There have been many influential black leaders since the Civil War. They include Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois and, of course, Martin Luther King.
内战以来有许多举足轻重的黑人领袖。包括弗雷德里克·道格拉斯、W·E·B·杜波依斯，当然还有马丁·路德·金。
But none had more influence in their time than Booker T. Washington did in his.
但没有人像布克·华盛顿那样对其所处时代影响深远。
Known by his admirers as the “Modern Moses,” his role in helping blacks establish themselves after their liberation from slavery is a testament to the man and to America.
他被追崇者们称为「当代摩西」，他在帮助黑人从奴役解放后自立的作用是对这个人及美国的证明。
Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in 1856. He did not know the day or month of his birth, who his father was, or his last name. As a child, he was known only as Booker. He chose the name Washington.
布克·华盛顿 1856 年生为奴隶。他不知道自己出生于何年何月，不知道自己的父亲是谁，也不知道自己姓什么。儿童时期的他只被叫做布克。他选择姓华盛顿。
He was nine years old when a Union soldier arrived on the plantation and announced that all slaves were free. The initial reaction to this announcement, Washington recalled, was elation and then…shock.
他九岁的时候，联邦士兵来到种植园宣布所有奴隶都自由了。华盛顿回忆，他最初对这一公告的反应是是欣喜，接着是……震惊。
Yes, the Civil War was over; they were free. But free to do what?
是的，内战结束了，他们自由了。但自由做什么呢？
The freed slaves, through no fault of their own, were simply unprepared for freedom. They needed to learn not only basic academic skills—reading, writing and arithmetic—but basic life skills like hygiene: how and why to bathe and brush their teeth.
被解放的奴隶，尽管并非他们的错，确实没有准备好自由。他们不仅需要学习基本学术技能——阅读、写字与算术——还有基本的生活技能，比如卫生：如何及为何洗澡与刷牙。
The cause to which Washington dedicated his life was education. Practical education.
华盛顿为之奉献一生的事业是教育。实用教育。
His journey began in 1872, seven years after the Civil War ended. He traveled 500 miles, most of it on foot, to a small Virginia school dedicated to the education of freed blacks, the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute.
他的旅程开始于 1872 年，内战结束七年后。他旅行了 500 英里，多数靠步行，来到了弗吉尼亚一间致力于自由黑人教育的小学校，汉普顿师范及农业学院。
Forced to spend all his meager funds on the grueling journey, he arrived only with the clothes on his back. The headmistress viewed his suitability as a student with open skepticism, but he wouldn’t budge. She finally gave him a chance to prove his worth in the form of a broom and a cleaning assignment. He passed her test and earned admission. He graduated with top honors.
他被迫在艰难的旅途中花光了自己微薄的资金，到达时只剩身上的衣服了。校长对他是否适合做学生持有怀疑，但他立场坚定。她最终给了他一个机会，用打扫清洁的任务证明自己。他通过了测试并获得录取。他以优异成绩毕业。
Several years later, he was invited to begin what would become his life’s work, heading the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. When he arrived, he assumed he’d walk onto a campus. But there was no campus—only a few shacks and a chicken coop. The school had almost no money. But it did have 30 eager students. And for Booker T. Washington, that was enough.
几年后，他获邀开始后来成为他毕生事业的工作，领导位于阿拉巴马的塔斯基吉学院。他到达时，他以为会走进一个校园。但那里没有校园——只有几间棚屋与一个鸡舍。这间学校一文不名。但它却有 30 名热切的学生。对布克·华盛顿来说这就足够了。
Under his leadership, they got to work. Every building, every desk, was built by the students themselves—brick by brick, piece by piece. This tied in perfectly with Washington’s philosophy of a practical education: students at Tuskegee, in addition to academic studies, had to master a trade.
在他的领导下，他们开始了工作。每一栋建筑，每一张桌子都由学生自己制作——一砖一瓦，一点一点。这与华盛顿的实用教育哲学完美契合：塔斯基吉的学生除学术研究外，还得掌握一门手艺。
He believed this led not only to racial uplift among blacks but to respect for blacks. His graduates would go out into the world with sought-after skills. They would be useful to their neighbors and become invaluable members of their communities.
他相信这不仅能让黑人走向种族提升，还能赢来对黑人的尊重。他的毕业生将带着吃香的技能走向世界。他们将有助于他们的邻居，成为社区里珍贵的成员。
“The individual who can do something that the world wants done,” Washington said, “will, in the end, make his way regardless of race.”
「能做世界所需之事的人，」华盛顿说，「无论是什么种族都终能有自己一席之地。」
Washington distilled his philosophy into what became one of the most important speeches of the late 19th century, an address he delivered at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895. His theme was that blacks needed time to develop educationally and economically. Whites, Washington suggested, should help them in every way possible. This would be in the best interests of both races.
华盛顿将其哲学提炼成为 19 世纪晚期最重要的演讲，即他在 1895 年亚特兰大博览会上发表的演讲。他的主题是黑人的教育及经济发展需要时间。华盛顿提出，白人应该尽各种可能的方式给予帮助。这将最符合两族的利益。
He also emphasized that blacks needed to recognize that social equality would not come swiftly. It could not be forced through political action alone. The civil rights the Constitution promised would evolve naturally from black achievement.
他同时强调，黑人需要认识到社会平等不会很快到来。它不可能仅从政治行动强迫而来。《宪法》承诺的公民权利将从黑人成就中自然发展而来。
As he put it: “No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.”
如他所言：「能为世界市场贡献所需的种族不可能被长期排斥在外。」
When he ended his speech, the large audience, a mix of blacks and whites, broke out in loud and sustained cheering. W.E.B. Du Bois, a leading black intellectual, captured the sentiment. He wrote in the black newspaper, the New York Age, that Washington’s speech “might be the basis of a real settlement between whites and blacks in the South.”
当他结束演讲时，大批的听众，有黑人也有白人，爆发出热烈而连绵不绝的欢呼。W·E·B·杜波依斯，一名杰出的黑人知识分子，捕捉到了这种情绪。他在黑人报纸《纽约时代》上写道，华盛顿的演讲「也许是南方白人与黑人之间真正和解的基础。」
Sadly, it was not to be. In the ensuing years, southern whites put up more obstacles to black progress, not less. Among others, DuBois became increasingly impatient. A speech he had celebrated, he now belittled as “the Atlanta Compromise.”
遗憾的是，这并未如愿。随后几年里，南方白人给黑人的进步建立起更多障碍，而非更少。除此之外，杜波依斯变得越发不耐烦。这篇他曾赞赏过的演讲被自己贬为「亚特兰大妥协」。
So which opinion was correct? Du Bois’s initial praise, or his later criticism?
那么哪种观点是对的呢？杜波依斯最初的赞扬，还是后来的批评？
Washington himself remained resolute. He was first, last and always a pragmatist. He believed gradual improvements—improvements that blacks would earn through education, entrepreneurship, and personal responsibility—were the keys to black empowerment and ending racism.
华盛顿本人始终坚定不移。他自始至终都是一名实用主义者。他相信逐渐的改善——黑人将通过教育、创业精神及个人责任感挣得的改善——是黑人赋权与终结种族主义的关键。
It wasn’t fair. But it was reality.
这不公平。但这是现实。
Today, in an America that is open to and accepting of all races, Washington’s prescription for black success is more relevant than ever.
如今，在开放并接受一切种族的美国，华盛顿为黑人成功开出的处方比以往任何时候都更有意义。
That made him a great leader—and a prophet.
这使他成为一名伟大的领导者——与一名先知。
I’m Derryck Green, fellow at Project 21, for Prager University.
我是戴瑞克·格林，Project 21 的研究员，为 PragerU 制作。
戴瑞克·格林（Derryck Green）是政治评论员，作家，黑人保守派领袖网络 Project 21 的研究员。
翻译：mangosteen
校对：FungChuh
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