2007年VOA标准英语-50th Anniversary Celebrated of US Civil Rights

By Deborah Block
Washington
26 September 2007
 

Fifty years ago this week (Thursday, September 27th) the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1957 was signed into law.  It was the first of several civil rights acts over the next several decades to protect the rights of African-Americans and other minorities.  VOA's Deborah Block has details. 

The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal anti-discrimination legislation in 82 years.   It came at a time when southern states continued to pass laws segregating¹ blacks and whites -- in schools, lunch counters and other public places.

Then, African-Americans and their white supporters began to object.  In 1955, they opposed racial segregation² on city buses in Montgomery, Alabama.  A lone³ woman -- Rosa Parks -- refused to give up her seat to a white man. Several white liberals in Congress introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Others strongly opposed the initial bill, leading to passage of a watered-down version that President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law.

The legislation ensured African-American voting rights. And it created a division at the U.S. Justice Department to monitor civil rights abuses.   The act also set up the first Civil Rights Commission to investigate discrimination.  

Kenneth Marcus heads that commission now. "It was important in that it was the first commitment by Congress and the president since the mid-19th century to new civil rights," he says, "and it created an apparatus⁴ through which more work would be done in the 1960s."

Marcus says the bill also gave the Civil Rights Commission the ability to help protect minorities. "Our function has been to figure out what problems we have in this country, what legislation do we need, what sort of changes do we need in our federal process, and once those changes have been made, we do oversight⁵ to find out how are the civil rights enforcement agencies in this country doing their work."

Marcus says, however, that the bill was weak compared to other civil rights legislation in coming years.

"For instance, the 1957 act did not generally not prohibit employment discrimination in the way the 1964 act would.  It did not broadly prohibit voting rights discrimination in a way that was done in 1965.  And it generally didn't prohibit housing discrimination which was only done in 1968."

But he says it opened the door to new civil rights laws. "It led to a series of recommendations that in turn led to civil rights statutes⁶ in employment, in housing, in voting, in later years, gender⁷ equality legislation of various kinds, and more recently disability.  So in all these areas in respect to race, national origin, gender, disability, age and other groups, it's led to a wide range of changes. 

1 segregating   

（使）分开( segregate的现在分词 )； 分离； 隔离； 隔离并区别对待（不同种族、宗教或性别的人）

参考例句：

• The government has just repealed the law segregating the public facilities. 这个政府已经撤销了分离公共设施的法律。
• Siblings and dizygotic twins share only 50% of their segregating genes. 同卵双生双胞胎和双卵双生双胞胎分享仅50%的基因。

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 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

4 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 statutes   

成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程

参考例句：

• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

7 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。