1960s Civil Rights Leaders Hopeful about Changes Coming to US

 

Bob Moses says the United States is at "a lurching moment" for racial change. He believes these days could be as important for Americans as the Civil War and the 1960s civil rights movement he helped lead.

Moses was an organizer of the 1964 "Freedom Summer" project in Mississippi. The goal of the campaign was to register as many African American voters as possible.

"What we are experiencing now as a nation has only happened a couple times in our history," Moses told The Associated Press, or AP.

"These are moments when the whole nation is lurching, and it's not quite sure which way it's going to lurch," he said.

Now 85-years-old, Moses is still active with The Algebra¹ Project, which he established. During the civil rights movement, Moses was among the many people who risked jail time, violence and even death. In doing so, they fought against racial segregation² and for voting rights in the South.

AP reporters asked those active in the civil rights movement for their thoughts on the current protests across the country. These demonstrations³ have resulted from police killings⁴ of Black men in Minnesota and Georgia.

Jesse Jackson was a close aide to the Martin Luther King Junior, the famed civil rights leader who was murdered in 1968. Jackson is the head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition⁵, a Chicago, Illinois-based group that fights for social change.

"We have kind of the perfect storm," Jackson said. "You've got COVID-19, you've got ‘Code Blue' — police brutality⁶ — you have poverty, and you have Trump⁷."

Studies show that Black people have suffered more than other groups from the coronavirus, the resulting economic downturn and at the hands of police. And studies of likely voters show most Black people are opposed to President Donald Trump. But Jackson noted⁸ it is not just Blacks taking to the streets in large numbers.

"They have been more massive, more rainbow and more global," he said.

Bobby Seale, a political activist⁹, co-created the Black Panther Party in 1966. The 83-year-old praised the current demonstrations for bringing in hundreds of thousands of people. These are far greater numbers that he could gather back in his day.

"I love it," Seale said, laughing, from his home in Oakland, California.

Like Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young worked with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. He later was elected as Atlanta's mayor, served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and worked as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Young says he is surprised at both the sizes of the current protests and how quickly they formed. He recalled activists¹⁰ spending three months to organize for a 1963 Birmingham, Alabama campaign in which King and other protesters were jailed. He said only a small number of the 500 demonstrators they sought showed up.

James Meredith became the first African American to study at the University of Mississippi in 1962. Meredith, who turns 87 this month, has seen himself on a lifelong mission from God to stop white supremacy¹¹. From his home in Jackson, Mississippi, he said it is a sign from God that a young girl filmed George Floyd's death at the hands of police. He told the AP that kind of evidence calls attention to continued violence against Black people.

"Every time it looks like it's going to be over, the same thing that's been happening now for 500 years, happens over and over," he said.

Bobby Seale said activists should use the energy from the diverse coalition growing in the streets to register new voters for lasting¹² political change.

Jesse Jackson suggested that the demonstrators, in addition to calling for police reforms, should expand their efforts. "Racism¹³ is bone deep; it's not just police," he said.

Former U.S. Senator Fred Harris, 89, is the last surviving member of the 1968 Kerner Commission. That was a government effort to examine the riots in American cities at the time. Harris said he is "as angry as the protesters" because racism, inequality and poverty continue to exist all these years later. But he warned that violence leads to more injustice¹⁴.

"I'm hopeful, though," Harris, who is white, said from his home in New Mexico.

But Bob Moses is not as sure. America has "lurched" forward racially, then fallen back before. The freeing of African slaves after the Civil War eventually led to segregation in the South. Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolence movement and racial progress slowed after his death.

But Moses also thinks the video of Floyd dying slowly under a white police officer's knee presents a powerful image.

"Some Americans were shocked, it seems to me, to discover they had actually been swimming in this deep, deep sea and didn't understand it," he said.

I'm Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

lurch(ing) – v. to move or walk in an awkward or unsteady way

quite – adv. to a very noticeable degree or extent

segregation – n. the practice or policy of keeping people of different races or religions separate from each other

brutality -n. cruel, harsh, and usually violent treatment of another person

global – adj. involving the entire world

mission – n. a task or job that someone is given to do

white supremacy – n. the belief that the white race is better than all other races and should have control over all other races

diverse – adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

1 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

2 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。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 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》

11 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

12 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

13 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。

14 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。