Who Was Martin Luther King Jr 马丁·路德·金 Chapter 7 Freedom Comes to Birmingham

Martin Luther King, Jr., understood that the civil rights movement would suffer defeats. But now he was more determined¹ than ever to prove the power of peaceful protest. He looked for the city with the toughest Jim Crow laws. It was Birmingham, Alabama. If Albany, Georgia, was bad, Birmingham was worse. Schools were still segregated² in Birmingham. The water fountains were marked “colored” or “white.”
Birmingham’s police commissioner³ was Bull Connor. He was very tough on black people. He made them afraid to speak out against Jim Crow laws. Even the white people who did not like segregation⁴ were afraid to say anything.
Martin and the leaders of the Southern Christian⁵ Leadership Conference had a plan. Besides sit-ins at lunch counters, meetings were held at black churches all around Birmingham. At churches, protesters talked to people. They talked about peaceful protest. They sang freedom songs: “We shall overcome, Black and white together, We shall overcome someday.” As Martin knew, the songs inspired a crowd; they gave black people courage for a good cause.
The Birmingham protests began. After three days of sit-ins, thirty-five people had been arrested. Now it was time for th second part of Martin’s plan.
Martin and the leaders of the SCLC decided⁶ to boycott⁷ white businesses. Martin knew this would anger store owners. Almost half the people living in Birmingham were black. Without black customers, stores would have a hard time making money.
On April 6, Martin organized a march to the Birmingham City Hall. Many people joined this march. Bull Connor was growing angry. He and the policemen took clubs and beat some of the protestors. Police dogs were let loose. But the people did not run away. Instead, they became stronger.
After ten days, five hundred people had been sent to jail. Some were released on bail⁸, but about three hundred remained locked up.
Up until this time, Martin had not taken part in the marches. If he joined in, then he’d be arrested. And if he was in jail, he wouldn’t be able to stay in charge.
On April 12, Martin and the other leaders of the protest met in Martin’s hotel room. Martin’s father and brother were there, too. Martin Luther King, Sr., wanted his son to come home. Easter was on Sunday, and he wanted Martin back at church to preach. Some of the other leaders thought Martin should stay and lead a protest. Other leaders did not want him to march because they feared he would be arrested. And still others thought that Martin should try to raise money to bail out protesters from jail.
An argument started. Martin left the room to think and pray. When he returned, he was wearing jeans. (He wore jeans whenever he went to jail.) Martin had made up his mind: He would join the protestors on their next march.
Just as expected, Martin was arrested. Usually, he was able to call Coretta right away. But this time, he was not allowed to make a call. After two days, Coretta, who had recently given birth to their fourth child, became frantic⁹.
Martin had been put in a jail cell all by himself. No one was allowed to visit, not even his lawyers. The cell was small and very dark. The only light came from a tiny window near the ceiling. Martin was scared. He worried about his wife and family. He worried about other protesters.
Even white ministers were against Martin. In a letter to the Birmingham News, eight white pastors¹⁰ said that protest was wrong. They felt the SCLC should not break laws. They said that Martin and his group were stirring up hatred¹¹ and violence.
In response, Martin wrote a long letter. Since he did not have any paper in jail, he wrote on the edges of newspapers. He even wrote on toilet paper. In this letter, Martin said that people should obey just laws, but they should disobey unjust laws. Even so, he said, they should always behave peacefully. And people should be ready to accept punishment for disobeying the laws.
Martin willingly served his time in jail. After eight days, he was released. Martin could see the light of day again.
Now one of Martin’s advisers¹² had a new plan. He wanted to organize a “children’s march.” At first, Martin was against this plan. Wasn’t it too dangerous? But Martin’s advisers did not think that the police would throw children in jail.
Thousands of Birmingham children—from six-year-olds to teenagers—were trained in peaceful protest. They joined together in marches. And, yes—some children were put in jail.
On May 2, a huge demonstration¹³ was planned. Thousands of young people wanted to take part. At one black school, the principal locked up the gates to keep the students inside. But they climbed over the gates. This march was too important to miss. They were marching for freedom.
Bull Connor and his men came to the march, too. They brought clubs to beat the protestors. Police dogs ripped at the marchers’ clothes. The police knocked down people with blasts of water from giant fire hoses. Then the home of Martin’s brother was fire bombed. Other bombs were set around the city.
But reporters were there, too. And cameramen. They wrote stories. They filmed what was happening. By the 1960s, most American homes had a television. Through television, people became more connected to the outside world. It is one thing to read about an attack in a newspaper. It is quite different to see it happening on TV. Martin understood the power of television. He was glad that this struggle was being brought into people’s living rooms on a daily basis. Americans were outraged¹⁴!
Many white business leaders in Birmingham were fed up. But what upset many the most was not the violence, but all the lost business. They held a meeting and decided to give in on some of the marchers’ demands. These were some of the promises:
• Lunch counters, restrooms, fitting rooms, and drinking fountains would be desegregated.
• Blacks would be able to get better jobs.
• The protestors in jail would be released.
• A committee of black people and white people would be formed to help ease tensions between the races.
At last, the Jim Crow laws in Birmingham were gone. Martin had won a great victory!

1 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。

2 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 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。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

8 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

9 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

10 pastors   

n.（基督教的）牧师( pastor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers? 我们有没有尊敬牧师、宣教士，以及主日学的老师？ 来自互联网
• Should pastors or elders be paid, or serve as a volunteer? 牧师或长老需要付给酬劳，还是志愿的事奉呢？ 来自互联网

11 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

12 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

13 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

14 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。