美国国家公共电台 NPR When MLK Was Killed, He Was In Memphis Fighting For Economic Justice

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're going to return now to our series on pivotal events from 1968 and a violent confrontation¹ that happened on this day. It set events in motion that led to the assassination² of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tenn.

Collecting trash is a dirty and often thankless job. And back in 1968, sanitation³ workers in Memphis had such dangerous working conditions that two men were killed on the job. African-American workers went on strike. King came to Memphis to support their cause. As the city prepares to mark 50 years since his assassination, NPR's Debbie Elliott revisits the sanitation workers strike.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE⁴: It's dark at the barn, really a giant parking lot full of garbage trucks.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIR BRAKES HISSING)

ELLIOTT: Driver Elmore Nickelberry walks around his truck, testing the equipment before heading out on the night shift.

ELMORE NICKELBERRY: I'm just ready to go.

ELLIOTT: Nickelberry is 86 and has been working for the Memphis Sanitation Department since he was 21. Today he's a driver with a crew of two, and his truck is equipped to lift and dump trash bins⁵. Back in the '50s and '60s, he did the lifting and dumping.

NICKELBERRY: When I first started, it was rough. I had to tote tubs on my head, on my shoulder, under my arms.

ELLIOTT: He rode on the back of the truck, jumping off to go into people's backyards to pick up garbage. It was a filthy⁶ job.

NICKELBERRY: And when you put it on your head, all that stuff run down your shoulder.

ELLIOTT: But the city didn't let African-American workers shower at the barn. That was reserved for the white drivers. And there was no place for them to take shelter in the rain. In early 1968, trash collectors Echol Cole and Robert Walker climbed into the back of a truck to escape a storm and were accidentally crushed to death by its compactor. In response, workers organized to demand better working conditions and higher pay. Nickelberry says they got no respect.

NICKELBERRY: Most of the time, they would call us boys. We'd get on the bus. They would - look at that old garbage man. And I know that I wasn't no garbage man. I just work in garbage.

ELLIOTT: The city rejected the workers' demands and refused to recognize their union. They walked off the job and marched downtown every morning, wearing sandwich boards and carrying placards that declared, I am a man. The strike was supported by local clergy⁷ active in the civil rights movement.

JAMES MORRIS LAWSON JR: I'm James Morris Lawson Jr. I am a retired⁸ United Methodist pastor⁹.

ELLIOTT: James Lawson, now 89 and living in Los Angeles, was pastor of Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis in 1968. He helped map strategy for the sanitation workers strike and spoke¹⁰ out against the city's leadership back then.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LAWSON JR: When a public official orders a group of men to get back to work, and then we'll talk and treats them as though they are not men, that's a racist¹¹ point of view, for at the heart of racism¹² is the idea that a man is not a man.

I used some of the movement's language that, you are men. You're a child of God. You are somebody. Segregation¹³ tries to pretend that you're not a human being; you're not a man. (Laughter) But you have to fight that as you are now engaged in this struggle. You yourselves must claim your humanity before God.

ELLIOTT: Lawson had studied Gandhi's nonviolent methods as a missionary¹⁴ in India and had come south at the urging of Martin Luther King.

LAWSON JR: The climate in Memphis was that of a pretty fierce racism.

ELLIOTT: There were no black supervisors¹⁵ at the sanitation department, and wages were so meager¹⁶ many of the workers used food stamps to eat. They called the public works barn the plantation¹⁷. King was focused on building the Poor People's Campaign at the time, and Lawson says the sanitation workers' plight¹⁸ was a natural fit. The strike was languishing¹⁹, so to help galvanize support in the broader black community, Lawson invited King to come speak.

LAWSON JR: And so when I called him, King immediately said, of course, yes.

FRED DAVIS: That's me and him on his last march.

ELLIOTT: Fred Davis is looking at a photograph taken on March 28, 1968. Davis, one of the city's first African-American city councilmen at the time, is marching alongside King with a crowd following behind. As the march rounded a corner, he says, a group of young men broke away.

DAVIS: They started throwing bricks in the windows of the businesses and taking sticks and breaking the windows out and then all hell broke loose, and the police moved in with tear gas and night sticks.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: Two of us councilmen were accosted²⁰ about police, and we tried to explain to them we were a member of the city council. And they replied they didn't give a damn.

ELLIOTT: The march was turned back, and organizers took Dr. King to safety, fearing he would be targeted. Police killed a 16-year-old suspected of looting. Dozens of people were injured and more than 250 arrested.

DAVIS: It came apart, and Dr. King was very disappointed.

ELLIOTT: By nightfall, armored tanks rolled into town with some 3,800 National Guard troops. And the city imposed a curfew. Mayor Henry Loeb...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HENRY LOEB: When the march degenerated²¹ into a riot abandoned by its leaders, the police, with my full sanction, took the necessary action to restore law and order.

ELLIOTT: King joined organizers for a news conference that evening to say the marches would continue.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: Since the unfortunate developments today took place, I'll probably have to stay longer than I originally planned, but I don't know if...

ELLIOTT: King had come to Memphis at a time when race riots were breaking out in cities across the country, so to have violence here was a major setback²². Historian Taylor Branch...

TAYLOR BRANCH: He feared that the press would say that nonviolence was dead. That's why he was so determined²³ to come back to Memphis.

ELLIOTT: He returned in early April.

NICKELBERRY: He got shot right up there.

ELLIOTT: Sanitation worker Elmore Nickelberry's downtown trash route takes him by the Lorraine Motel where King was killed on April 4.

NICKELBERRY: You can see where he stood up on the balcony right there.

ELLIOTT: Nickelberry says he'll never forget what King did.

NICKELBERRY: A man coming to Memphis - Martin Luther come to Memphis to help, to help the sanitation department. And then the man get killed. I don't like to talk about it. You feel mighty²⁴ bad a man come to help you and then he killed. That's bad. That's bad.

ELLIOTT: After King's assassination, the city settled with striking workers and recognized their union. They got showers, uniforms, higher wages and African-American supervisors. Today that same union, the American Federation²⁵ of State, County and Municipal Employees, is still advocating for Memphis sanitation workers.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Repeat after me. I...

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: I...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...Am...

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: ...Am...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...A man.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: ...A man.

ELLIOTT: They were part of a working people's day of action recently at Clayborn Temple, the historic building where sanitation workers organized in '68.

(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)

ELLIOTT: Maurice Spivey is the union chapter chairperson for Memphis sanitation workers.

MAURICE SPIVEY: The issues today are safe working conditions and those critical four words that we spoke 50 years ago. I am a man.

ELLIOTT: Spivey says among other things, they're seeking air conditioning for the garbage trucks, a pay raise and benefits for temporary employees. Seventy-five-year-old sanitation worker Cleophus Smith is one of the original strikers. He says they just want pay and benefits more in line with other city employees.

CLEOPHUS SMITH: I make about $18 an hour. That's all I've been making for the last nine years.

ELLIOTT: Activists²⁶ say the issue of economic justice that King was pursuing remains²⁷ relevant in Memphis, a majority black city where the poverty rate for African-Americans is double that of the white population. P. Moses, a Memphis organizer with Black Lives Matter, says the movement shares common ground with I am a man.

P MOSES: One is a cry, and the other is a outcry.

ELLIOTT: Moses says both attempt to acknowledge a shared humanity regardless of race or gender²⁸.

MOSES: The phrase I am a man signifies dignity. It was, I want to be treated like a man. A lot of times people think that I'm just a Black Lives Matter activists, but actually I'm a human rights advocate. And when I say I am a man, I am saying that I am somebody; please treat me accordingly.

ELLIOTT: She says black citizens are still trying to be treated with dignity.

MOSES: We not just being treated unfairly on the job. We being treated unfairly in school. We being treated unfairly when we're accused of something. We're being treated unfairly when we're considered for a job. We're being treated unfairly when we walk down the street.

ELLIOTT: What's different today is that Memphis leaders acknowledge that the city was on the wrong side of history in 1968.

MICHAEL RALLINGS: I think it's important that we celebrate the legacy²⁹ of those that fought for people like me to be here today as the police director.

ELLIOTT: The city's top law enforcement officer, Michael Rallings, is African-American but still grapples with longstanding issues of trust.

RALLINGS: Communities of color often feel as though law enforcement is not supporting their communities and their goals. You know, we try to work hard to build relationships with our community, but it's a everyday struggle.

ELLIOTT: Rallings says it's those same communities that have high rates of violence and miserable³⁰ education outcomes. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says the city is prepared for the scrutiny³¹ that will come as the nation commemorates³² 50 years since King's assassination here. It's a better place, he says, but with work to be done.

JIM STRICKLAND: I love Memphis. I'm so optimistic about our future. But I don't want to act like I'm ignorant of our challenges. Violent crime is way too high. Poverty is way too high. Too few kids are getting properly educated.

ELLIOTT: Last year, the city maneuvered³³ around Tennessee law to have Confederate statues removed from public parks, and it paid the 1968 sanitation workers a lump sum of $70,000 each because they'd never been eligible³⁴ for a city pension.

STRICKLAND: We have momentum³⁵ to address the vestiges³⁶ of racism and what racism has left us, which is an unfair system.

ELLIOTT: Back on the night shift, 86-year-old Elmore Nickelberry says the city payment has him planning for retirement³⁷.

NICKELBERRY: I'm hanging up my hat. I'm going to California, put on Bermuda shorts and running my feet through the sand and see what's going on.

ELLIOTT: After 64 years of cleaning up the city, he'll retire at the end of April.

NICKELBERRY: You have a good night now.

(SOUNDBITE OF AIR BRAKES HISSING)

ELLIOTT: Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Memphis.

1 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

4 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。

5 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

6 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

7 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

12 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

13 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

14 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

15 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

16 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

17 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

18 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。

19 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

20 accosted   

v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的过去式和过去分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭

参考例句：

• She was accosted in the street by a complete stranger. 在街上，一个完全陌生的人贸然走到她跟前搭讪。
• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him. 他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 degenerated   

衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The march degenerated into a riot. 示威游行变成了暴动。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

22 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

23 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

24 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

25 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

26 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

28 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

29 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

30 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

31 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

32 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

33 maneuvered   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• I maneuvered my way among the tables to the back corner of the place. 我在那些桌子间穿行，来到那地方后面的角落。 来自辞典例句
• The admiral maneuvered his ships in the battle plan. 舰队司令按作战计划进行舰队演习。 来自辞典例句

34 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

35 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

36 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

37 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。