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

請和我一起想像這個情境，

It's a scene in which a young person,

幾乎在我們所有人家中 都會上演這個情境，

somewhere in our family tree,

在這個情境中，有一個年輕人，

somewhere in our lineage

位在家譜中的某一處，

had a heartbreaking decision to make.

來自家系中的某一家族，

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

他得做出一個讓人心碎的決定。

And all of the people that they had loved

這個決定是他要離開 所有他熟悉的一切，

and to set out for a place far, far away

離開所有他愛的人，

that they had never seen

前往一個很遠很遠的、

in hopes that life might be better.

完全陌生的地方，

Migration is usually a young person's endeavor.

只希望在那裡過上更好的生活。

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

遷徙通常是年輕人才會 試圖去做的事情。

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

是一件你在人生的關口時會做的事。

this young person somewhere in our background.

所以，在我們所有人的家庭中，

That person is standing at a dock,

過去都曾有一個這樣的年輕人。

about to board a ship

那個人站在碼頭，

that will cross the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean.

準備登船，

That person is loading up a truck

將要橫渡大西洋或太平洋。

that will cross the Rio Grande.

那個人在把東西裝載到卡車上，

Or that person is standing

準備開車穿過格蘭河。

at a railroad platform

或著，那個人站在車站月台上，

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.

當他望向那些養育他的人，

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

沒有人可以擔保

there was no guarantee

他會再與他們活著相見。

that they would ever see them alive again.

別忘了，那時沒有 Skype、

Remember, there was no Skype,

沒有電子郵件、沒有手機，

no e-mail, no cell phones

甚至沒有可靠的長途電話服務。

not even reliable long-distance telephone service.

就算有長途電話，

And even if there had been,

許多留下的人也都住在 沒有電話的地方。

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

這趟旅程將會將他們完全分離，

This was going to be a complete break

他將離開所熟悉的一切，

from all that they knew

以及所有他愛的人。

and all of the people that they loved.

而他下一次

And the very next time

聽到這些養育他的人的任何消息，

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

很可能就是一封電報 寫著「你的父親過世了。」

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

或「你的母親病得非常非常重，

Or, "Your mother is very, very ill.

若你想見她最後一面， 你必須要盡快回家。」

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

那就是犧牲的程度，

That is the magnitude of the sacrifice

這幾乎在我們所有人的 家族中都發生過，

that had to have happened in nearly all of our families

如今我們才會在這裡。

just for us to be here.

一個決定，改變了家族後代、

A single decision that changed the course of families

國家、歷史的方向，

and lineages and countries and history

以及今日的樣貌。

to the current day.

其中一股遷徙浪潮特別顯著，

One of these migration streams

我們可能還沒注意到，

stands out in ways that we may not realize.

它被稱為「大遷徙 (the Great Migration)」，

It was called the Great Migration.

有六百萬非裔美國人

It was the outpouring of six million African Americans

從實施吉姆克勞法的南方

from the Jim Crow South

移居到北方和西方的城市，

to the cities of the North and West,

時間是一次大戰到 1970 年代間。

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

它之所以特別，是因為 這是美國史上第一次，

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

美國公民必須逃離自己的出生地，

that American citizens had to flee the land of their birth

只為了讓自己的公民身份 能像過去一樣被承認。

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

不曾有過其他的美國人族群

No other group of Americans

需要做到像移民者一樣

has had to act like immigrants

才能讓自己的公民身份被承認。

in order to be recognized as citizens.

這次大遷徙並不是搬家，

So this great migration was not a move.

而是在自己的國家內尋求政治庇護。

It was actually a seeking of political asylum

他們在逃離俗稱 「吉姆克勞」的等級制度。

within the borders of one's own country.

那是種人造階級制度，

They were defecting a caste system known as Jim Crow.

你能做什麼、不能做什麼，

It was an artificial hierarchy

都由你的外貌來決定。

in which everything that you could and could not do

這個等級制度很不可思議，

was based upon what you looked like.

它甚至禁止黑人和白人

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

一起在伯明罕市下棋。

for a black person and a white person

如果你被逮到和不同種族的 人下棋，可能會因此坐牢。

to merely play checkers together in Birmingham.

一定是有某人看到了 一個黑人和一個白人

You could go to jail

在某個鎮上的廣場下棋，

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

也許不該贏的人贏了，

Someone must have seen a black person and a white person

或是他們玩得太開心，

playing checkers with someone in some town square.

不論他們在下棋時

And maybe the wrong person was winning

這個人看到的是什麼，

or they were having too good of a time,

他必定感覺到整個 南方文明的根基有危險，

but whatever it was that this person saw,

於是他決定花些時間

with this black person and this white person playing checkers,

把這狀況寫入法律。

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

這個等級制度很不可思議，

And decided that it was worth taking the time

在南方各地的法庭 竟同時備有一本黑人聖經

to write this down as a law.

與一本白人聖經，

This caste system was so arcane

讓不同種族的人們 發誓說實話時使用。

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

在吉姆克勞的南方，

and an altogether separate white Bible

連神的話語都被做了種族隔離。

to swear to tell the truth on in court.

同樣是聖物

The very word of God was segregated

卻不容被不同種族的手觸碰。

in the caste system of the Jim Crow South.

這種人造階級制度

The same sacred object

因為違反了人類對自由的渴望，

could not be touched by hands of different races.

所以需要大量的暴力才能維持它。

This artificial hierarchy,

以致於每四天， 在美國南方的某個地方，

because it goes against human desires to be free,

每四天，就有一個非裔 美國人被私刑處死，

required a tremendous amount of violence to maintain.

只因為有人覺得他破壞了 等級制度的某些協定，

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

這是大遷徙前數十年來的社會樣貌。

every four days an African American was lynched

會實施這個等級制度，有許多理由。

for some perceived breach of protocol in this caste system

其中之一是要維持南方的經濟秩序，

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

南方經濟不只仰賴廉價的勞工，

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

還需要超量的廉價勞力 來完成土地的耕作，

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

大遷徙始於北方出現勞工問題時，

which required not just a supply of cheap labor

北方有勞工問題

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

是因為它一直仰賴歐洲的廉價勞工，

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

來自歐洲的移民者，

The North had a labor problem

在工廠、鑄造廠、鋼廠裡工作。

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

但一次大戰期間，

immigrants from Europe --

歐洲人停止移民美國，

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

北方因此出現了勞工問題。

But during World War I,

所以他們決定要在國內 尋找最便宜的勞力，

migration from Europe came to a virtual halt.

也就是在南方的非裔美國人。

And so the North had a labor problem.

他們當中有很多人 做了苦力卻都沒有薪水，

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

許多人為取得在他們 耕地上的居住權而工作。

which meant African Americans in the South,

他們是佃農，沒有薪水，

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

所以他們早已準備好被招聘了。

Many of them were working

然而，

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

南方對於廉價勞工被竊取 這件事十分憤慨，

They were sharecroppers and not even being paid.

於是盡一切所能，不讓人們離開。

So they were ripe for recruitment.

他們在車站月台逮捕人。

But it turned out

別忘了，那些人該是 自由的美國公民。

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

他們可能會從火車座位上被帶走，

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

當要逮捕的人太多時，

They would arrest people from the railroad platforms.

他們會揮手讓火車 不要停下來，直接通過，

Remember, putatively free American citizens.

這麼一來，一直抱著希望、

They would arrest them from their train seats.

一直在存錢、

And when there were too many people to arrest,

不停的禱告希望得到自由的人們，

they would wave the train on through

就得要為下一步做打算。

so that people who had been hoping

當他們順利離開南方，

and saving

遠離吉姆克勞法，

and praying for the chance to get to freedom

他們循著三條可預期的路線前進，

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

如同人類史上每一次的移民潮。

And as they made their way out of the South,

在這個特別的案例中，有三條路線，

away from Jim Crow,

第一條路線沿著東岸，

they followed three beautifully predictable streams

從佛羅里達、喬治亞、 卡羅來納、維吉尼亞，

as is the case in any migration throughout human history.

到華盛頓特區、費城、

In this particular case, there were three streams.

新澤西、紐約，沿著東岸向北走。

One was the migration along the East Coast

還有中西部的路線，

from Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia

這條路線會帶著人們從 密西西比、阿拉巴馬、

to Washington DC, to Philadelphia,

田納西和阿肯色，

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

到芝加哥、底特律、 克里夫蘭和整個中西部。

There was the Midwest stream,

還有條西岸路線，

which carried people from Mississippi, Alabama,

這條路線會帶著人們從 路易斯安那和德州，

Tennessee and Arkansas

向西到加州去。

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

當他們真的想要逃離時，

And then there was the West Coast stream,

他們會去西雅圖。

which carried people from Louisiana and Texas

當他們真的真的想要逃離時，

out to California.

他們會到阿拉斯加，

And when they really wanted to get away,

這是美國境內能去的地方中，

they went to Seattle.

離吉姆克勞法最遠的。

And when they really, really wanted to get away,

在大遷徙開始之前，

they went to Alaska,

90% 的非裔美國人住在南方。

the farthest possible point within the borders of the United States

幾乎是被囚禁在南方。

from Jim Crow South.

大遷徙結束時，

Before the Great Migration began,

一半的人住到了美國的其他地方，

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

所以，結果幾乎算是 一次人口的再分配。

Nearly held captive in the South.

大遷徙是美國史上第一次

But by the time this Great Migration was over,

最低等級的人

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

伸張他們有選擇權，並做出選擇。

So this ended up being nearly a complete redistribution

非裔美國人在美國的前三個世紀

of part of an entire people.

都不曾發生這樣的事，

This Great Migration was the first time in American history

在種族隔離前的一個世紀，

that the lowest caste people

整整十二個代的奴役 世代間不曾發生過。

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

你要在「祖父母」前面

That had not happened in the three centuries

加上多少個「曾」字，

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

才能想像美國的奴役世代持續了多久？

It had not happened in 12 generations of enslavement

第二，這次大遷徙是美國史上第一次

that preceded nearly a century of Jim Crow.

最低等級的人

How many "greats"

真的有機會為自己做選擇，

do you have to add to the word "grandparent"

選擇要如何運用自己的天賦，

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

以及在哪裡進行。

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

想想那些棉花田、

that the lowest caste people

稻田、

actually had a chance to choose for themselves

菸田

what they would do with their God-given talents

以及那些甘蔗園。

and where they would pursue them.

在那些甘蔗園裡，

Think about those cotton fields

在那些菸田上，

and those rice plantations

在那些稻田上，

and those tobacco fields

在那些棉花田上，

and those sugar plantations.

有著歌劇演唱家、

On those sugar plantations,

爵士音樂家、

and on those tobacco fields,

劇作家、

and on those rice plantations,

小說家、

and on those cotton fields

外科醫生、

were opera singers,

律師、

jazz musicians,

會計師、

playwrights,

教授、

novelists,

記者，

surgeons,

我們怎麼會知道？

attorneys,

我們之所以會知道是因為 這些是他們、他們的孩子，

accountants,

以及現在是他們的孫子， 甚至曾孫，

professors,

通常會做出的職業選擇，

journalists.

一旦他們有機會為自己選擇

And how do we know that?

如何運用自己的天賦才能時。

We know that because that is what they and their children

若沒有大遷徙，

and now their grandchildren and even great-grandchildren

可能就不會有我們今天 所熟知的托妮·莫里森，

have often chosen to become

她的父母來自阿拉巴馬和喬治亞，

once they had the chance to choose for themselves

他們移居到俄亥俄，

what they would do with their God-given talents.

在那裡，他們的女兒才能去做

Without the Great Migration,

一些今天看起來理所當然的事，

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

這些事在當時會違反法律 及非裔美國人應遵守的協議，

Her parents were from Alabama and from Georgia.

若她父母那時留在南方，

They migrated to Ohio,

讓她在南方長大的話。

where their daughter would get to do something

這些事包括走進圖書館

that we all take for granted at this point,

借出一本書。

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

光是「決定離開」這件事，

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

她的父母就確保了 他們的女兒能夠取得書籍。

had they stayed.

如果你要成為諾貝爾獎得主，

And that is just to walk into a library

有時能夠看本書是有幫助的，

and take out a library book.

那是有幫助的。

Merely by making the single decision to leave,

我們所知道的音樂 也被大遷徙重塑過。

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

到北方時，音樂保留在 人們的心中與記憶中，

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

那些是伴隨他們祖先的音樂，

it helps to get a book now and then.

藍調、靈歌、福音音樂、

You know, it helps.

世世代代支撐著他們的音樂。

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

他們將這些音樂轉變成 全新的音樂類型。

As they came North, they brought with them,

他們得到機會

on their hearts and in their memories,

錄製他們創造的新音樂，

the music that had sustained the ancestors --

並散播到全世界去。

the blues music, the spirituals and the gospel music

若沒有大遷徙，就不會有 摩城唱片 (Motown)，

that had sustained them through the generations.

它的創辦人貝里戈迪的 父母來自喬治亞。

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

他們移居到底特律。

And got the chance to record this music,

他長大後決定進入音樂這一行，

this new music that they were creating,

但他沒有資源走到全國各地

and to spread it throughout the world.

尋找最有才華的人，

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

然而，他根本不用這麼做。

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

他發現，在他身邊

They migrated to Detroit.

圍繞著大遷徙的孩子們，

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

他們的父母在這趟旅程中 一直都帶著這些音樂。

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

在這些孩子當中，有三個女孩，

looking for the best talent,

包括瑪莉·威森、

and it turned out he didn't have to.