奥巴马每周电视讲话：美国总统奥巴马告别演讲(8)

We can argue about how to best achieve these goals.

我们可以就如何才能更好地实现这些目标展开讨论。

But we can't be complacent¹ about the goals themselves.

但是我们不能因这些目标本身而感到自满。

For if we don't create opportunity for all people,

因为如果我们不能为所有人创造机会的话，

the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpen in years to come.

不满和分裂会阻碍我们的进步，并且这种阻力会逐年增强。

There's a second threat to our democracy, and this one is as old as our nation itself.

我们的民主政体还面临第二道威胁，这一威胁几乎和我们的国家一样古老。

After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America.

我当选总统之后，出现了后种族时代的说法。

And such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic.

这样的图景是美好的，但从未实现。

Race remains² a potent³ and often divisive force in our society.

种族问题依然是造成我们社会分裂的一股强力。

Now, I've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10, or 20, or 30 years ago,

现在，我的阅历告诉我种族间的关系比10年、20年或30年前都要融洽，

no matter what some folks say.

不管有些人持怎样的说法。

You can see it not just in statistics, you see it in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum⁴.

你可以从数据中看到这一点，不同政治背景的年轻美国人所持的态度也可以证实这一点。

But we're not where we need to be.

但是我们现在所实现的仍不够，

And all of us have more work to do.

我们还应付出更多努力。

If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and an undeserving minority,

如果把每个经济问题都视为努力工作的白人中产阶级和不付出劳动的少数群体之间的斗争，

then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps⁵ while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves.

那么各个阶层工人的努力都只是徒劳，富裕阶层却得以进一步坚守他们的既得利益。

If we're unwilling⁶ to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don't look like us,

如果我们单凭移民群体的孩子和我们相貌不同便不愿意投资在他们身上，

we will diminish the prospects⁷ of our own children, because

那么我们将同时损害我们自己孩子的前途。因为

those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America's workforce⁸.

那些棕色皮肤的孩子将逐渐成为美国劳动力中越来越重要的一部分。

1 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

8 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。