English 中文網 漫畫網 愛新聞iNews 翻譯論壇
    中國網站品牌欄目(頻道)
    當前位置: Language Tips > Special Speed News VOA慢速


    American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    [ 2011-11-10 10:13]     字號 [] [] []  
    免費訂閱30天China Daily雙語新聞手機報:移動用戶編輯短信CD至106580009009

    <BR>American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

    Today, we tell about the movement for civil rights for black Americans.

    (SOUND)

    The day is August 28th, 1963. More than 250,000 people are gathered in Washington. Black and white, young and old, they demand equal treatment for black Americans. The nation's most famous civil rights leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, is speaking.

    MARTIN LUTHER KING: "I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of our nation."

    (MUSIC)

    Early in its history, black Africans were brought to America as slaves. They were bought and sold, like animals. By the time of America's Civil War in the 1860s, many had been freed by their owners. Many, however, still worked as slaves on the plantations, or large farms, of the South. By the end of the war, slavery had been declared unconstitutional. But that was only the first step in the struggle for equality.

    Most people of color could not get good jobs. They could not get good housing. They had far less chance of a good education than white Americans. For about 100 years, blacks made slow gains. Widespread activism for civil rights did not really begin until after World War Two. During the war, black Americans earned respect as members of the armed forces. When they came home, many demanded that their civil rights be respected, too. An organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, led the way.

    In 1951, the organization sent its lawyers to help a man in the city of Topeka, Kansas. The man, Oliver Brown, and 12 others had brought legal action against the city. They wanted to end racial separation in their children's schools. That policy was known as segregation.

    At that time, two of every five public schools in America had all white students or all black students. The law said all public schools must be equal, but they were not. Schools for white children were almost always better than schools for black children. The situation was worst in Southern states.

    The case against the city of Topeka -- Brown versus the Board of Education -- was finally settled by the nation's highest court. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools for black children were not equal to schools for white children. The next year, it said public schools must accept children of all races as quickly as possible.

    (MUSIC)

    <BR>American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    In September 1957, a black girl attempted to enter an all-white school in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas.

    (SOUND)

    An angry crowd shouted at her. State guards blocked her way. The guards had been sent by the state governor, Orville Faubus. After three weeks, a federal court ordered Governor Faubus to remove the guards. The girl, Elizabeth Eckford, and other black students were able to enter the school. After one day, however, riots forced the black students to leave.

    President Dwight Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock. They helped black students get into the white school safely. However, angry white citizens closed all the city's public schools. The schools stayed closed for two years.

    (MUSIC)

    In 1962, a black student named James Meredith sought to attend the University of Mississippi. School officials refused. John Kennedy, the president at that time, sent federal law officers to help him.

    James Meredith became the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

    In addition to fighting for equal treatment in education, black Americans fought for equal treatment in housing and transportation.

    (SOUND)

    In many cities of the South, blacks were forced to sit in the back of buses. In 1955, a black woman named Rosa Parks got on a bus in the city of Montgomery, Alabama. She sat in the back. The bus became crowded. There were no more seats for white people. So, the bus driver ordered Missus Parks to stand and give her seat to a white person.

    <BR>American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    She refused. Her feet were tired after a long day at work. Rosa Parks was arrested.

    MARTIN LUTHER KING: "For a number of years, Negro passengers on the city bus lines of Montgomery have been humiliated, intimidated, and faced threats on this bus line."

    The Reverend Martin Luther King organized the black citizens of Montgomery. They were the major users of the bus system. They decided to stop using the buses.

    MARTIN LUTHER KING: "At present, we are in the midst of a protest, the black citizens of Montgomery, representing some 44 percent of the population. Ninety percent, at least, of the regular Negro bus passengers are staying off the buses, and we plan to continue until something is done."

    (MUSIC)

    The boycott lasted a little more than a year. It seriously affected the earnings of the bus company. In the end, racial separation on the buses in Montgomery was declared illegal. Rosa Parks' tired feet had helped win black Americans another victory in their struggle for equal rights. And, the victory had been won without violence.

    The Reverend King was following the teachings of former Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi urged his followers to reach their political goals without violence. One of the major tools of non-violence in the civil rights struggle in America was the "sit-in". In a sit-in, protesters entered a store or public eating place. They quietly asked to be served. Sometimes, they were arrested. Sometimes, they remained until the business closed. But they were not served. Some went hours without food or water.

    (MUSIC: "Buses Are A-Coming")

    Another kind of protest was the "freedom ride." This involved buses that traveled through states from the North to the South. On freedom rides, blacks and whites sat together to make it difficult for officials to enforce racial separation laws on the buses.

    <BR>American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    Many freedom rides -- and much violence -- took place in the summer of 1964. Sometimes, the freedom riders were arrested. Sometimes, angry crowds of whites beat the freedom riders.

    (MUSIC)

    Perhaps the most dangerous part of the civil rights movement was the campaign to win voting rights for black Americans. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution said a citizen could not be denied the right to vote because of race or color. Several Southern states, however, passed laws to try to deny voting rights to blacks for other reasons.

    Martin Luther King and his supporters demanded new legislation to guarantee the right to vote. They held protests in the state of Alabama. In the city of Birmingham, the chief law officer ordered his men to fight the protesters with high-pressure water hoses and fierce dogs.

    People throughout the country watched the demonstration on television. The sight of children being beaten by policemen and bitten by dogs awakened many citizens to the civil rights struggle. Federal negotiators reached a compromise. The compromise was, in fact, a victory for the protesters. They promised to stop their demonstrations. In exchange, they would be permitted to vote.

    (MUSIC: "The Freedom Train Is Coming")

    President Lyndon Johnson signed a major civil rights bill in 1964. Yet violence continued in some places. Three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi. One was murdered in Alabama.

    Martin Luther King kept working toward the goal of equal rights. On April 4th 1968, he died working toward that goal.

    King was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee. He had gone there to support a strike by waste collection workers.

    WALTER CRONKITE: "Doctor King was standing on the balcony of his second floor hotel room tonight when, according to a companion, a shot was fired from across the street. In the friend's words, the bullet exploded in his face."

    CBS newsman Walter Cronkite.

    WALTER CRONKITE: "The police, who have been keeping a close watch over the Nobel Peace Prize winner because of Memphis' turbulent racial situation, were on the scene almost immediately. They rushed the 39 year old Negro leader to a hospital, where he died of a bullet wound in the neck."

    A white man, James Earl Ray, was tried and found guilty of the crime.

    (MUSIC)

    A wave of unrest followed the murder of Martin Luther King. Blacks in more than 100 cities in America rioted. In some cities, areas affected by the riots were not rebuilt for many years. The movement for civil rights for black Americans continued. But it became increasingly violent. The struggle produced angry, bitter memories. Yet it also produced some of the greatest words spoken in American history.

    <BR>American history: the Civil Rights Movement

    MARTIN LUTHER KING: "When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children -- black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics -- will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!'"

    (MUSIC)

    Nest week, we continue the story of the United States in the 1960s.

    You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and pictures at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember, inviting you to join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

    Related Stories:

    A memorial fit for a king opens in Washington

    Michelle Obama calls young Africans to action

    Obama honors Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Height, Hooks: the passing of two civil rights leaders

    (來源:VOA 編輯:Rosy)

     
    中國日報網英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883631聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。
     

    關注和訂閱

    人氣排行

    翻譯服務

    中國日報網翻譯工作室

    我們提供:媒體、文化、財經法律等專業領域的中英互譯服務
    電話:010-84883468
    郵件:translate@chinadaily.com.cn
     
     
    丰满白嫩人妻中出无码| 免费无码av片在线观看| 免费无码黄网站在线看| 精品久久亚洲中文无码| 无码人妻精品一区二区三区99仓本| 无码AV中文字幕久久专区| 久久久无码人妻精品无码| 国产精品99久久久精品无码 | 午夜福利无码不卡在线观看 | 色婷婷久久综合中文久久蜜桃av| 无码人妻久久久一区二区三区| 日日摸夜夜爽无码毛片精选| 7777久久亚洲中文字幕| 亚洲 另类 无码 在线| 精品久久久无码人妻中文字幕豆芽| 国产aⅴ无码专区亚洲av麻豆| 欧美日韩中文字幕久久伊人| 亚洲一本大道无码av天堂| 18禁网站免费无遮挡无码中文| 亚洲av无码成人黄网站在线观看| 免费无码又爽又刺激高潮软件| 亚洲欧美在线一区中文字幕| 暖暖免费在线中文日本| 人妻丰满av无码中文字幕| 中文字幕无码一区二区免费| 亚洲gv天堂无码男同在线观看| AAA级久久久精品无码区| 国产成人无码久久久精品一| 日韩免费无码一区二区三区| 亚洲乱亚洲乱妇无码麻豆| 狠狠躁天天躁中文字幕无码| 熟妇人妻中文a∨无码| 精品国产aⅴ无码一区二区| 一区二区三区无码视频免费福利| 日日摸夜夜添无码AVA片| 国产亚洲大尺度无码无码专线 | 亚洲av福利无码无一区二区| 狠狠躁天天躁中文字幕无码| 亚欧免费无码aⅴ在线观看| 无码人妻久久一区二区三区| 丰满岳乱妇在线观看中字无码|