歷史不會說謊，你我都需平等對待

揭示了美國種族歧視的阿拉巴馬州的紀念館

Memorial in Alabama acknowledges violence against African Americans

致力於美國種族歧視的紀念館將在阿拉巴馬州的蒙哥馬利（Montgomery）面向公眾開放。

這座國家和平與正義紀念館（The National Memorial for Peace and Justice ）由總部位於波士頓的Mass Design Group設計，Equal Justice Initiative （EJI）組織投資建設，該組織是一個致力於推動民族和解的非營利組織。

它是美國歷史上第一個揭示種族暴力和不公正的紀念館，目的是承認過去和現在對非裔美國人的歧視。

A memorial and museum dedicated to the legacy of racial violence and injustice in America are set to open in Montgomery, Alabama.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice was designed by Boston-based Mass Design Group and set up by Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) – a non-profit organisation that works to advance national reconciliation around race.

Described as the first of its kind in the country, the memorial is intended to help acknowledge past and present discrimination against African Americans.

EJI的發言人闡述道：「美國很少承認奴隸制、私刑和種族隔離等歷史遺留問題。」

該紀念館位於南部阿拉巴馬州，這裡有與美國民權運動相連的幾個歷史地標，其中包括一個被六英畝（2.4公頃）草地環繞的露天涼亭。

"The United States has done very little to acknowledge the legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial segregation," said a statement from EJI.

Located in the southern state of Alabama, home to several landmarks connected to the American Civil Rights Movement, the memorial comprises an open-air pavilion surrounded by six acres (2.4 hectares) of grassland.

在紀念館內，設計師使用了800多個耐候鋼柱，示意著美國每個發生種族歧視、動用私刑的縣。每名受害者的姓名都刻在上面。

這些立柱高6英尺（1.8米），懸掛在天花板上，下端離開地板。它們佔據了整個建築的大部分空間，中心圍繞著一個露天廣場。

Inside, over 800 Corten-steel columns represent each county in America where a racially motivated lynching has taken place. The names of the victims are inscribed on each.

The columns measure six feet (1.8 metres) tall and are suspended from the ceiling, and do not touch the floor. They occupy the entirety of the large covered structure, which is organised around an open square at its centre.

進入紀念館後，映入眼帘的便是迦納藝術家Kwame Akoto-Bamfo創作的雕塑，而另一件Dana King創作的藝術品為了紀念蒙哥馬利公交抗議的女性——這個抗議活動發生在20世紀50年代中期，被視為美國反對種族隔離的第一大規模示威。

該館還有美國藝術家Titus Kaphar和 Sanford Biggers的作品。美國藝術家Hank Willis Thomas設計的反應Toni Morrison著作的作品，馬丁路德金的演講作品 ，以及紀念Ida B Wells的反射空間——這些都是民權運動的關鍵人物。

Upon entering the memorial, a sculpture by Ghanian artist Kwame Akoto-Bamfo confronts visitors, while another artwork by Dana King is dedicated to the women who sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott – which took place in the mid-1950s and is regarded as the first large-scale demonstration against segregation in the US.

The pavilion also includes works by American artists Titus Kaphar and Sanford Biggers. Designs by American artist Hank Willis Thomas feature writings from Toni Morrison, words from Martin Luther King Junior, and a reflection space in honour of Ida B Wells – all key figures of the Civil Rights Movement.

EJI組織還在附近開設了另一個博物館，介紹美國奴隸制、私刑、種族隔離和種族等級制度。

另一個博物館被稱作遺產博物館：這裡曾一個農場的倉庫。反應非裔美國人從被奴役到大規模監禁。兩層的磚房，面積達11000平方英尺（335平方米）。

A fifteen-minute walk away, the EJI is also opening a museum that outlines the timelines of slavery, lynchings, segregation and racial hierarchy in America.

The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration is housed in an existing two-storey brick building that spans 11,000 square feet (335 square metres), and on the site of a former warehouse where enslaved black people were imprisoned.

設計目的是揭露真正的歷史，並鼓勵美國人種和解。

EJI總監兼知名公益律師Bryan Stevenson說：「我們國家的種族歧視歷史，讓美國的形象蒙上了一層陰影。只有我們將真相暴露出來，展示我們國家對有色人種的暴力和創傷，並加強我們對法治和平等正義的承諾，才能祛除這層陰影。」

The intention is to promote truthful storytelling and encourage reconciliation around race in the US.

"Our nation"s history of racial injustice casts a shadow across the American landscape," said EJI director and renowned public-interest lawyer, Bryan Stevenson. "This shadow cannot be lifted until we shine the light of truth on the destructive violence that shaped our nation, traumatised people of colour, and compromised our commitment to the rule of law and to equal justice."

博物館以第一人稱進行故事敘述，包括各種展品、藝術展覽、照片和錄像。在其中的一節展覽中，參觀者可以親身感受到南部的拍賣會上等待出售的奴隸的情景。

博物館和紀念館都講述了美國種族隔離的黑暗歷史和黑人歧視法（Jim Crow laws），這些法律直到1965年才被廢除。

EJI組織表示：「蒙哥馬利（Montgomery）靠近肥沃的黑帶地區，奴隸主聚集大量奴役的人口來耕種廣闊的土地，從而成為販賣奴隸的「溫床」。直到1860年，蒙哥馬利都是亞拉巴馬州內奴隸貿易的中心，美國兩大奴隸擁有州之一。」

The museum includes first-person accounts, various exhibits, fine art displays, data-based visuals, and videography. In one section, visitors can see and hear what it was like to be a slave waiting to be sold at an auction in the south.

Both the museum and the memorial address America"s dark history of racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, which enforced racial segregation in the US up until 1965.

"Montgomery"s proximity to the fertile Black Belt region, where slaveowners amassed large enslaved populations to work the rich soil, elevated Montgomery"s prominence in domestic trafficking," said the EJI. "By 1860, Montgomery was the capital of the domestic slave trade in Alabama, one of the two largest slave-owning states in America."

在開始該項目之前，EJI組織調查了美國南部地區數以千計的種族恐怖私刑，了解了針對黑人社區造成的暴力創傷，並發布了一份報告，概述了2015年的調查結果。

EJI組織在聲明中說道：「十多年來，EJI一直致力於種族歧視的歷史和世世代代持續不公正的敘述的研究。我們的博物館是這項研究的真實展示。」

Before embarking on the project, EJI investigated thousands of racial terror lynchings in the American South to understand the trauma this violence against the black community created, and released a report outlining the findings in 2015.

"For more than a decade, EJI has been conducting extensive research into the history of racial injustice and the narratives that have sustained injustice across generations," said EJI"s statement. "Our museum is the physical manifestation of that research."

因此，EJI表示該博物館的研究資料中包含全國最全面的關於私刑的數據收集。

本項目的設計合作夥伴包括有Google，Local Projects，Tim Lewis和TALA，Molly Crabapple，OrchidCréation，Stink Studios，Human Pictures和HBO。

攝影： Equal Justice Initiative

喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！