五十三年前，本文作者James A. White Sr.是一名美國空军，但作为一名非裔美国人，他几经周折才终于得以在其驻地租下一间房子，他以幽默生动的方式向我们讲述了这段经历，揭露了当时美国严重的种族歧视现象。然而，时至今日，这种歧视依然以一些隐晦的形式存在着……

An 18-year-old， African-American male joined the United States Air Force and was assigned to Mountain Home Air Force Base and was a part of the air police squadron. Upon first arriving there， the first goal that I had was for me to identify an apartment， so I could bring my wife and my new baby， Melanie， out to join me in Idaho.

I immediately went to the personnel office， and talking with the guys in personnel， they said， “Hey， no problem finding an apartment in Mountain Home， Idaho. The people down there love us because they know if they have an airman who is coming in to rent one of their apartments， theyll always get their money.” And that was a really important thing. He said，“So here is a list of people that you can call.” So I got the list; I made the call. The lady answered on the other end and I told her what I wanted. She said， “Oh， great you called. She said，“We have four or five apartments available right now.” She said， uh， “Do you want a one-bedroom or two-bedroom？” Then she said， “Lets not talk about that. Just come on down， select the apartment that you want. Well sign the contract and youll have keys in your hand to get your family out here right away.”

So I was excited， jumped in my car， went downtown and knocked on the door. When I knocked on the door， the woman came to the door， and she looked at me， and she said， “Can I help you？”I said， “Yes， Im the person who called about the apartments. I was just coming down to make my selection.” She said， “You know what？ Im really sorry， but my husband rented those apartments and didnt tell me about them.” I said， “You mean he rented all five of them in one hour？” She didnt give me a response， and what she said was this： She said， “Why dont you leave your number， and if we have some openings， Ill give you a call？” Needless to say， I did not get a call from her. Nor did I get any responses from the other people that they gave me on the list where I could get apartments.

Even though that was discouraging， it didnt stop me. I kept looking， and I looked at the far end of the town in Mountain Home， and there was a small trailer park. I mean， really small trailer park. It didnt have any paved roads in it， it didnt have the concrete slabs. It didnt have fencing to portion off your trailer slot from other trailer slots. It didnt have a laundry facility. But the conclusion I reached at that moment was I didnt have a lot of other options. And we became homeowners in Mountain Home， Idaho.

Here it is， 53 years later， I now have nine grandchildren， two great-grandchildren. Five of the grandchildren are boys. I have masters， Ph.D.， undergrad， one in medical school. I have a couple that are trending ， you know？ They re almost there but not quite.

I have one that has been in college now for eight years. He doesnt have a degree yet， but he wants to be a comedian. So were just trying to get him to stay in school. Because you never know， just because youre funny at home， does not make you a comedian， right？ But the thing about it， theyre all good kids—no drugs， no babies in high school， no crime.

So with that being the backdrop， I was sitting in my TV room watching TV， and they were talking about Ferguson and all the hullabaloo that was going on. And all of a sudden， one of the news commentators got on the air and she said， “In the last three months， eight unarmed African-American males have been killed by police， white homeowners， or white citizens.”And for some reason， at that moment it just all hit me. I said， “What is it？ It is so insane. What is the hatred thats causing people to do these kinds of things？”

Just then， one of my grandsons called. He said，“Granddad， did you hear what they said on TV？” I said， “Yes， I did.” He said， “Im just so confused. He said， “We do everything we do， but it seems that driving while black， walking while black， talking while black， its just dangerous. What can we do？ We do everything that you told us to do. When stopped by the police， we place both hands on the steering wheel at the 12 oclock position. When pulled out of the car to be searched， when laid on the ground to be searched， when our trunks are opened to be searched， we dont push back， we dont challenge because we know， youve told us， ‘Dont you challenge the police.”

He said， “And this is the piece that really bugs me.” He said， “ Our white friends， our buddies， we kind of hang together. When they hear about these kinds of things happening to us， they say， ‘Why do you take it？ You need to push back. You need to challenge. You need to ask them for their identification.” And heres what the boys have been taught to tell them： “We know that you can do that， but please do not do that while were in the car because the consequences for you is significantly different than the consequences for us.”

And so， as a grandparent， what do I tell my grandsons？ How do I keep them safe？ How do I keep them alive？

So therefore， the only thing that I can do is to take my collective intellect and my energy and my ideas and my experiences and dedicate myself to challenge， at any point in time， anything that looks like it might be racist. So the first thing I have to do is to educate， the second thing I have to do is to unveil racism， and the last thing I need to do is do everything within my power to eradicate racism in my lifetime by any means necessary.

We have to challenge that. It doesnt make any sense. And the only way that I think we can do that is through a collective. We need to have black and white and Asian and Hispanic just to step forward and say， “We are not going to accept that kind of behavior anymore.”

一名18歲的非裔美国男子加入了美国空军，被指派到芒廷霍姆空军基地，成为了空中警察中队的一员。到达那里后，我的第一个任务就是为自己找一间房子，那样我就能把我妻子和刚出世的孩子，梅勒妮，接到爱达荷州来一家团聚。

我立马跑到了人事部，和那里的人说这件事，他们说：“嘿，要在爱达荷州芒廷霍姆找房子完全没有问题。那里的人们非常喜欢我们，因为他们知道，如果租他们房子的人是一名空军，他们一定能收得到房租。”而这一点非常重要。他说：“这是一些名单，你可以给他们打电话。”所以，我拿到了名单，打了电话。电话那头的女士接了我的电话，我告诉了她我的需求。她说：“噢，很高兴接到你的电话，我们现在还有四五间空房。”她说：“你想要一室的还是两室的？”她接着说：“我们不必多说。你只管过来这边，选好你中意的房子。等我们签好合同，你就能拿到钥匙，然后立刻把你的家人接过来。”

所以我感到非常兴奋。我跳进车里，开去市区。去到那里后，我敲了敲门。那位女士走了过来，然后她看着我，说道：“有什么可以为你效劳的吗？”我说：“是的，我是给你打电话说要租房子的那个人。我就是过来这边挑选一下。”她说：“你知道吗？我很抱歉，我先生把那些房子全都租出去了，却没有告诉我。”我说：“你的意思是，他在一个小时内就把五间房子全租出去了？”她没有回答我这个问题，她只是说：“不如你留下电话号码，等我们有空房了，我就打给你，怎么样？”当然，我没有接到她的电话，也没有接到其他任何一个在那张名单上的人的电话，那张他们给我的房东名单。

虽然这很令人沮丧，但是我并没有放弃，而是继续找，找到了芒廷霍姆偏远的市郊。在那里，我找到了一个小拖车公园。真的非常小的拖车公园。里面没有平整的地面、没有混凝土板、没有用来隔开拖车与拖车的栅栏、也没有洗衣设备。但是在那一刻，我得出的结论是我别无选择。而我们也终于在爱达荷州芒庭霍姆有了自己的房子。

时至今日，53年以后，我有了九个孙子孙女，其中五个是男孩，还有两个曾孙。他们有的是硕士，有的是博士，有的是本科生，有一个在读医学院，还有一些也要读，你知道吗？他们差不多能考上，但还差点儿。

我还有一个孙子在读大学，已经读了八年。他还没有拿到学位，但是他想当一个喜剧演员，所以我们还是努力让他留在学校吧。你在家里很风趣并不代表你可以当一个喜剧演员，这可是很难预料的，不是吗？但关键是，他们都是好孩子——没有嗑药，没读着高中就生下孩子，没有犯罪。

所以，以上面所说的为背景，我坐在客厅看电视，新闻评论员在讨论“弗格森”事件以及与之相关的各种争论。突然，其中一个新闻评论员开始播报，她说：“在过去的三个月内，已经有八个手无寸铁的非裔美国男子被警察、白人房东，或者白人市民所杀。”出于某些原因，在那一刻，我受到了极大的冲击。我说：“这都是什么事儿？太荒谬了。到底是什么样的仇恨才能让人做出这种事？”

就在这时，我的一个孙子打电话来了。他说：“爷爷，你听到他们在电视上所说的话了吗？”我说：“听到了。”他说：“我感到很困惑。我们只是在做我们该做的事。但似乎只要你是黑人，开车、走路、说话都会有危险。我们能做什么？你告诉我们的事情我们都做了。当我们被警察叫住时，我们都把手朝着12点钟方向放在方向盘上。当我们被拖出车外搜身时、当我们被压在地上搜身时、当我们的车尾箱被打开搜查时，我们没有反抗，因为我们知道，你告诉过我们，‘你们不要反抗警察。”

他说：“还有件事真的令我很困扰：我们的白人朋友，我们兄弟，我们相处得很不错。当他们听到我们遇到这种事情时，他们说，‘你们为什么要忍受，你们要反抗，你们要查看他们的证件。”而这些男孩所受的教育让他们这样回答：“我们知道你们可以这样做，但是当我们在车上时，拜托不要这样做，因为我们所要承担的后果可是和你们天差地别。

因此，身为一个爷爷，我要怎样跟我孙子说？我要怎样才能保证他们的安全？保护他们的生命？

因此，我唯一能做的事情就是在必要时运用我全部的智慧、精力、思想以及经验去反对种族歧视。所以我第一件要做的事就是教育人们，第二件要做的事就是揭露种族歧视。最后，我要做的就是在有生之年用所有必要的方式，尽己所能根除种族歧视。

我们必须要反对种族歧视，这是毫无道理可言的。我觉得唯一可行的办法就是集合全部人的力量。我们需要大家——黑人、白人、亚洲人、西班牙人站出来说：“我们不会再接受那种行径。”