這篇文章最初寫于2014年4月8號，女兒讀9年級。她四年高中參加的MUN模擬聯(lián)合國組織對她在寫作、思考和表達能力方面有非常明顯的幫助。
女兒在模擬聯(lián)合國（MUN）會議上做的4分鐘演講的演講稿，題目是《Discrimination》- 歧視。
她用自己的觀點和語言寫的這篇文章，我們都被她文章中闡述的觀點震撼了，文筆流暢，用詞準(zhǔn)確，觀點鮮明，而且她能意識到改變歧視最根本的方法是教育，因為教育可以讓人開闊視野，認(rèn)識到這個世界的多樣性。當(dāng)你對一樣事物有了更多了解了，你就會對此多一些理解、接受和寬容，從而放下歧視。
作為媽媽我真的非常自豪我14歲女兒-一個高中一年級學(xué)生可以寫出這樣的文章，很希望跟我國內(nèi)的家人朋友們分享，所以雖然很麻煩，但我還是按照自己的理解并忠于女兒的行文方式，將它翻譯成中文：
尊敬的聯(lián)合國秘書長潘基文先生，尊敬的聯(lián)合國大會主席耶雷米奇先生，女士們，先生們，我非常榮幸今天站在聯(lián)合國成員面前，陳述關(guān)于歧視這個話題。
歧視，正如我們都知道的，有許多不同的形式，但我們最熟悉的兩種主要形式是種族歧視和宗教歧視。歧視其實是一個單薄的概念，通常是從一代傳承到下一代，它是一個惡性循環(huán)，遺憾的是到目前為止尚沒有停止。
我相信人類，默認(rèn)情況下，對于他人，我們都在不斷地追求完美，我們也在不斷完善爭取成為卓越，無論是身體上和精神上。在許多情況下，這會導(dǎo)致健康的競爭，這促進了國家的成長。但在有些情況下，良性競爭開始走下坡路，這有點類似早期的美國人，他們購買和銷售其他種族的人作為奴隸，因為他們認(rèn)為有色人種比白人低賤。希特勒擁有了權(quán)力，殺害了幾百萬，因為他相信雅利安種族的優(yōu)越性。盧旺達的鄰居們轉(zhuǎn)而對抗彼此，因為胡圖相信他們比圖西人更值得擁有權(quán)勢。類似的情況拿納粹德國為例，希特勒相信并鼓吹雅利安人是優(yōu)越種族，所有其他群體，主要是猶太人，必須被鏟除。他通過利用宣傳獲取支持，最終，歧視上升到這樣一個高度，數(shù)百萬無辜的人失去了生命，如果我們不采取持續(xù)行動，數(shù)百萬人還將會失去生命。
“永不再發(fā)生”的想法一直像口頭禪一樣被重復(fù)數(shù)百萬次，但從未促使人們采取足夠的行動。如果我們不制止正在發(fā)生的國家內(nèi)部本身的歧視我們怎樣才能從根本上制止種族滅絕？曾經(jīng)有人試圖解決這一問題，但沒有，據(jù)我所知，還沒有建立有效的預(yù)防措施。
每個人都有自己的長處和自己的短處，這是一個事實，作為人類我們必須接受這一點，但是要判斷一個人完全基于他的民族、種族或宗教信仰，這不僅是不道德的，而且是完全沒有必要的，這也是可以預(yù)防的。
女士們，先生們，在我看來，教育是解決問題的關(guān)鍵，是最重要的因素，它將在與這場永不停止的歧視做戰(zhàn)斗中做出卓越的貢獻。我們需要利用教育來開啟今天全球公民的眼睛和頭腦，特別是今天的年輕人，讓他們看到和欣賞到這世界存在的多樣性。我們需要幫助他們認(rèn)識到多樣化是一件美好的禮物，她給我們這個世界帶來更多的精彩。
今天教育程度越高的全球公民，他們將來實施各類歧視的可能性越小。無知，女士們，先生們，它或許是最大的犧牲者，如果我們能夠戰(zhàn)勝無知，那我們將離打贏反對歧視的斗爭更近一步了。教育將有助于克服仇恨。教育將有助于克服冷漠。教育將導(dǎo)致更多的包容和接納，因為如果有些事情我們了解并理解，那我們將不再覺得那對我們來說是威脅。
正如傳奇少女馬拉拉（巴基斯坦西北部的一名女學(xué)生，以爭取婦女接受教育的權(quán)利而聞名）曾經(jīng)說過： “讓我們拿起我們的書和我們的筆，它們是最強大的武器。一個孩子，一位老師，一本書和一支筆可以改變世界。 ” 因此，讓我們這樣做吧。讓我們從一支筆、一本書、一個學(xué)生、一位教師開始做起，一步一個腳印！
謝謝。
演講稿原文：
Distinguished UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and President of the General Assembly Mr. Vuk Jeremic, ladies and gentlemen, I am both humbled and honored to be standing before the members of the United Nations today to speak regarding the issue of discrimination. Discrimination, as we all know, comes in many different forms, but the two main forms that we are most acquainted with are racial and religious discrimination. Discrimination is an unsubstantial idea that is usually passed from one generation to the next and it is a brutal cycle that has yet to be stopped.
I believe that humans, by default, are constantly striving toward perfection and we are also constantly seeking to be superior, both physically and mentally, to others. In many cases, this leads to healthy competition that in turn leads to the growth of nations. In other cases, the healthy competition begins to spiral downhill similar to the way it did when the early Americans bought and sold other human beings as slaves because they believed that people of color were of lesser than of one with fair complexion, when Hitler came to power and millions of people died because he believed in the superiority of the Aryan race, when neighbors turned against each other in Rwanda because the Hutu believed that they were more worthy of power than the Tutsi. Take the situation in Nazi Germany as an example, Hitler believed and preached that the Aryans were the superior race and that all other groups, mainly the Jews, must be eradicated. He rallied support through the use of propaganda and eventually, discrimination rose to such a pedestal that millions of innocent lives were lost, and millions more will be lost if we don’t take continued action.
The idea of ‘Never Again’ has been a mantra repeated millions of times but has never roused people to take enough action. How can we stop the genocides if we don’t put an end to the discrimination taking place inside the countries themselves? There have been preventative measures that have been created in the past that have attempted to combat this issue but none, to my knowledge, have been effective to the extent that they should be.
Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses, that is a fact that we must all accept as human beings, but to judge a person solely based on their ethnicity, race, or religion is not only immoral and completely unnecessary, it is also preventable. Ladies and gentlemen, in my opinion, education is the key, the most important factor, that will contribute to fight the never ending battle against discrimination. We need to utilize education to open the eyes and minds of today’s global citizens, especially of today’s youth, to see and appreciate diversity. We need to help them understand that diversity is a wonderful gift and brings enrichment to the world. The more educated global citizens of today are, there will be a less likelihood of horrible atrocities being committed in the future. Ignorance, ladies and gentlemen, is perhaps the greatest contributor, and if we manage to win the battle against ignorance, we will be one step closer to winning the battle against discrimination. Education will help to overcome hatred. Education will help to overcome indifference. Education will lead to more tolerance and acceptance because if we know about something and we understand it, it is no longer threatening to us.
As Malala Yousafzai once stated: “l(fā)et us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher,one book and pen can change the world.” So let us do just that. Let us begin with one pen, one book, with one student, one teacher, and one step at a time. Thank you.
