②オバマ大統領 勝利演説
オバマ前大統領 勝利演説 11.4.2008 抜粋 再生時間3分24秒
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.
But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot
in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to
make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon
Cooper is 106 years old.
＊cast a [one's] ballot: 投票する
She was born just a generation past slavery, a time when there were no
cars on the road or planes in the sky, when someone like her couldn't vote
for two reasons: because she was a woman, and because of the color of her
skin.
＊a generation past slavery: 奴隷制度が廃止されて一世代後に
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in
America. The heartache and the hope, the struggle and the progress. The
times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that
American creed. Yes, we can.
＊press on: to continue to do something in a determined way press on with
～: ～を押し進める creed: a set of fundamental beliefs
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.
＊their hopes (were) dismissed
When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land,
she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense
of common purpose. Yes, we can.
＊the Dust Bowl: 1930年代に砂嵐の被害を受けた米国中南部の平原地帯 depression: 不景気,恐慌
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness, and a democracy was saved. Yes, we can.
＊tyranny: 圧政，独裁政治 a generation: 当時の人々 rise to greatness: 偉業を成し遂げる a democracy: 民主主義の国
**She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We shall overcome." Yes, we can.
A man touched down on the moon. A wall came down in Berlin. A world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and
cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of
times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes,
we can.
＊touch one's finger to a screen: 電子投票機方式の投票
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next century, if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper: What change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment, this is our
time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for
our kids, to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace, to reclaim
the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that out of many,
we are one, that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism
and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that
timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes, we can. (503 words)
＊cause: principle, aim or idea reclaim: recover, get back timeless: unchanged,
everlasting a people: 国民
**1955年12月，アラバマ州の州都モン(ト)ゴメリで白人に席を譲らなかった黒人女性が「人種分離法」違反で逮捕されたこと。同州最大の都市バーミングハムで，警察が黒人の非暴力的なデモを消火ホースの放水で弾圧したこと。公民権法制定後の1965年3月7日(日曜日)，有権者登録を訴えて同州セルマ市からモンゴメリーを目指す行進が橋を渡ろうとしたとき，白人警官に攻撃されて多数の怪我人が出たこと(Bloody Sunday)。同月21日，マーティン・ルーサー・キング牧師率いる行進がセルマを出発し，4日後にモンゴメリーに到着したこと。