編按：離任期結束只有不足十天的美國總統奧巴馬於2017年1月10日晚上，在芝加哥麥考密克廣場發表告別演說，宣告8年總統生涯走向結束。這是他以美國總統身分最後一次向美國國民發表演。此文原刊於本社作者楊錦麟的微信頁，獲作者授權發表，文末附英文原文。以下為演講內容：
很高興回家，回家真好！
（奧巴馬調侃大家的熱烈掌聲）正如你們所見，我現在是個「跛腳鴨」總統，因為沒有人再聽從我的指示。
我和米歇爾對於近幾週我們收到來自各方的祝福表示十分的感動。今晚，我向大家說句謝謝了！也許我們未曾見面，也許我們意見不合，但謝謝美國人民對我的真誠。是你讓我成為了一位美國總統，是你讓我成為一個更棒的人。
回顧往事
我第一次來到芝加哥還是20歲出頭的時候，當時我還處在找到自我的階段，還在為自己的生活尋找方向。就在離這不遠的一個社區，我開始參與教會團體工作。在這些街區，我看到了信仰的力量，看到了勞動人民面對困境和失意時那種安靜的尊嚴。就在在這裡，我了解到只有普通民眾都參與進來，變革才會發生，只有我們的力量聯合起來，社會才會進步。
現在八年時間過去了，我仍然堅信這一點。我相信，這不只是我自己的一個信念，也是我們整個美國思想的核心所在──對自治進行大膽地嘗試。
我們的信念一直是，生來平等，造物者賦予我們一些不可剝奪的權利，其中包括生命，自由以及對幸福的追求。這些權利，雖然人人都有，但並不能自動實現，必須通過民主的工具，來創建一個更加完美的國家。
這是造物者賜予我們的禮物，我們擁有用汗水，辛勞和想像力去追逐我們的個人夢想和自由，同時也承擔有團結一致，實現更高目標的義務。我們的國家並不是一開始就是完美的，但是我們已經展示出了改變的能力，並為每一個追隨者提供更好的生活。
是的，我們的進步並不均衡，民主工作也一直很艱難，同時存在一定的爭議，並且有時是血腥的。每個向前邁兩步，給人的感覺往往是還要往後退一步。但是美國在漫長的發展過程中，我們一直銳意進取，不擁有我們的信條，去擁抱所有，而不僅是其中一部分。
權力交接問題
十天之內，世界將會見證我們民主的一個標誌：通過自由選舉，將總統的權利和平地移交給下一位總統。我向當選總統特朗普承諾，我會為他提供最平穩的過渡，就像布殊總統之前為我做的一樣。因為我們所有人都需要確保政府可以幫助我們應對目前面臨的諸多挑戰。
醫療保險問題
目前，美國未參保人數比例大幅下降，醫療保健費用增速已經降至過去50年以來最低水平。如果任何人能夠提出一項醫保政策，並切實證明新政策比上一屆政府提出的醫保改革更加有效，能夠盡可能地以較低價格覆蓋廣大美國人民，我會公開支持這種新的醫保政策。
種族和移民問題
美國總統大選結束後，一些人認為美國已經進入後種族時代。儘管這種種族融合的願望是好的，但是卻不太可能真正實現。目前，種族問題仍然是一個可能造成社會分裂的重大問題。以我個人經歷來看，如今美國社會的種族問題比20，30年前有了較大改善，這種社會進步不僅僅體現在統計數字中，也可以從不同政治觀念的年輕一代美國人的態度中看出來。
但是，我們的工作還遠遠沒有結束。我們每個人都還有很多工作去做。如果每個經濟問題都通過勤勞的美國中產階級與少數族群之間的衝突來解讀，那麼各個種族的工人階將為一點點剩餘的勞動果實爭得頭破血流，而那些富人會進一步收縮進他們自己的小圈子。如果我們只是因為移民後裔長得不像我們，就拒絕給這些孩子投資，那我們也是在犧牲美國人後代的希望，因為這些移民後裔未來會在美國工薪階層佔很大比例。
少數族裔問題
對於黑人和其他少數族群需要共同奮鬥來解決許多美國人面臨的問題，這不僅包括難民，移民，農村的群人和變性人，也包括那些看上去享受各種社會優待的中年男性白人，因為這些人都面臨全社會經濟，文化和科技發生重大變革的挑戰。
政治是一場觀點的較量，這也是民主體制的設計理念。但是，如果每個政治團體沒有一些社會共認，不願意去了解新的信息，不願意去承認對手方的合點，也不願意通過科學論據理性思考，那麼這場辯論中沒有人在聆聽，雙方就不可能產生共識或者妥協。
環境保護
如果我們不採取更加積極的環境保護措施，我們的下一代就沒有時間再討論環境變化是否存在，而是忙於處理環境變化帶來的後果，包括自然災害，經濟發展停滯以及環境難民尋求避難等問題。現在，我們能夠也應當討論環境變化問題。但是，如果我們只有否認環境問題存在，這不僅僅是背叛下一代，也背叛了歷史先驅者尋求創新並解決實際問題的精神。
恐怖襲擊
過去八年中，沒有任何一個境外恐怖主義組織成功地在美國本土上計劃並執行一次恐怖襲擊。儘管美國發生了本土滋擾的恐怖主義襲擊事件，包括波士頓馬拉松炸彈襲擊以及聖博娜迪諾襲擊事件。對於那些一直堅守在工作崗位上的反恐工作人員，擔任你們的指揮官是我一輩子的榮耀。
不論我們屬於哪一個黨派，我們所有人都應當致力於重建美國的民主政治制度。我們的民主憲法是一項傑出的成就，也是上天賜予的禮物，但是這僅僅是一張紙，憲法本身不具備任何力量。憲法的力量是我們美國人民通過參與選舉，做出決議賦予的。
致謝
米歇爾，過去二十五年中，你不只是我的妻子孩子的母親，也是我最好的朋友。你擔任了一個不是你爭取來的職責，但是你的優雅，勇氣和幽默都給這個身份烙上了你自己的印記。
（奧巴馬轉向他的女兒）你們兩個女孩聰明，美麗，更重要的是，你們善良而又充滿熱情。過去幾年中，你們沒有被聚光燈所累。在我的一生中，我為成為你們的父親而自豪。
（感謝副總統拜登）從賓州斯克蘭頓到特拉華州，你是我當選美國總統後提名的第一個人選，也是我最好的選擇。拜登是一個好兄弟，就像家人一樣。
（感謝工作人員）你們改變了這個世界。今晚，我將離開這個舞台，但是我對這個國家比我剛上任時更加樂觀。
號召
我希望你相信，不僅僅相信我能夠為美國帶來改變的能力，也相信你自己能夠改變這個國家的能力。
希望你們堅信美國建國憲章中記載的精神，相信奴隸和廢奴主義者傳播的平等觀念，相信曾經通過遊行爭取移民公平權利的精神，相信那些將美利堅旗幟插在海外戰場和月球表面的國家信念。這種信念存在於每個普通美國人的心中。
是的，我們能行。
是的，我們做到了。
是的，我們能行。
It’s good to be home！
You can tell that I’m a lame duck, because nobody is following instructions.
My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes we’ve received over the past few weeks. But tonight it’s my turn to say thanks. Whether we’ve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant outposts – are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.
I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, and I was still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. And it was a neighborhood not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together to demand it.
After eight years as your President, I still believe that. And it’s not just my belief. It’s the beating heart of our American idea – our bold experiment in self-government.
It’s the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It’s the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that We, the People, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union.
This is the great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat, toil, and imagination – and the imperative to strive together as well, to achieve a greater good.
Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some.
In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next. I committed to President-Elect Trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me. Because it’s up to all of us to make sure our government can help us meet the many challenges we still face.
Health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in 50 years. And I’ve said, and I mean it, anyone can put together a plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements we’ve made to our health care system, that covers as many people at less cost, I will publicly support it.
After my election there was talk of a post-racial America. And such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. Now I’ve lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, no matter what some folks say. You can see it not just in statistics. You see it in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.
But we’re not where we need to be. And all of us have more work to do. If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we’re unwilling to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they don’t look like us, we will diminish the prospects of our own children — because those brown kids will represent a larger and larger share of America’s workforce.
For blacks and other minority groups, that means tying our own very real struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face. Not only the refugee or the immigrant or the rural poor or the transgender American, but also the middle-aged white guy who from the outside may seem like he’s got all the advantages, but has seen his world upended by economic, and cultural, and technological change.
Look, politics is a battle of ideas. That’s how our democracy was designed. But without some common baseline of facts, without a willingness to admit new information and concede that your opponent might be making a fair point, and that science and reason matter, then we’re going to keep talking past each other. And we’ll make common ground and compromise impossible.
But without bolder action, our children won’t have time to debate the existence of climate change. They’ll be busy dealing with its effects. More environmental disasters, more economic disruptions, waves of climate refugees seeking sanctuary. Now we can and should argue about the best approach to solve the problem. But to simply deny the problem not only betrays future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country, the essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that guided our founders.
No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past eight years. Although Boston and Orlando and San Bernardino and Fort Hood remind us of how dangerous radicalization can be, our law enforcement agencies are more effective and vigilant than ever. We have taken out tens of thousands of terrorists, including Bin Laden. And all who serve or have served — it has been the honor of my lifetime to be your commander-in-chief.
All of us, regardless of party, should be throwing ourselves into the task of rebuilding our democratic institutions. Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power. We, the people, give it meaning.
Michelle….for the past 25 years you have not only been my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend. You took on a role you didn’t ask for. And you made it your own with grace and with grit and with style, and good humor.
You are smart and you are beautiful. But more importantly, you are kind and you are thoughtful and you are full of passion. you wore the burden of years in the spotlight so easily. Of all that I have done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.
To Joe Biden…You were the first decision I made as a nominee, and it was the best. Not just because you have been a great vice president, but because in the bargain I gained a brother. And we love you and Jill like family. And your friendship has been one of the great joys of our lives.
To my remarkable staff, for eight years, I have drawn from your energy. And every day I try to reflect back what you displayed. Heart and character. And idealism. I’ve watched you grow up, get married, have kids, start incredible new journeys of your own.
I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours.
I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written.
Yes, we can.
Yes, we did.
Yes, we can.
