VOA标准英语2014--Safe House Provided Security for Martin Luther King During 1963 Campaign 1963年马丁·路德·金的藏身之所

 

Safe House Provided Security for Martin Luther King During 1963 Campaign 1963年马丁·路德·金的藏身之所

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA — President Barack Obama will lead the nation in paying tribute to the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 20. The federal holiday celebrates the achievements of the Baptist minister, who rose to become the voice of the civil rights movement in the1950s and 1960s. One of his greatest victories took place more than 50 years ago in Birmingham, Alabama. VOA’s Chris Simkins takes us to the safe house where King met with other civil rights leaders.

Martin Luther King Jr. came to Birmingham in 1963, to the place he called the most racially segregated¹ city in the United States. “To dramatize this blatant² injustice³. And to demand that the federal government not put a cent in this city unless it decides to face the realities of desegregation,” said King.

King and other civil rights leaders launched a campaign pressing the city to abolish laws that kept blacks and whites separated in schools, restaurants and other public places.

Some of the protests turned violent and hundreds of demonstrators were arrested.

To escape the chaos⁴ and have a place to work, King sought refuge inside a Birmingham safe house. Jeff Drew, a civil rights activist⁵ whose parents were friends of Dr. King, now owns the home.  

"He could do what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted, without fear of any reprisal⁶ inside these walls. It gave him the sanctuary⁷ to pray, to think and write," he said.

But this neighborhood was anything but quiet 50 years ago, as there were numerous racially motivated bombings at homes, giving this community the nickname Dynamite⁸ Hill.

Bomb's exploded nearby and the house came under fire from white segregationists.

"This room was protected by that big wall out there to stop the bullets from coming in here," said Drew. He said King stayed at the house 20 times during the Birmingham campaign. He slept in this bedroom and during the day met with civil rights leaders to map out strategy and negotiate a settlement with white business owners.

"Right here was where the end of the Birmingham business boycott⁹ was negotiated. Business leaders agreed to hire blacks as sales people and to remove the colored and white signs at the bathrooms and water fountains," he said.

Drew also remembers listening to a tense telephone conversation between King and President John Kennedy when King demand that the federal government stop the violence.

"His [King's] side of the conversation went like this, 'We want the entire country to know that your administration supports racial inequality here in Birmingham, and brutality¹⁰ as well. And so we are going to continue the demonstration,' and he hung the phone up, slammed the phone down."

The next morning Drew said federal troops dispatched by the president set up a command post outside the home, and tensions eased.

Lawrence Pijeaux, President of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute said King's success in the city had an impact nationwide. "In legislation that provided an opportunity for our people to have access to important things: education, housing, healthcare, voting rights. Those things came about primarily because of what happen in Birmingham, Alabama," he said

 

Drew wants to preserve the house to remind people of the sacrifices made by King and thousands of African Americans.

1 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。

2 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

3 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。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 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。

6 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。

7 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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