The U.S. Civil War began 150 years ago this week and became the deadliest conflict in U.S. history. More than a century later, people are debating the reasons for the war, slavery versus states' rights. Some historians and civil rights leaders suggest the legacies of the Civil War still have an impact on African Americans today.
美国内战开始于150周年前的这个星期，成为美国历史上伤亡最惨重的冲突。一个多世纪后的今天，人们仍然在辩论着战争爆发的原因，究竟是奴隶制还是各州为维护自己的权利造成的。一些历史学家和民权领袖认为，内战的遗留问题对当今的非洲裔美国人仍然有影响。
These are the faces of black soldiers during the American Civil War. They're rare photographs of some of the 200,000 who fought in the Union army against the southern Confederacy. The pictures offer slices of life that many Americans may not be aware of. Stories like that of Adele Logan Alexander 's great grandfather, John Robert Bond. He was born in England in 1846.
这些是美国内战期间黑人战士的面孔。这是当年为联邦军队效力、打击南方邦联军队的20万黑人士兵留下的非常珍贵的照片。这些照片提供了很多美国人可能根本不知道的一些生活片段，其中也包括阿黛尔·洛根·亚历山大的外曾祖父约翰·罗伯特·邦德的故事，他1846年出生在英格兰。
"When he was 17 years old, hearing about the struggle for Africans freedom in the United States, the story my mother told me was that he got on a fishing boat and came to Massachusetts because he wanted to help free the slaves," she said.
阿黛尔说：“母亲告诉我说，外曾祖父17岁时，听说了美国为争取非洲裔自由的战斗，于是他坐着一条渔船来到了麻萨诸塞，他想帮助解放黑奴。”
Adele Alexander is a historian. She says her great grandfather joined the Union navy and was almost killed in a battle.
阿黛尔·洛根·亚历山大是一位历史学家。她说，她的外曾祖父加入了联邦海军，在一次战斗中差点丧命。
It's just one of the many facts Alexander uncovered about her family. She says her great grandfather sacrificed to help future generations.
这只是阿黛尔所发现的她的家族很多历史真相的一个片段。她说，她的外曾祖父为了帮助后人做出了牺牲。
"What a remarkable thing that this boy in England who heard the debate over slavery would disrupt himself from family there and cross an unknown ocean to take this great step in his life and this great step which changed life for him and his descendants," she said.
“这个英格兰男孩听到了有关奴隶制的争论，然后就毅然离开英格兰的家人，越过一片未知的大洋，迈出了他人生中这伟大的一步，这是多么了不起的事情。他当年迈出的这一步改变了他自己的生活，也改变了他后人的生活。”
And that inspired Alexander to write a book about the Bond family post-Civil War.
这激发了阿黛尔·亚历山大写一本有关美国内战后邦德家族的著述。
"Hard line segregation kicks in, and blacks are worse off in many instances than they were in the period immediately after the Civil War during the reconstruction period. Starting in the late 1800s early 1900s, you begin to see the great migration north and this was enormously disruptive to African Americans. This was people who had been a peasant population, who had lived on plantations, were moving into modern industrialized cities and they were very poorly equipped to deal with the challenges of that. In turn that caused new breakups of families, and I think we are still seeing the results of this today," she said.
她说：“强硬的种族隔离政策开始大行其道。在战后重建阶段，黑人的境遇在很多情况下比内战刚刚结束时更为糟糕。从19世纪末到20世纪初，人们开始大批向北迁移，这极大地影响了非洲裔美国人。他们过去一直是种花生，务农，现在搬到现代的工业化城市居住，面对这种变化所带来的挑战，他们毫无应对之策。这造成很多家庭新的破裂，我认为我们至今仍然可以看到这种后果。”
During her research, Alexander learned more about her grandfather, Warren Logan, born into slavery in Virginia.
在研究过程中，阿黛尔·洛根·亚历山大更多地了解了她的祖父沃伦·洛根。沃伦·洛根出生在维吉尼亚州，生下来就是奴隶。
"He was born to a woman whose name was Pocahontas who was a slave, possibly of Native American background, and his father was a white man, probably his owner, but like ((African American leader)) Booker T. Washington, he had the opportunity to go to school," she said.
阿黛尔说：“祖父的母亲名叫波卡洪塔斯，可能是一个有土著印第安人血统的奴隶，祖父的父亲是一个白人，可能也是他的主人。但是像非洲裔美国人领袖布克·华盛顿一样，他有机会上学。”
Alexander says the Civil War not only freed the slaves, it empowered African Americans to take control of their lives.
阿黛尔·亚历山大表示，内战不仅解放了黑奴，同时也赋予他们掌握自己生活的力量。
"It has been a long and painful process and I don't think that it is over because I think that we have legacies of racism and economic disparities in our country. But certainly just ending the institution of slavery was enormously important to this country," she said.
她说：“这是一个漫长而痛苦的过程。我并不认为这一切已经结束，因为我觉得在我们国家仍然存在种族主义残余和经济状况悬殊的问题。但无论如何，废除奴隶制对这个国家意义重大。”
Alexander says the Civil War defined the United States as the most multi-racial democracy in the world.
阿黛尔·亚历山大表示，内战把美国塑造成世界上最多元种族的民主国家。
But there's a down side. For example, census data in 2005 show that at least half of African American children were being raised by a single parent.
但是这其中也有不好一面。例如，根据2005年的普查数据，至少半数的非洲裔美国儿童是由单亲父母养育。
And black unemployment is at 15.5 percent, almost double the national average.
黑人的失业率高达百分之15点5，几乎是全国平均水平的两倍。
"The Civil War itself was a part of the great legacy of slavery in this country and we ((African Americans)) still live with that every day," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
全国有色人种协进会主席本杰明·杰勒斯说：“内战本身就是这个国家奴隶制很多遗留问题的一部分，我们非洲裔美国人仍然每天面对这些问题。”全国有色人种协进会（NAACP）是美国历史最悠久的民权组织。
"The NAACP was founded by Republicans. It's the party of ((President)) Lincoln, and it has a great tradition of inclusion. And in this moment, we would hope that all people in this country, would be using this (( the Civil War anniversary )) as a moment of national reflection about the need for us to reunite ourselves and move beyond old divisions," he said.
杰勒斯说：“全国有色人种协进会是由共和党人建立的，那是林肯总统的政党，这个党有很强的包容传统。在现在这个时候，我们希望这个国家所有的人，能在纪念内战周年的时刻进行全国性反思，思考我们再次团结起来、逾越旧有分歧的必要性。”
While many people share his hopes, others feel much needs to be done before the dreams that evolved after the Civil War become reality.
尽管很多人和他有同样的希冀，但也有人认为，要让内战后催生的梦想变成现实，还需要做出很多努力。 |