Who Was Martin Luther King Jr 马丁·路德·金 Chapter 9 The Peace Prize

Martin showed people all over the world the power of words, not fists. In 1964, Martin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is given almost every year to the person or group who has done something important in the cause of world peace.
Martin was very grateful for this award. But he knew it wasn’t his alone—it belonged to the thousands of brave people who had taken part in the nonviolent fight for equal rights. Martin gave away all the prize money—fifty-four thousand dollars—to civil rights groups.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
ALFRED B. NOBEL WAS A SWEDISH CHEMIST AND ENGINEER WHO INVENTED DYNAMITE¹. WHEN NOBEL DIED In 1896, HE LEFT NINE MILLION DOLLARS In HIS WILL TO ESTABLISH THE NOBEL PRIZE. THE PRIZES ARE AWARDED ALMOST EVERY YEAR In SIX CATEGORIES: PEACE, LITERATURE, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, PHYSIOLOGY² OR MEDICINE, AND ECONOMICS. MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE--FROM TEACHERS TO JUDGES TO POLITICIANS—CAN BE NOMINATED FOR An AWARD. In SOME YEARS, AS MANY AS TWO HUNDRED NOMINATIONS³ ARE RECEIVED.
THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HAS BEEN AWARDED TO NINETY-FOUR PEOPLE AND NINETEEN ORGANIZATIONS SINCE 1901. SOME PAST WINNERS INCLUDE:
• PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER--2002
• NELSON MANDELA—1993
• ELIE WIESEL--1986
• MOTHER TERESA—1979
Martin Luther King, Jr., had won the Nobel Peace Prize, but he knew he had not reached his goal: equality for all people. He thought about the defeat in Albany and the success in Birmingham. Surely there were other cities where Martin could help end segregation⁴.
Martin’s eyes turned toward Selma, Alabama. Although half of Selma’s residents were black, only 1 percent was registered to vote. The voting office was only open a few days a month, which made it difficult for people to register. In addition, the literacy test was so hard, Martin said that even the chief justice of the Supreme⁵ Court might not know some answers.
For weeks Martin led groups to the courthouse to register to vote. But it was not legal to hold marches in Selma. So the groups were arrested. Thousands of black people were sent to jail just because they wanted the right to vote.
On February 1, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested during one of the marches. While Martin was in jail, a group called the Student Nonviolent Coordinating⁶ Committee invited a man named Malcolm X to Selma to speak.
Malcolm X was a young black leader who disagreed with Martin’s peaceful protests. Malcolm X did not believe in fighting with words alone. He thought it was okay to use your fists, and more. Malcolm X also spoke⁷ about “black pride”—how blacks should respect themselves, and be proud of their race.
While Martin Luther King, Jr., was in jail, he wrote a letter that was published in The New York Times. In the letter, Martin said, “There are more Negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls.”
Marches spread to many counties in Alabama. One night, a black marcher, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was shot during the voter registration⁸ drive. He was twenty-six years old. Before he died, Jimmie Lee said that a state trooper had gunned him down. The black community in Selma was outraged⁹. But Martin still did not want people to fight back with more violence. He thought Malcolm X was wrong. So Martin organized a march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, to demand voting rights for black people.
At the time, the governor of Alabama was George Wallace. He did not want the march to take place. He put a ban on it. Did this stop Martin? No. On March 7, six hundred and fifty marchers set out for Montgomery. Since this was a Sunday, Martin stayed back at his church in Atlanta to preach. He planned to take a plane to Montgomery later that day to meet up with the marchers.
As usual, the protesters were marching in peace. But soon, state troopers, armed with nightsticks and tear gas, appeared. They attacked the group. Some state troopers on horseback trampled¹⁰ the marchers. About seventy people were injured. The violence was captured by television cameras. People all over the country were so angry about what had happened that they protested in their own cities.
Martin, too, was horrified¹¹ at the news. He also felt guilty about not being with the marchers. So he planned another march two days later.
On March 9, Martin led a group of fifteen hundred from Selma toward Montgomery. Beforehand, Martin told people to leave the line if they had any doubts about remaining. He had to be sure that they wouldn’t fight back even if they were beaten up. As they crossed a bridge, the marchers faced a wall of state troopers. Martin saw that many would be hurt, even killed. Marching was one thing. Getting murdered was another. So he turned the group around.
Then good news arrived. Very good news. President Johnson said the protesters had the right to march. He promised to send in troops to protect the marchers.
Suddenly, people from all over the country wanted to join in. On March 21, the group set out—Protestants, Catholics, Jews, blacks, and whites, all marching together.
To Martin, it was a beautiful sight. People walked through quiet valleys and over steep hills. They walked along the highways, stopping only to rest for a minute or two. Their bodies ached. Their feet were sore. But their hearts were light.
By the time they reached Montgomery, they were twenty-five thousand strong. At the state capitol building, they handed a petition to
Governor George Wallace, demanding voting rights for black Americans.
On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. President Johnson said, “Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country, men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes.”
Now there would be no more literacy tests. And United States government workers would be in charge of registering voters. The Selma freedom marchers had won!
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR CAUSE
MEDGAR EVERS WAS FROM MISSISSIPPI. GROWING UP, HE ALWAYS QUESTIONED THE JIM CROW LAWS. BY THE TIME HE WAS In COLLEGE, HE STARTED LOCAL CHAPTERS OF THE NAACP. AND, AFTER BEING TURNED DOWN BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI LAW SCHOOL, HE FOUGHT FOR THE DESEGREGATION OF THE SCHOOL. On JUNE 12, 1963, EVERS WAS KILLED. HE WAS THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD.
A WHITE MAN NAMED BYRON DE LA BECKWITH WAS ACCUSED OF THE MURDER. HE STOOD TRIAL TWICE In THE 1960S. BUT THE ALL-WHITE JURIES In BOTH CASES COULD NOT DECIDE IF HE WAS GUILTY OR INNOCENT.
FINALLY, In A THIRD TRIAL, In 1994—THIRTY-ONE YEARS AFTER EVERS’S DEATH--BECKWITH WAS FOUND GUILTY. HE WAS SENTENCED TO LIFE In PRISON.
ANDREW GOODMAN WAS FROM NEW YORK CITY. In 1964, GOODMAN, AND MICKEY SCHWERNER, WHO WAS FROM PHILADELPHIA, WENT TO MISSISSIPPI TO REGISTER BLACKS TO VOTE. (BOTH ANDREW GOODMAN AND MICKEY SCHWERNER WERE WHITE.) On THE NIGHT OF JUNE 20, 1964, THE TWO REACHED MERIDIAN¹², MISSISSIPPI. THERE, A BLACK MAN NAMED JAMES CHANEY JOINED THE GROUP. THE THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS WERE ARRESTED FOR SPEEDING AND TOLD TO LEAVE TOWN. BUT MEMBERS OF A VIOLENT RACIST¹³ GROUP CALLED THE KU KLUX KLAN TRACKED THEM DOWN AND KILLED THEM. THEY WERE ALL YOUNG MEN WHEN THEY DIED--GOODMAN WAS TWENTY-ONE, SCHWERNER WAS TWENTY-FIVE, AND CHANEY WAS TWENTY-ONE.
In 1967, NINETEEN WHITE MEN WERE ARRESTED FOR THE DEATHS OF THE THREE CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS. SEVEN OF THE MEN WERE FOUND GUILTY. TWO MEN, E. G. BARNETT, WHO WAS RUNNING FOR SHERIFF OF MERIDIAN, AND EDGAR RAY KILLEN, A LOCAL MINISTER, WERE SET FREE BECAUSE THE JURY COULD NOT REACH A DECISION. IT WASN’T UNTIL ALMOST FORTY YEARS LATER, In 2005, THAT KILLEN WAS ALSO FOUND GUILTY OF THE MURDERS.

1 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

2 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

3 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

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 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

7 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。

8 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

9 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。

10 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

11 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

12 meridian   

adj.子午线的；全盛期的

参考例句：

• All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。
• He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

13 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。