畢業(yè)生們
I hope that you understand that this day is not just the culmination of your own dreams
我希望你們理解 今天并不只是你們自己夢想的實現(xiàn)
but the realization of the dreams of so many who came before you
今天同時也是很多前人夢想的實現(xiàn)
And you should be so proud, and so happy, and so excited about your futures
你們應(yīng)當(dāng)對自己的未來感到自豪 高興和激動
But what you shouldn't be is satisfied
但你們不能夠就此滿足
See, because
原因在于
while it is a wonderful thing that all of you are here today
沒錯 你們今天都取得了很棒的成就
we have to ask ourselves
但你們需要想想
what about all those geniuses who never get this chance
那些沒能得到這種機會的人們
I'm talking about the young people from right here in New Orleans
我說的是新奧爾良以及全國范圍內(nèi)
and across the country who aren't part of a commencement like this one today
沒有機會參加這種畢業(yè)典禮的年輕人
kids no different from all of us, kids who never made it out of high school
他們很多人同我們一樣 但卻沒有成功讀上大學(xué)
The fact is that today, the high school graduation rate for black students is improving
現(xiàn)如今 黑人學(xué)生的高中畢業(yè)率正在改善
but it is still lower than just about any other group in this country
但相比國內(nèi)其它群體仍然較低
And while college graduation rates have risen for nearly every other demographic
盡管所有群體的大學(xué)畢業(yè)率數(shù)字都在提高
including African American women
包括非裔美國女性
the college graduation rate for African American men has flatlined
但非裔美國男性的大學(xué)畢業(yè)率卻僅與之前持平
See, and the thing is, when our young people fall behind like that in school
年輕人一旦在學(xué)校里落后
they fall behind in life
就會在生活中落后
Last year, African Americans were more than twice as likely as whites to be unemployed
去年 非裔美國人的失業(yè)率比白人高一倍有余
They were almost three times as likely to live in poverty
貧困率是白人的三倍
And they were far more likely to end up in prison or be the victims of violent crimes
成為暴力犯罪受害者或罪犯的比率也比白人高很多