A reading of the Letters for Black Lives translated into
Chinese Mandarin. Written and edited by the Letters For Black Lives Team. Translated by the #Translation-Burmese Team. Read by
Chloe Gong.Video available on:
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/dearasianamericans Facebook:
www.facebook.com/dearasianamericans YouTube:
www.youtube.com/dearasianamericans Transcripts of the letter below and also available at:
https://lettersforblacklives.com/ //
亲爱的爸爸妈妈、叔叔阿姨、爷爷奶奶、外公外婆、家人们：
我们需要谈一谈。在您认识的人当中，黑人可能很少，但在我的身边并不少。他们是我生活中很重要的一部分：有我尊敬的师长，和我一起同甘共苦的朋友，还有与我一起成长的同学和同事。我为他们的处境感到很害怕。
最近，在美国明尼苏达州，一名白人警察杀害了一名叫
乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）的黑人。在将近9分钟的暴行中，警员用膝盖跪压着
弗洛伊德的颈部，完全不顾
弗洛伊德“我无法呼吸”的求救，导致他窒息而亡。在场其他三位警员当中，有两位帮助强制按下
弗洛伊德 , 还有一位亚裔警察没有介入，只在旁边站岗。
弗洛伊德之死不是一件孤立的事件，仅在2020年因警察暴力致死的事件就有数起：上个月印第安纳州的
德里肖恩·理德（Dreasjon Reed）和佛罗里达州的
托尼·麦克达德（Tony McDade），三月份肯塔基州的
布里安娜·泰勒（Breonna Taylor），还有在二月份在佐治亚州被一位前警探杀害的
艾哈迈德·阿尔伯里（Ahmaud Arbery）。
尽管媒体有广泛报导，但是压倒性的事实表明：那些滥用暴力杀死黑人的
警察们
几乎没有受到任何惩罚，警察局也没有对警员的武力使用加强监控。我难以想象没有被媒体曝光的案例还有多少。这是我身边每一个黑人每天都要面对的恐怖现实。您可能在想：我们也是少数族裔，我们也曾一无所有地来到美国，尽管遭受歧视，还是创造了自己的美好生活。 他们为什么就做不到呢？
我想诚恳地和您分享我的看法，因为我希望我们彼此都能够多尽一份心力。
我们走在街上时，通常不会被人视为威胁。我们出门在外时，无需顾虑是否会因为自己的肤色而再也回不了家。我们被警察拦截时，也不会为自己的性命担忧。
但我的黑人朋友们却面对着截然相反的现实。
绝大多数美国黑人的祖先是被強迫贩卖到美国做奴隶的。自那时起，他们的身体、家庭和社区就不再属于自己，几百年来被不断地剥削和利用。即使在奴隶制度废除之后，黑人的境遇仍未改善。政府甚至否认他们的投票权，阻止他们接受教育，不准他们拥有房产、创业经营。维护这些不平等制度的警察与监狱系统可以追溯到美国曾经的奴隶监工和奴隶庄园。直到今天，黑人群体依旧承受着常年不变的暴力。政府对他们的压迫从未终止，只是改变了方式。
黑人在这种恶劣的环境下克服了无数困难才支撑到今天。为了争取到我们如今都享有的权益，他们遭受了警察的殴打、关押，甚至付出了生命。即使不公平的体制诱使
各族移民相互对立、“鹬蚌相争”，但黑人人权运动组织者的工作仍帮助了所有人，结束了
不公正的移民法和种族隔离的制度。
虽然黑人运动使现状得到了一定改善，但不平等的体制依旧存在。数百年来，美国政府仍然在杀害黑人并且屡屡逃脱罪责。
我理解近来的暴乱和财产破坏让您感到担心和害怕。但想象一下：假如他人把那些可取代的物品看得比您自己亲人的生命更珍贵，您会是多么心痛。想象一下：即便疫情盛行还坚持上街抗议，他们到底有多难过。再想象一下：若干年后，您要是和祖辈一样依然还在对抗政府的暴力，那会是多么地筋疲力尽。
正因如此，我支持 “黑人的命也是命”（Black Lives Matter）维权运动。任何人都不应该因为自己的肤色而活在恐惧之中。
所以当我看到身边的人—即使是我的家人—做出侮辱黑人、贬低黑人人性的事，我一定会毫不犹豫地阻止。我们的沉默就是对黑人的压迫。这样的沉默不能再继续下去了。
我非常感激您为了我在这个并不总是友善的国家里所经历的艰辛、付出的努力和坚持不懈的奋斗。我们亚裔人曾被指责带来了贫困、疾病、恐怖主义和罪行。 为了让我们可以过上更好的生活，您在充满偏见的美国承受了太多。
但也正是因为这些困难，我们才更应当站在一起！只有当我们身边的黑人邻居、朋友和亲人感到安全，我们才能真正感到安心。我们所追求的是一个无需恐惧的世界。这是我所向往的未来，也希望这是您所向往的未来。
满怀着爱和希望, 您的孩子敬上
这封《为黑人生命致信》（Letters for Black Lives）的简体中文版(繁體版在此），是一个持续进行的项目，将与#BlackLivesMatter 携手为各自的社区提供一个创作和翻译的平台和应对反黑人的资源。这封信是由数百人协作撰写和翻译的，参与者希望能与他们的家人就此重要社会议题进行诚恳的对话。
//
Mom, Dad, Uncle, Auntie, Grandfather, Grandmother, Family:
We need to talk.
You may not have many Black friends, colleagues, or acquaintances, but I do. Black people are a fundamental part of my life: they are my friends, my neighbors, my family. I am scared for them.
Recently, in Minnesota, a white police officer killed a Black man named
George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for almost 9 minutes—ignoring his repeated cries that he was unable to breathe. Two more police officers helped pin Floyd down, while a fourth, Asian officer stood guard and didn't intervene. Floyd is not alone: Already this year, police officers killed
Dreasjon Reed in Indiana and
Tony McDade in Florida in May, and
Breonna Taylor in Kentucky in March. An ex-detective killed
Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February.
Overwhelmingly,
the police haven’t faced consequences for murdering Black people, even when there’s been extensive media coverage. Imagine how many more incidents go unrecorded or unseen.
This is a terrifying reality that the Black people I care about live with every day.
You might be thinking: We are also a minority. We’ve managed to come to America with nothing and built good lives for ourselves despite discrimination, so why can’t they?
I want to share with you how I see things. I am telling you this out of love, because I want all of us, including myself, to do better.
For the most part, when we walk down the street, people do not view us as a threat. We do not leave our homes, wondering whether or not we will return that day. We don't fear that we may die if we're pulled over by the police.
This is not the case for our Black friends.
The vast majority of Black Americans are descendants of people who were sold into slavery and brought here against their will. For centuries, their communities, families, and bodies were abused as property for profit. Even after slavery, the government has not allowed them to build their lives—it has legally denied them the right to vote, get an education, or own homes and businesses. These inequalities are enforced by police and prisons—which can be directly traced back to
white slave patrols and plantations. Black people are under a constant threat of violence that continues today. Their oppression has not ended; it has only changed form.
Black people have not only persisted but also persevered against all odds. They’ve been beaten by police, jailed, and killed while fighting for many of the rights that we all enjoy today. Even in an unfair system that
pits us against each other, Black organizers helped to
end unfair immigration laws and racial segregation for us all.
Though there has been progress, this unfair system is still winning. Throughout these hundreds of years, our government is still killing Black people and getting away with it.
I understand that you’re worried and scared about the looting and property destruction that you are seeing. But imagine how hurt you would be to see other people express more care for replaceable material objects than for the lives of your loved ones. How hurt you must be to protest like this in the middle of a pandemic. Imagine the exhaustion of fighting against the same state violence that your ancestors fought against.
This is why I support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Part of that support means speaking up when I see people in my community—even my own family—say or do things that diminish the humanity of Black people. Our silence has a cost and we need to talk about it.
I am eternally grateful for the struggles you have endured in a country that has not always been kind to you. We have been blamed for bringing poverty, disease, terrorism, and crime. You’ve suffered through a prejudiced America so that I could have a better life.
But these struggles also make it clearer than ever that we are all in this together, and we cannot feel safe until our Black friends, loved ones, and neighbors are safe. The world that we seek is a place where we can all live without fear. This is the future that I want—and I hope you want it, too.
With love and hope,
Your children
