前 差點被人當作是幫廚 這就是事實 我自己的腦海裡 經常玩味著這樣一個場景 想像著我走入一個房間 是一個大公司,就像埃克森美孚 董事會房間裡的人全部都是黑人 你肯定覺得很怪異 但是如果我帶你 走入一家財富500強公司 坐在桌子旁邊的都是白人男性 你也會覺得奇怪嗎?
And I know how we got here. (Applause)
我知道這是為什麼 (掌聲)
I know how we got here. You know, there was institutionalized, at one time legalized, discrimination in our country. There's no question about it. But still, as I grapple with this issue, my mother's question hangs in the air for me: How did they treat you?
我知道這是為什麼 你知道,我們的國家曾經有制度化的 甚至有一段時期是合法的歧視 這是毫無疑問的 但是,當我糾結於這個念頭時 母親的問題迴響在我耳邊 他們怎麼對待你?
Now, I do not raise this issue to complain or in any way to elicit any kind of sympathy. I have succeeded in my life beyond my wildest expectations, and I have been treated well by people of all races more often than I have not. I tell the uniform story because it happened. I cite those statistics around corporate board diversity because they are real, and I stand here today talking about this issue of racial discrimination because I believe it threatens to rob another generation of all the opportunities that all of us want for all of our children, no matter what their color or where they come from. And I think it also threatens to hold back businesses. You see, researchers have coined this term "color blindness" to describe a learned behavior where we pretend that we don't notice race. If you happen to be surrounded by a bunch of people who look like you, that's purely accidental. Now, color blindness, in my view, doesn't mean that there's no racial discrimination, and there's fairness. It doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't ensure it. In my view, color blindness is very dangerous because it means we're ignoring the problem. There was a corporate study that said that, instead of avoiding race, the really smart corporations actually deal with it head on. They actually recognize that embracing diversity means recognizing all races, including the majority one. But I'll be the first one to tell you, this subject matter can be hard, awkward, uncomfortable -- but that's kind of the point.
我提出這個問題,並不是要抱怨 也不是要索取同情 我是一個成功人士 遠超過我以前的想像 各種族人士對我都很好 大多數情況下如此 我講述工裝的故事 因為它的的確確發生了 我引用公司高管多樣化的統計資料 因為它們都是真實的 我今天站在這裡 談論種族歧視的問題 是因為我相信它威脅到 我們期望我們的孩子可以享有的 平等的機會 無論他們的膚色 和出身 我還認為它會遏制商業的發展 你知道,專家們已經創造了這個名詞 「色盲 」 來描述一種我們假裝不關注 種族的後天行為狀態 如果你碰巧和一群與你外貌相似的人 聚在一起,那完全是偶然的 在我看來,色盲 並不代表沒有種族歧視 也不代表公平 完全不是這個意思,完全沒有關係 在我看來,色盲是非常危險的 因為它說明我們有意忽略一些問題 有關美國企業的研究顯示 真正聰明的公司 不回避種族問題, 而是採用直面的方式處理 他們實際上承認,接受多樣化 就等於認可所有的種族 也包括多數種族 但是,讓我來第一個告訴你 這個話題既艱難 又尷尬、不討好 ——但卻是問題的實質
In the spirit of debunking racial stereotypes, the one that black people don't like to swim, I'm going to tell you how much I love to swim. I love to swim so much that as an adult, I swim with a coach. And one day my coach had me do a drill where I had to swim to one end of a 25-meter pool without taking a breath. And every single time I failed, I had to start over. And I failed a lot. By the end, I got it, but when I got out of the pool, I was exasperated and tired and annoyed, and I said, "Why are we doing breath-holding exercises?" And my coach looked me at me, and he said, "Mellody, that was not a breath-holding exercise. That drill was to make you comfortable being uncomfortable, because that's how most of us spend our days." If we can learn to deal with our discomfort, and just relax into it, we'll have a better life.
本著推翻種族偏見的精神 比如說黑人不喜歡游泳 我會告訴你,我有多麼的喜歡游泳 我對游泳的喜愛 讓我在成年之後還找了一個游泳教練 一天,教練讓我做一個練習 我需要從一個25米長的 泳池的一端遊到另一端 中間不能換氣 第一次我沒能做到 不得不再試一次 結果我失敗了好多次 最後我終於做到了,我爬出泳池 疲憊不堪,憤怒又氣惱 我說:「我們為什麼要做憋氣的練習? 」 我的教練看著我,說:「Mellody, 這並不是一個憋氣的練習 這是為了讓你把不舒服 習慣成舒服 因為這是我們大部分人過日子的方式。 」 如果我們學會應對不適感 變得習以為常 我們的生活會變得更好
So I think it's time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, all of us, if we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America, I think we have to have real conversations about this issue. We cannot afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave. We have to be willing, as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do, because our businesses and our products and our science, our research, all of that will be better with greater diversity.
所以我認為 現在我們應該讓自己習慣 種族這個不舒服的話題 黑人、白人、亞洲人、西班牙人 男人、女人、所有的人 如果我們真正相信,在美國 有平等的權利和機會 那麼我們必須認真討論 這個話題 我們無法承受色盲的代價 我們必須要「色勇 」 我們必須要有意願,作為教師和父母 企業家和科學家 我們必須有意願 針對種族問題開展前瞻性的對話 帶著坦誠、理解和勇敢的心情 不僅僅因為這是正確的事情 而且是明智的事情 因為我們的生意、產品 技術、研究 所有這些都會變得更加多樣化
Now, my favorite example of color bravery is a guy named John Skipper. He runs ESPN. He's a North Carolina native, quintessential Southern gentleman, white. He joined ESPN, which already had a culture of inclusion and diversity, but he took it up a notch. He demanded that every open position have a diverse slate of candidates. Now he says the senior people in the beginning bristled, and they would come to him and say, "Do you want me to hire the minority, or do you want me to hire the best person for the job?" And Skipper says his answers were always the same: "Yes." And by saying yes to diversity, I honestly believe that ESPN is the most valuable cable franchise in the world. I think that's a part of the secret sauce.
我最推崇的一個色勇榜樣 是John Skipper 他是ESPN的副總裁 他來自北卡羅來納 典型的南方紳士,白人 他加入ESPN的時候,那裡已經形成了 包容多樣性的文化,但他將其進一步發展 他要求每個空缺崗位 都必須有一個多樣化的候選人清單 他說,高層的管理人員 在開始的時候很不滿 他們來找他,說: 「你想讓我聘請少數種族, 還是想讓我聘請最適合這個崗位的人? 」 Skipper說他的回答每次都一樣 「是的。 」 對多樣化說「是 」 我真誠地相信ESPN 是世界上最有價值的有線電視服務商 我想這是秘密之一
Now I can tell you, in my own industry, at Ariel Investments, we actually view our diversity as a competitive advantage, and that advantage can extend way beyond business. There's a guy named Scott Page at the University of Michigan. He is the first person to develop a mathematical calculation for diversity. He says, if you're trying to solve a really hard problem, really hard, that you should have a diverse group of people, including those with diverse intellects. The example that he gives is the smallpox epidemic. When it was ravaging Europe, they brought together all these scientists, and they were stumped. And the beginnings of the cure to the disease came from the most unlikely source, a dairy farmer who noticed that the milkmaids were not getting smallpox. And the smallpox vaccination is bovine-based because of that dairy farmer.
我可以告訴你,在我自己的企業 Ariel Investments,我們其實把我們的多樣化特色 作為一個競爭優勢 這種優勢甚至可以 延伸到生意之外的領域 密西根大學的Scott Page 他是第一個開發出多樣化 數學模型的人 他說,如果你試圖解決一個困難的問題 非常困難的問題 你需要一個多樣化的團隊 包括那些有多樣化專業背景的人 他用天花傳染病來舉例 當天花在歐洲肆虐的時候 他們把所有的科學家召集在一起 所有人都束手無策 這個疾病的治療方案 來自一個看似最不可能的地方 一個奶牛農場發現擠奶工 沒有感染天花 天花疫苗就是來自牛的體內 因為那奶牛農場的發現
Now I'm sure you're sitting here and you're saying, I don't run a cable company, I don't run an investment firm, I am not a dairy farmer. What can I do? And I'm telling you, you can be color brave. If you're part of a hiring process or an admissions process, you can be color brave. If you are trying to solve a really hard problem, you can speak up and be color brave. Now I know people will say, but that doesn't add up to a lot, but I'm actually asking you to do something really simple: observe your environment, at work, at school, at home. I'm asking you to look at the people around you purposefully and intentionally. Invite people into your life who don't look like you, don't think like you, don't act like you, don't come from where you come from, and you might find that they will challenge your assumptions and make you grow as a person. You might get powerful new insights from these individuals, or, like my husband, who happens to be white, you might learn that black people, men, women, children, we use body lotion every single day.
我知道,你們會坐在那裡說 我沒有一家有線電視公司 也沒有投資公司 更不是農場主 我能做什麼? 我告訴你,你可以更加色勇 如果你負責招聘的進程 或者負責招生 你可以色勇 如果你在試圖解決 一個非常困難的問題 你可以直言不諱,並且色勇 我知道人們會說 這些小事於事無補 但我請你們做的,就是這麼簡單: 觀察你的周圍 工作、學校、家庭 觀察你周圍的人群 用心、有意地去觀察 邀請那些與你的相貌、 思想、行為、出身 迥異的人 進入你的生活 你會發現,他們會挑戰你的假設 促進你的成長 你或許會從這些人處 獲得強大的新思想 或者像我的丈夫一樣,他是個白人 (譯者注:她的丈夫是喬治盧卡斯) 你會發現,黑人 男性、女性、兒童 每天都會使用護膚品
Now, I also think that this is very important so that the next generation really understands that this progress will help them, because they're expecting us to be great role models.
我認為這是非常重要的 下一代人可以真正瞭解 這個過程可以幫到他們 因為他們期望我們可以成為偉大的榜樣
Now, I told you, my mother, she was ruthlessly realistic. She was an unbelievable role model. She was the kind of person who got to be the way she was because she was a single mom with six kids in Chicago. She was in the real estate business, where she worked extraordinarily hard but oftentimes had a hard time making ends meet. And that meant sometimes we got our phone disconnected, or our lights turned off, or we got evicted. When we got evicted, sometimes we lived in these small apartments that she owned, sometimes in only one or two rooms, because they weren't completed, and we would heat our bathwater on hot plates. But she never gave up hope, ever, and she never allowed us to give up hope either. This brutal pragmatism that she had, I mean, I was four and she told me, "Mommy is Santa." (Laughter) She was this brutal pragmatism. She taught me so many lessons, but the most important lesson was that every single day she told me, "Mellody, you can be anything." And because of those words, I would wake up at the crack of dawn, and because of those words, I would love school more than anything, and because of those words, when I was on a bus going to school, I dreamed the biggest dreams. And it's because of those words that I stand here right now full of passion, asking you to be brave for the kids who are dreaming those dreams today. (Applause)
我告訴過你,我的母親 是一個極端現實的人 她是一個令人難以置信的行為榜樣 她的這種性格的形成 有其必然性 因為她是一個芝加哥的單身母親 有6個孩子 她在房地產行業工作 她工作極為努力 但依然會經常入不敷出 也就是說有時候 我們的電話會斷掉 會停電 會被趕出家門 被趕出家門之後,我們有時候 會住在她自己的小公寓裡 有時候只有一兩個房間 因為這不是一個完整的公寓 我們用電爐子加熱洗澡水 但是她從未放棄希望 她也從不讓我們放棄希望 她的這種殘酷的實用主義態度 我是說,在我4歲的時候,她告訴我: 「媽咪是聖誕老人。 」 (笑聲) 她就是這種殘酷的實用主義者 她教會了我太多東西 但是最重要的一課 是她每一天都會告訴我的 「Mellody,你可以成就一切。 」 因為這些話 我每天黎明即起 因為這些話 學校成為了我的摯愛 因為這些話,我乘坐公車 上學,憧憬著最偉大的夢想 因為這些話,我現在站在這裡 充滿激情 請求你們為今天那些懷著 夢想的孩子們勇敢起來 (鼓掌)
You see, I want them to look at a CEO on television and say, "I can be like her," or, "He looks like me." And I want them to know that anything is possible, that they can achieve the highest level that they ever imagined, that they will be welcome in any corporate boardroom, or they can lead any company. You see this idea of being the land of the free and the home of the brave, it's woven into the fabric of America. America, when we have a challenge, we take it head on, we don't shrink away from it. We take a stand. We show courage. So right now, what I'm asking you to do, I'm asking you to show courage. I'm asking you to be bold. As business leaders, I'm asking you not to leave anything on the table. As citizens, I'm asking you not to leave any child behind. I'm asking you not to be color blind, but to be color brave, so that every child knows that their future matters and their dreams are possible.
我希望他們看著電視裡的CEO 說:「我可以變得和她一樣。 」 或者「他看起來很像我。 」 我希望他們知道 一切皆有可能 他們可以成就想像中 最高的夢想 任何一家公司的董事會 都向他們敞開大門 他們可以領導任何一家公司 自由之地和勇敢家園 的思想 編織成美國這幅巨布 美國,當我們遭遇挑戰 我們勇敢面對,從不退縮 我們立場鮮明,展示勇氣 所以現在,我請你們做的 我請你們展示出勇氣 我請你們放開膽量 作為商界領袖,我請你們 不要浪費大好時機 作為公民,我請你們 不要丟下任何一個孩子 我請你們不要變成色盲 而是成為色勇 這樣每一個孩子 都會知道未來的重要性 知道他們的夢想可能實現
Thank you.
謝謝
(Applause) Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. (Applause)
(鼓掌) 謝謝,謝謝,謝謝 (鼓掌)