美国国家公共电台 NPR--The Old North Church, a Boston landmark, reckons with its role in slavery

The Old North Church, a Boston landmark¹, reckons with its role in slavery

Transcript²

The Old North Church, a famed stop on Boston's Freedom Trail and a symbol of American liberty, reckons with its ugly history of trafficking enslaved people, including children.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Boston's Old North Church is part of the story of the American Revolution. It was said to be used as a signal tower for American rebels. Now it's one of the historic landmarks³ along Boston's Freedom Trail, and historians are adding some complexity⁴ to its history. The revolution prompted Massachusetts and some other states to ban slavery, but slavery was legal there before the war, and some members of the church practiced it. From GBH News in Boston, Meg Woolhouse has more.

MEG WOOLHOUSE, BYLINE⁵: The austere⁶ white steeple at Old North Church summons up images of American liberty, but the church is also home to some ugly truths about Boston's colonial history.

MATTHEW CADWELL: It's complicated at Old North because Old North is such a symbol of freedom.

WOOLHOUSE: That's Old North's vicar, Matthew Cadwell, who leads the modern-day congregation.

CADWELL: New England in general has done an excellent job of whitewashing⁷ our history. It touched every area of Boston, including the church.

WOOLHOUSE: Old North Church has embarked⁸ on efforts to share its fuller story, one where battle cries for freedom are entwined with enslavement and subjugation⁹. As the church reckons with its past, it's not hiding those grim details and even inviting¹⁰ students and tourists to consider the paradox¹¹ it represents. That includes ugly revelations by historian Jared Ross Hardesty about a vaunted member of its early congregation, Captain Newark Jackson.

JARED ROSS HARDESTY: Yes, he was trafficking humans.

WOOLHOUSE: Hardesty says it was fairly common for families to own slaves in 1700s Boston. But he learned that Jackson was a smuggler¹² who traded enslaved adults and children for cacao, the bean that's a key component¹³ of chocolate.

HARDESTY: We found an entire smuggling¹⁴ ring that was smuggling cacao out of Suriname, and one of the products that they were exchanging for cacao were enslaved people, captives from Africa.

WOOLHOUSE: That shocked the foundation that runs the church as a tourism destination. Old North Illuminated¹⁵ had operated a popular tour spot called Captain Jackson's Chocolate Shop for a decade. The foundation's Nikki Stewart says after the revelations, it closed the shop down.

NIKKI STEWART: We just didn't want to continue glorifying¹⁶ this person that we had kind of plucked from obscurity who it turned out didn't deserve the pedestal.

WOOLHOUSE: Other changes have followed as Old North prepares to celebrate its 300th birthday next year.

(SOUNDBITE OF ORGAN MUSIC)

WOOLHOUSE: The gilded¹⁷ pipe organ on the balcony still plays, but high school students on field trips also learn about the poor and enslaved who sat in the cold reaches of the church for services, far from the prominent white church members. And the people who were grinding the cacao? They were often slaves. Imari Paris Jeffries, director of Embrace Boston, a nonprofit dedicated¹⁸ to building equity¹⁹ in Boston, says the steps Old North has taken help foster empathy in a city and nation that needs it.

IMARI PARIS JEFFRIES: It helps other folks who are not of color understand how the plight²⁰ of people of color has been intergenerationally charged in our country.

WOOLHOUSE: In a few weeks, the group will unveil a new monument dedicated to civil rights leaders along the Freedom Trail. On a recent afternoon, a stream of all-white tourists visiting Old North pass by Captain Jackson's Chocolate Shop, now a gift shop. Even learning the slave history, New Yorker Christine Postilli says she's still deeply inspired by the church's freedom story, while acknowledging the, quote, "sins of the past."

CHRISTINE POSTILLI: It's a very, very happy thing. It's great when people come together and fight for something together, right?

WOOLHOUSE: And it's in that spirit that Cadwell, Old North's vicar, says there's still work to be done. The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts recently approved a reparations fund related to slavery.

For NPR News, I'm Meg Woolhouse in Boston.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

4 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。

7 whitewashing   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的现在分词 )； 喷浆

参考例句：

• Tom went on whitewashing the fence, paying no attention to Ben. 汤姆没有理睬本，继续在粉刷着篱笆。
• When whitewashing the wall, he painted with a roller in his hand. 刷墙的时候，他手里拿个辊子，挥舞着胳膊。

8 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

9 subjugation   

n.镇压，平息，征服

参考例句：

• The Ultra-Leftist line was a line that would have wrecked a country, ruined the people, and led to the destruction of the Party and national subjugation. 极左路线是一条祸国殃民的路线，亡党亡国的路线。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• This afflicted German intelligence with two fatal flaws: inefficiency, and subjugation to a madman. 这给德国情报工作造成了两个致命的弱点，一个是缺乏效率，另一个是让一个疯子总管情报。 来自辞典例句

10 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

11 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

12 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

13 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

14 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

15 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

16 glorifying   

赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣

参考例句：

• I had no intention of either glorifying or belittling Christianity, merely the desire to understand it. 我并没有赞扬基督教或蔑视它的立意，我所想的只是了解它。
• You are glorifying a rather mediocre building. 你正在美化一栋普普通通的建筑。

17 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

18 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

19 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

20 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。