庫裏親筆 致敬美國老兵

One thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately, especially today on Veterans Day, is what it means to have a platform.

最近，尤其是在今天（老兵節）這個特殊的日子裏，我一直在想一件事——擁有發表觀點的平臺意味着什麼。

I guess it's tempting, sometimes, to think that it doesn't mean anything. With everyone out there on Twitter, and Facebook, and IG and all of that... with all of the opinions and narratives that are always flying every which way on cable news... it's a lot of noise. And you hear enough of that noise, and you kind of start to wonder if anyone can — or even wants to — hear anyone else at all.

我認爲這個問題有時很誘人，我認爲這沒有任何含義。每個人都可以在推特、臉書、Instagram和所有社交平臺上……發表觀點和通過各種渠道被有線新聞報道的故事……有許多噪音。當你聽夠這些噪音時，你會開始懷疑是否每個人會——或者甚至想要——去聆聽別人的聲音。

But if there's anything I've learned this year, it's that all of that noise we keep hearing — it's not an accident. We're hearing that noise because there are real people out there, facing real issues, and real inequalities, some in ways like never before. In 2017, in America, silence is no longer an option.

但今年我懂得了一件事，那就是我們一直都在聽到的所有噪音——這不是個巧合。我們能聽到這些噪音，因爲他們都是真實的人，面臨着真實的問題和不平等，在某些方面與以往完全不同。2017年，在美國，沉默已不再是一個選項。

I'm a person who is comfortable in his own skin. I'm 29 now. I've got two daughters, a wonderful wife, two amazing parents. I've been all over this country, from Charlotte to the Bay. And I feel confident in the fact that I've developed a foundation for my character that I can be proud of. I know what I believe in, and I know what I stand for.

我是一個對於自己的膚色感到自豪的人。我現在29歲了。我有兩個女兒，和一個完美的妻子，一對出色的父母。從夏洛特到灣區，我從這個國家的這一端到了那一端。我很自信地認爲，我已經打造了一個令我自己感到自豪的性格。我知道我相信的是什麼，我知道我堅持的是什麼。

And I know what I stand against.

我知道我抗爭的是什麼。

But when someone tells me that my stances, or athlete stances in general, are "disrespecting the military" — which has become a popular thing to accuse peaceful protestors of — it's something that I'm going to take very, very seriously.

但當有人告訴我，我的立場，或者其他運動員的大致立場，是在“對軍隊的不敬”——這已經成爲了一個譴責和平反抗者的熱門話題——我對此事十分十分嚴肅。

One of the beliefs that I hold most dear is how proud I am to be an American — and how incredibly thankful I am for our troops. I know how fortunate I am to live in this country, and to do what I do for a living, and to raise my daughters in peace and prosperity.

我最堅守的信仰之一就是身爲一個美國人，我是多麼地自豪——以及我對於我們的軍隊有着說不盡的感激之情。我知道我生活在這個國家、做爲了生活而做的事、以及在和平和順境中養大我的女兒們是多麼地幸運。

But I also hear from plenty of people who don't have it nearly as good as I do. Plenty of people who are genuinely struggling in this country. Especially our veterans.

但我也從許多生活情況不如我順利的人們口中聽到一些聲音。許多人在這個國家裏苦苦地掙扎着。尤其是我們的老兵。

And every single veteran I've spoken to, they've all said pretty much the exact same thing: That this conversation we've started to have in the world of sports... whether it's been Colin kneeling, or entire NFL teams finding their own ways to show unity, or me saying that I didn't want to go to the White House — it's the opposite of disrespectful to them.

每一位我有過交談的老兵，他們所有人都傳達了同一個意思：我們在體育界開始議論的話題……無論是科林的下跪，或者是整支NFL球隊尋找各自體現團結的方式，或者是我表示我不想要造訪白宮——這都不是在對他們的不敬。

A lot of them have said, that even if they don't totally agree with every position of every person, this is exactly the thing that they fought to preserve: the freedom of every American to express our struggles, our fears, our frustrations, and our dreams for a more equal society.

他們許多人都說，即便他們並不完全同意每個人的所有看法，這正是他們努力抗爭去保護的東西：每一位美國人表達掙扎、恐懼、沮喪和一個更平等社會的夢想的自由。

One of the most rewarding conversations that I've had this year was with a veteran — it was just the other night, actually. My wife, Ayesha, held the opening for her restaurant, and we all came out to eat dinner there and support her.

今年，我曾與一位老兵有過一段十分寶貴的談話——其實，這只是另一個普通的夜晚。我的妻子阿耶莎給她的餐廳舉辦了開業典禮，我們都去吃了晚餐並支持她。

And one of the guests who came in that night was a man named Michael, who was there with his wife. He came up and introduced himself, and we just got to talking.

那晚，其中一位賓客的名字叫做邁克爾，他和他的妻子一起前來。他進行了自我介紹，然後我們開始談話。

He happened to have served in Afghanistan — and he told me about how much he had been through, both physically and mentally, just in trying to transition back into society, and into his daily life.

他起初在阿富汗服役——他告訴我他經歷了什麼，無論是身體上還是精神上，只是想嘗試適應如今的社會轉變，並回到他每天的生活中。

He offered some advice to me, about how I could help to raise awareness about some of the serious issues that veterans are going through — for example, with the Veterans Affairs medical system, and how its administration is broken.

他給我提了一些建議，關於我能做些什麼來幫助人們更好地意識到這些老兵們在經歷的嚴重問題——例如，老兵事務醫護系統的情況，以及醫護系統的管理不當。

And he educated me on demographics — telling me about how less than 1% of the population today serves in the military, which makes it a real struggle for veterans, as a political constituency, to get the representation that they need.

他讓我瞭解了一些人口統計的知識——如今，只有全國少於1%的人口在軍隊服役。這對於老兵而言是個真實的困境，他們做爲政治層面上的擁護者，希望得到他們需要的發言權。

How come those issues never seem to be a trending topic?

爲什麼這些問題從來不被人們視作是一個熱議的話題呢？

We hear all the time on TV and social media about "supporting our troops." But it's not just about saluting them or thanking them for their service at the airport — and it's definitely not just about how we observe the national anthem.

我們一直從電視和社交媒體上聽到“支持我們的軍隊”的標語。但這不僅僅是致敬或感謝他們在機場的服務——這絕對不僅僅是關於我們如何看待國歌。

Michael told me that our veterans need real action. They need real help with medical services, and access to jobs, and readjusting to society.

邁克爾告訴我，我們的老兵需要真實的行動。他們需要真實的幫助，包括醫療服務、工作崗位機會和重新適應社會。

At almost every turn our conversation took, Michael found some common ground: from talking about how he's a Warriors fan (good, good, I like it), to — way more importantly — pointing out how most of the issues that military vets face at home are actually the same as the issues faced by a lot of America.

每當我們轉移話題時，邁克爾找到了一些共同點：他是一名勇士球迷（很好，很好，我喜歡這一點，以及——更重要的話題——指出軍隊老兵在家面對的絕大多數問題其實與許多美國人面對的問題是一樣的。

Homelessness, unemployment, mental health and, yes, racial inequality — those are the issues that our vets are facing. These are mostly universal issues, which are being felt in every town in America.

無家可歸、失業、精神健康和，是的，種族不平等——這些是我們的老兵們在面對的問題。其中絕大多數是普遍的問題，在美國的每一個小鎮都能感受到這些問題的存在。

And as Veterans Day has been approaching this week, and as I've been thinking more and more about what using my platform really means to me — my conversation with Michael is something that I've kept coming back to.

隨着本週老兵節的臨近，我一直在不斷地想利用我的發言平臺對我而言意味着什麼——我與邁克爾的交談是我一直在回想的事情。

You know, I remember when I woke up on the morning that (I still can't believe I'm saying these words) the President tweeted at me. You probably don't need me to tell you this, but, man, it was... surreal.

你知道的，我仍記得總統在推特上點名我的那個早上我醒來時的反應（我仍然無法相信我會說出這些話）。你或許不需要我來告訴你這些，但是，夥計，這……太不真實了。

It was the morning before our first day of practice, so I was getting in a good sleep. And when I woke up — I mean before I even saw the tweet, or knew what was going on — I had about 30 text messages, all at once.

這是我們第一天訓練前的那個早上，所以我睡得很好。而當我醒來時——在我甚至看到這條推特前，或者知道發生了什麼事情之前——我收到了30條短信，同時收到。

Just blowing up my phone. They were all these friends of mine, just, like, defending me, and telling me that I was right, and, you know, not to worry about it. But I had no idea what they were even talking about.

我的手機爆炸了。他們都是我的朋友，他們都支持我，並說我是正確的，以及我不必去擔心這件事。但我根本不知道他們在說些什麼。

Then finally I brought up Twitter, checked on my mentions and all of that — and I saw it. It was what it was.

隨後，我終於打開了推特，看看我的提醒——然後我看到了這條推特。這就是所發生的一切。

And now, of course, it's those same people — who couldn't understand why I would peacefully state my opposition to our White House visit — who will tell you that pro athletes, when they engage in peaceful protest, are disrespecting the military, our flag and our country.

現在，當然，還是這羣人——他們不理解爲什麼我會平靜地表達我對白宮之行的反對——他們會告訴你，當職業運動員參與無聲的反抗時，他們的行爲是在對軍隊、國旗和國家的不敬。

Which I guess is why I decided that I wanted to write this, now.

我認爲，這就是爲什麼現在我決定，我想要寫下這些東西。

Because if I'm going to use my platform... I don't want to just be noise. I want to use it to talk about real issues, that are affecting real people. I want to use it to shine a spotlight on the things that I care about.

因爲如果我要利用我的發言平臺……我不想只是成爲其中一個噪音。我希望利用這個平臺來講述一些真實的問題，這些問題才影響真實的人們。我希望利用這個平臺來引起人們關注一些我在乎的事情。

And I care about our veterans deeply.

我十分關心我們的老兵。

So that's why I'm writing this — that's my plea to y'all for this Veterans Day: Let's please not get lost in another one of these endless debates about who means what when they're doing what, or who is disrespecting whom.

這就是爲什麼我寫這些東西——這就是我在老兵節對你們所有人的請求：請不要迷失在這些關於誰的行爲意味着什麼、或誰的行爲是對誰的不敬的無止盡爭論中。

Instead, let's respect — let's celebrate — our veterans, by having a conversation about the actual ways that we as civilians, as their fellow Americans they've fought to protect, can hold up our end of the bargain.

取而代之的，請尊重——並讚美——我們的老兵，並做爲一個公民，做爲他們一直在戰鬥去保護的美國同胞，和他們談談能夠遵守一生的協議。

Let's talk about the broken VA medical system, and traumatic brain injuries, and PTSD. But let's also talk about homelessness, and unemployment, and mental health, and, yes, racial inequality.

讓我們談談糟糕的老兵醫療系統，以及心理上的創傷，以及心理障礙。但也讓我們談談無家可歸，談談失業，談談精神健康，以及，是的，談談種族不平等。

Let's talk about how we can do better, to make their lives easier.

讓我們談談我們如何能做得更好，讓他們的生活變得更輕鬆。

Let's use our platforms, and take this day, to talk about how we can be louder than all of this silence — and quieter than all of this noise.

讓我們利用我們的發言平臺，藉助今天這個日子，談談我們如何能打破這些沉默，更大聲地——並比那些噪音更平靜地表達自己的看法。

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