請還我們一個公道

世上本不存在不公平，心生不同便有了區別對待。同為人類，白人和黑人接受的待遇卻存在很大差異。Aaron Vessup通過自己的親身經歷向我們闡明了這一點。如今的他正試圖用自己的力量改變這個現狀，讓世界還黑人一個公道。路漫漫其修遠兮，他真的能做到嗎？

A Greater Debt to Pay
請還我們一個公道

By Aaron Vessup 劉宇佳 注

"Burn Baby, Burn!" was a popular song played at most parties and on some radio stations when I was a student during the 1960s, and these things were happening around the world. People were upset at the directions their different worlds were going: the unfair rules, unequal job opportunities, corporate malfeasance, police brutality,[1]so they were directing their anger at symbols of the "establishment". Many of these people were minority[2]citizens, members of the so-called "black community". I suppose a compelling part of my then uniqueness is that I am from a family of seventeen. My father was aPentecostal“fundamentalist preacher”, and church pastor.[3]We had no choice when it came to religious beliefs, and we had no escape from the physical and mental abuse suffered inside our house let alone in the outside world.[4]I became very familiar with many forms of family violence. Although within our church physical "non-violence" was exhorted, the psychological mental warfare was perfected to a high level of destructiveness.[5]

I have not always been committed to the use of words and nonviolence as tools for change. In my youth I had been a playground "bully"[6], I viewed myself as the cowboy "Marshall" or "peacemaker" who settled problems among my peers at school with my fists. However, I often found myself being paddled in the Principal’s office with threats to be formally kicked out of school and sent home as a result.[7]Unfortunately, at home things were violent as well since my father was quite explosive and demanding, and I was frequently whipped, punched, and my body