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So it's 2006.
故事发生在2006年。
My friend Harold Ford calls me.
我的朋友哈罗德?福特找我帮忙。
He's running for U.S. Senate in Tennessee,and he says, Mellody, I desperately need some national press. Do you have any ideas?
他是田纳西州的参议员，他说：麦勒迪，我急需找一个国家媒体。 你能帮我吗？
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?
我想到一个主意，我给一个在纽约的朋友打电话，她所在的公司是世界上最成功的媒体公司之一，她说，为何不邀请哈罗德参与编辑部的午宴呢？
You come with him.
你可以跟他一起来。
Harold and I arrive in New York.
哈罗德随我抵达纽约，
We are in our best suits.
身着我们最好的套装，
We look like shiny new pennies.
看起来像金光灿灿的硬币。
And we get to the receptionist, and we say,We're here for the lunch.
到达接待处后，我们说，我们是过来吃午餐的。
She motions for us to follow her.
她示意我们跟着她走。
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?
经过长长的走廊，突然，我们发现自己到了一个空旷的房间里，随后她打量着我们，说，你们的工作制服呢？
Just as this happens,my friend rushes in.
就在这时，我的朋友冲了进来，
The blood drains from her face.
脸红得都要渗出血了。
There are literally no words, right?
真得很无语，是吧？
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?
我转向她，说，现在，你不觉得美国参议院至少需要一位黑人吗？
Now Harold and I,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.
如今，哈罗德跟我,我们还把这个故事当笑话讲，无论怎么说，那一刻令我措手不及，但在我内心最深处，我真的不觉得惊讶。
And I wasn't surprised because of something my mother taught me about 30 years before.
我之所以不惊讶，是因为大概30年前我母亲给我上了一堂课。
You see, my mother was ruthlessly realistic.
我母亲是不折不扣的现实主义者。
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?
我记得有一天， 参加完一个只有我一个黑人受邀的生日宴会后，回到家后，母亲没问一些母亲们通常会关心的问题，如玩得开心吗？或者蛋糕好吃吗？
my mother looked at me and she said,How did they treat you?
我的母亲看着我说，他们对你的态度如何？
I was seven. I did not understand.
那时我方才7岁，我不明白这个问题。
I mean, why would anyone treat me differently?
我想，为什么别人会对我有所不同呢？
But she knew.
但是我母亲知道。
And she looked me right in the eye and she said,They will not always treat you well.
她看着我的眼睛，说，别人不会总是对你笑脸相迎。
Now, race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable.
如今在美国，种族话题是让人感到极不舒服的话题之一。
You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment,it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail.
在晚宴会或工作场所中提到这个话题，无异于触碰了雷区。
There is shock,followed by a long silence.
人们会感到震惊，随即陷入长久的沉默。
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.
甚至对于今天的这个演讲，当我告诉一些朋友和同事我计划谈谈种族问题时，他们警告我说，不要这么做，谈论这个话题会带来巨大的风险，人们也许会认为我是一位激进的黑人女性，这会毁了我的事业。
And I have to tell you,I actually for a moment was a bit afraid.
我必须向你们坦诚，有时候我确实有一点担心。
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.
但后来我意识到，解决任何问题的第一步是不逃避，任何行动的首要条件是意识到问题的存在。
And so I decided to actually talk about race.
因此我决定要谈谈种族问题。
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.
我坚信，如果我在此跟你们分享一些我的故事，或许会稍微缓解一下我们对这个话题的焦虑感，会让我们更有胆量来谈论种族问题。
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?
我知道有很多人会说，巴拉克奥巴马当选美国总统意味着种族歧视不复存在，没错吧？
But I work in the investment business,and we have a saying:The numbers do not lie.
但我在投资行业工作，我们这行有句俗语：数据不会说谎。
And here, there are significant,quantifiable racial disparities that cannot be ignored,in household wealth, household income, job opportunities, healthcare.
在今天的美国，数据表明有不可忽视的大量的种族不平等存在，如家庭财富，家庭收入工作机会，医疗服务。
One example from corporate America:
举一个美国企业的例子：
Even though white men make up just 30 percent of the U.S. population,they hold 70 percent of all corporate board seats.
尽管白人占美国人口总数的30%，他们占据了70%的企业董事会席位。
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.
财富250强的企业中，只有7位CEO是少数族裔出身，在数以千计的公司的董事会主席中，只有两位是黑人女性，其中一位就站在你们眼前，就是那位在不久之前，差点被误以为是厨房打下手的人。
