In Selma, Ala., Kamala Harris reflects on the current fight for voting rights

In Selma, Ala., Kamala Harris reflects on the current fight for voting rights

Transcript¹

Vice² President Harris joined the march across the Edmund Pettus bridge on the 57th anniversary of Bloody³ Sunday, when Black voting rights activists⁴ were beaten by state troopers.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It has been 57 years since John Lewis and other civil rights activists were beaten by police as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. They were marching for voting rights. Vice President Harris went to Selma yesterday to commemorate⁵ that powerful moment in American history. As NPR's Scott Detrow reports, Harris used the trip to try and resurrect her own voting rights push.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: When I say voting, you say rights. Voting.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Rights.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Voting.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Rights.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE⁶: On a hot, sunny day in Selma, Ala., the politics of 2022 felt as present as the politics of 1965. The main point of the event was, of course, to commemorate the violent, bloody moment when state police attacked peaceful marchers.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: They were kneeling when the state troopers charged. They were praying when the billy clubs struck.

DETROW: But like so many people in Selma, Vice President Kamala Harris' mind was split between honoring the past and confronting the present, between the progress made since 1965 and the work that still needs to happen.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HARRIS: And nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to the ongoing⁷ fight to secure the freedom to vote.

DETROW: In Republican state after Republican state, voting access has been restricted. Harris is leading the Biden White House's efforts to confront the wave of new laws. It's a top administration priority, but right now it's going nowhere. In January, two voting rights bills stalled in the Senate. The Democrat-controlled chamber⁸ decided⁹ not to change its rules to allow them to pass easier. Harris acknowledged the setback¹⁰, trying to draw a parallel between that and the 1965 push.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HARRIS: Remember; it took three tries for the marchers to cross the bridge. It took their sweat, their tears, their blood.

DETROW: It's not clear how Harris and Democrats¹¹ can change the Senate math, but in Selma, she promised to try.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HARRIS: In a moment of great uncertainty¹², those marchers pressed forward.

DETROW: And after her speech, so did Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) ...To tell the Lord, nobody (ph)...

DETROW: Flanked by the families of Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, among others, the first Black vice president walked forward across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, retracing¹³ that famous march from 57 years ago, forward into what many see as a doomed¹⁴ fight to try and pass those stalled voting bills and forward with a trip to Poland and Romania later this week, where Harris and the Biden administration will try to organize allies against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's a war the administration is framing as a broader fight for democracy, one against autocracy¹⁵.

Scott Detrow, NPR News, Selma.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEN WILLIAMS' "THE DEATH OF EMMETT TILL (INSTRUMENTAL)")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 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》

5 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 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。

10 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

13 retracing   

v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We're retracing the route of a deep explorer mission. 我们将折回一个深入的探险路线中去。 来自电影对白
• Retracing my steps was certainly not an option. 回顾我的脚步并不是个办法。 来自互联网

14 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

15 autocracy   

n.独裁政治，独裁政府

参考例句：

• The revolution caused the overthrow of the autocracy.这场革命导致了独裁政体的结束。
• Many poor countries are abandoning autocracy.很多贫穷国家都在放弃独裁统治。