美国国家公共电台 NPR W. Kamau Bell On The Meaning Of Patriotism

 

W. KAMAU BELL: My name is W. Kamau Bell. I'm a stand-up comedian¹ and host of CNN's "United Shades Of America." And I'm a dad. For me, you know, I don't think of myself as a patriot² first. I think of myself as someone who's fighting for the ideals that America has promised that it is about. So as a black man in America, I come from a long line of people who are fighting for what America had promised them. Some of those people are my family. And some of those people just share the same skin as me. And so, for me, it's part and parcel who I am as a black man in America - is that one of my jobs is to continue to fight for the rights that this country promised us and has yet to totally deliver on.

So, you know, I know that the word patriotism³ really rubs a lot of people the wrong way. And it's certainly not even something that I think of myself as when I get out of bed. I don't get out of bed and go, good morning, patriots⁴ (laughter) so - but that doesn't mean that when you're a person who gets out of bed in the morning and spends a majority of your day or part of your day fighting to make America a better version of itself that you're not engaging directly in patriotism. It's not just about the flag. It's not just about the anthem⁵. It's about what you do in the world.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

That was W. Kamau Bell who is host of CNN's "United Shades Of America."

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

3 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

4 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

5 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。