【演讲时间】2004年7月27
【演讲地点】波士顿
【演讲背景】奥巴马真正成为政治明星，是在2004年7月迷住当全国代表大会上。当时，他还只是一位默默无闻的州议员，却被推选出来做全党的”基调演讲“，阐述民主党在总统选举中的纲领和政策。此演讲通常由民主党内极有政治前途的新星发表。奥巴马一讲成名。他的演说慷慨激昂，他提出要消除党派和种族歧视、实现”一个美国“的梦想。许多媒体更是把奥巴马的演讲和美国黑人民权运动家马丁 路德金的《我有一个梦想》的著名演讲做比较，很多人因此认识并记住了这张年轻的黑色面孔。两个月后，奥巴马以70%的高票当选为联邦参议员。如此卓越的演讲，你一定要背诵！
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And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter. A common dream, born of two continents.My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or ”blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined -- They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.They're both passed away now. And yet, I know that on this night they look down on me with great pride.
他们对自己的女儿也寄予厚望，共同的梦想发端于两个大洲。我父母亲不仅共同经历了似乎不可能的爱情，而且都对这个国家的诸多机遇笃信不疑。他们后来给我取了一个非洲名字Barack(巴拉克)，即“受保佑的”。他们相信，在海纳百川的美国，一个人的名字不是成功的障碍。尽管他们并不富裕，他们仍希望我在这个国家最好的学校里读书，因为在慷慨宽容的美国，一个人发挥自己的潜力，不需要多么富有。他们现已离开人世。而今晚，我感觉到，他们正自豪地俯视着我。
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And I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our Nation -- not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
今天，我站在这里，庆幸自己具有多样性的传统，同时感悟到我父母的梦想在我挚爱的女儿身上延续。我站在这里，感受到我的经历只是美国大背景下的一个片段。我也感谢在我之前的所有过来人。只有在这块土地上，我才能有这样的经历。今晚，我们聚集一堂，赞美我们国家之伟大，并非因为我们的摩天大楼有多高，我们的军队有多强，我们的经济规模有多大。我们的自豪感来自一个很简单的前提，两百多年前发表的宣言已经阐明：“我们认为一下真理是不言而喻的；人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们耨写不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。”
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Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
但即使在我讲话的时候，仍然有一些人准备制造分裂。他们是操纵舆论的老手、负面广告的推手，信奉为达目的可以不择手段的哲学。好吧，今晚我要对他们说：美国没有自由和保守之分，只有一个美利坚合众国。美国不分黑人、白人、拉丁裔和亚洲裔，只有一个美利坚合众国。……我们都属于一个国家，我们都宣誓效忠于星条旗，我们都捍卫美利坚合众国。