肯尼迪总统 回应密西西比大学骚动的演讲

1962年9月30日，詹姆斯·梅瑞迪斯成为首个被密西西比州大学录取的黑人，成为密西西比州黑人民权事业的又一里程碑，但是这也引起了当地种族主义分子的极大不满，许多学生在校内抗议，随后演化为骚乱，导致几十人伤亡，肯尼迪总统下令将密西西比州国民警卫队收为联邦所有，派遣法警保护梅瑞迪斯进入学校，同时维护治安。当天晚上，他就密西西比大学骚乱发表了本篇讲话，后来，联邦军队也进入了密西西比州。

The orders of the court in the case of Meredith versus Fair are beginning to be carried out. Mr. James Meredith is now in residence on the campus of the University of Mississippi.

法院对梅瑞迪斯诉公平案的判决会即刻得到执行。詹姆斯·梅瑞迪斯先生现在已经入住密西西比大学。

This has been accomplished thus far without the use of National Guard or other troops. And it is to be hoped that the law enforcement officers of the State of Mississippi and the Federal marshals will continue to be sufficient in the future.

目前我们已经执行了该法令，没有动用国民警卫队或其他军队。我们希望密西西比州的执法警官和联邦法警未来有能力继续贯彻这一法令。

All students, members of the faculty, and public officials in both Mississippi and the Nation will be able, it is hoped, to return to their normal activities with full confidence in the integrity of American law.

我们希望，密西西比州和美国各地的全体学生、全体教师、所有公职人员都能继续履行职务，相信美国法律的公正。

This is as it should be, for our Nation is founded on the principle that observance of the law is the eternal safeguard of liberty and defiance of the law is the surest road to tyranny. The law which we obey includes the final rulings of the courts, as well as the enactment's of our legislative bodies. Even among law-abiding men few laws are universally loved, but they are uniformly respected and not resisted.

我们应该如此，因为我国的立国理念便是：遵守法律才能捍卫自由，蔑视法律必然导致暴政。我们遵守的法律，即包括立法机关制定的法案，也包括法院的判决。哪怕是再遵纪守法的人，也大可能每一条法律都符合他们的心意，但是他们依然选择遵守，而不是抵制。

Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the law but not to disobey it. For in a government of laws and not of men, no man, however prominent or powerful, and no mob, however unruly or boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law. If this country should ever reach the point where any man or group of men by force or threat of force could long defy the commands of our court and our Constitution, then no law would stand free from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ, and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors.

简而言之，美国人不赞成法律的自由，但是不可以违反法律。因为我们是一个法治国家，而不是人治国家，再有权有势、再声名显赫的人，再嚣张跋扈的暴徒，也没有资格违反法律。如果在美国，有人或组织可以通过暴力和威胁，而长期没有法院和宪法制裁，那么我国所有法律都会丧失威信，我国所有法官都会无人尊敬，我们所有公民都会人人自危。

In this case in which the United States Government was not until recently involved, Mr. Meredith brought a private suit in Federal court against those who were excluding him from the University. A series of Federal courts all the way to the Supreme Court repeatedly ordered Mr. Meredith's admission to the University. When those orders were defied, and those who sought to implement them threatened with arrest and violence, the United States Court of Appeals consisting of Chief Judge Tuttle of Georgia, Judge Hutcheson of Texas, Judge Rives of Alabama, Judge Jones of Florida, Judge Brown of Texas, Judge Wisdom of Louisiana, Judge Gewin of Alabama, and Judge Bell of Georgia, made clear the fact that the enforcement of its order had become an obligation of the United States Government. Even though this Government had not originally been a party to the case, my responsibility as President was therefore inescapable. I accept it. My obligation under the Constitution and the statutes of the United States was and is to implement the orders of the court with whatever means are necessary, and with as little force and civil disorder as the circumstances permit.

联邦政府起先并未介入该案件，直到最近。梅瑞迪斯向联邦法院，对那些阻止他进入密西西比大学的人发起私人诉讼。多个联邦法院和最高法院都反复声明，进入该大学是梅瑞迪斯先生的权利。但是这些法令遭到蔑视，试图执行法令的人遭到了抓捕和攻击，直到这时，联邦上诉法院才要求联邦政府执行该法令，而上诉法院的法官中包括：来自佐治亚州的塔特尔首席法官，来自德克萨斯州的胡奇森法官，来自阿拉巴马州的瑞福斯法官，来自佛罗里达州的琼斯法官，来自路易斯安纳州的威兹德姆法官，来自阿拉巴马州的格温法官，和来自佐治亚州的贝尔法官。虽然本届政府起初并不希望参与此次案件，但是我身为美国总统，肩负着不可推卸的义务。我不会逃避自己的义务。宪法和美国各法律皆要求我在尽可能避免武力和混乱的情况下，采取一切必要手段，执行法院的法令。

It was for this reason that I federalized the Mississippi National Guard as the most appropriate instrument, should any be needed, to preserve law and order while United States marshals carried out the orders of the court and prepared to back them up with whatever other civil or military enforcement might have been required.

所以我决定将密西西比州的国民警卫队收为联邦所有，我觉得如果想要捍卫法治，这必须这么做，同时联邦法警也执行了法令，并且如果有需要的话，我们会继续为他们提供一切必要的民事和军事支援。

I deeply regret the fact that any action by the executive branch was necessary in this case, but all other avenues and alternatives, including persuasion and conciliation, had been tried and exhausted. Had the police powers of Mississippi been used to support the orders of the court, instead of deliberately and unlawfully blocking them, had the University of Mississippi fulfilled its standard of excellence by quietly admitting this applicant ' in conformity with what so many other southern State universities have done for so many years, a peaceable and sensible solution would have been possible without any Federal intervention.

我很遗憾，这种案件居然需要行政部门介入才能执行，但是我们也已经用尽了其他一切方案，包括劝说、协商。如果密西西比州的警察能够执行法院命令，而不是故意违反，如果密西西比大学早点像其他南方州的大学几年前那样，完善了本校的学生申请标准，我们完全可以通过更加和平的方式解决此事，也根本不需要联邦介入。

This Nation is proud of the many instances in which Governors, educators, and everyday citizens from the South have shown to the world the gains that can be made by persuasion and good will in a society ruled by law. Specifically, I would like to take this occasion to express the thanks of this Nation to those southerners who have contributed to the progress of our democratic development in the entrance of students regardless of race to such great institutions as the State-supported universities of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

南方的许多州长、教师和百姓都多次向世界证明，他们听从劝说，相信法治，对此我们深感自豪。对此，我想代表全国感谢一切推动完善民主制度的南方居民，并且感谢你们为争取各肤色学生都能平等地进入州立大学所做出的努力——包括弗吉尼亚州、北卡罗莱纳州、佐治亚州、佛罗里达州、路易斯安纳州、田纳西州、堪萨斯州和肯塔基州。

I recognize that the present period of transition and adjustment in our Nation's Southland is a hard one for many people. Neither Mississippi nor any other southern State deserves to be charged with all the accumulated wrongs of the last 100 years of race relations. To the extent that there has been failure, the responsibility for that failure must be shared by us all, by every State, by every citizen.

我知道，目前我国南方所推行的改革，让许多人难以接受。过去100年里，种族关系如此紧张，责任也并不全在密西西比州和南方各州。这是我们国家、所有州、所有公民的责任，是我们没能及时履行义务。

Mississippi and her University, moreover, are noted for their courage, for their contribution of talent and thought to the affairs of this Nation. This is the State of Lucius Lamar and many others who have placed the national good ahead of sectional interest. This is the State which had four Medal of Honor winners in the Korean war alone. In fact, the Guard unit federalized this morning, early, is part of the 155th Infantry, one of the 10 oldest regiments in the Union and one of the most decorated for sacrifice and bravery in 6 wars.

密西西比州和州立大学，更是以勇气著称，以自己为国家献计献策而闻名遐迩。这个州诞生过许多把连国家利益至于州利益之上的伟人，比如卢修斯·拉玛。单单实在朝鲜战争时期，这个州就有四名战士得到了荣誉勋章。甚至，今天早上被收为联邦所有的国民警卫队，就隶属于第155步兵营，这是美国历史最悠久的10个营之一，而且在近6场战争中因其战斗英勇和不畏牺牲而受人称赞。

In 1945 a Mississippi sergeant, Jake Lindsey, was honored by an unusual joint session of the Congress. I close therefore with this appeal to the students of the University, the people who are most concerned.

1945年，杰克·林德赛，一位来自密西西比州的中士，就连国会都特别为他召开了一次联席会议。所以，最后我对密西西比大学的学生和相关人员发出呼吁。

You have a great tradition to uphold, a tradition of honor and courage won on the field of battle and on the gridiron as well as the University campus. You have a new opportunity to show that you are men of patriotism and integrity. For the most effective means of upholding the law is not the State policeman or the marshals or the National Guard. It is you. It lies in your courage to accept those laws with which you disagree as well as those with which you agree. The eyes of the Nation and of all the world are upon you and upon all of us, and the honor of your University and State are in the balance. I am certain that the great majority of the students will uphold that honor.

你们父辈在战场上、在橄榄球场上、在大学校园里都展现了荣誉与勇气的传统，望各位能将这一传统继承下去。你们能够借此次机会再次向世人展现，密西西比人民爱国且正直。捍卫法律，靠的从来都不是州警、法警或国民警卫队。而是你们人民。靠的是人民敢于接受自己支持的法律，同时也接受自己不支持的法律。现在全美国都在看着你们，全世界都在看着我们，你们的行动将决定你们大学和你们州是荣是辱。我相信，绝大多数学生都会选择捍卫自己的荣誉。

There is in short no reason why the books on this case cannot now be quickly and quietly closed in the manner directed by the court. Let us preserve both the law and the peace and then healing those wounds that are within we can turn to the greater crises that are without and stand united as one people in our pledge to man's freedom. 

简而言之，既然法院已经下令，我们就尽快翻过这不愉快的一页吧。让我们共同捍卫法治与和平，然后治愈国内的伤痕，最后全体人民一起携手克服更严峻的危机，履行我们捍卫人类自由的承诺。

Thank you and good night.

谢谢大家，晚安。

声明：本人仅按照原文翻译内容，演讲内容不代表本人观点。此专栏仅供历史和英语交流学习使用，任何读者皆可引用本人的译本。

希望来学习英语的观众明白：我觉得这些专栏的主要精华在于英语原文，而并非我的译本，我的译本很大程度上只是供来学习历史的观众使用的。本人的英语水平一般，翻译得并不会多么精彩，只能在你看不懂时来帮助你了解这些演讲内容最基本的意思，而且翻译时难免会出现差错，切勿直接完全以我的译本为标准。如发现有翻译错误或者歧义内容，欢迎指正。

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