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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about W.E.B. Du Bois. He was an African-American writer, teacher and protest leader.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:


William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois fought for civil rights for black people in the United States. During the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties, he was the person most responsible for the changes in conditions for black people in American society. He also was responsible for changes in the way they thought about themselves.

William Du Bois was the son of free blacks who lived in a northern state. His mother was Mary Burghardt. His father was Alfred Du Bois. His parents had never been slaves. Nor were their parents. William was born into this free and independent African-American family in eighteen sixty-eight in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

VOICE TWO:

William's mother felt that ability and hard work would lead to success. She urged him to seek an excellent education. In the early part of the century, it was not easy for most black people to get a good education. But William had a good experience in school. His intelligence earned him the respect of other students. He moved quickly through school.

It was in those years in school that William Du Bois learned what he later called the secret of his success. His secret, he said, was to go to bed every night at ten o'clock.

VOICE ONE:

After high school, William decided1 to attend Fisk University, a college for black students in Nashville, Tennessee. He thought that going to school in a southern state would help him learn more about the life of most black Americans. Most black people lived in the South in those days.

He soon felt the effects of racial prejudice. He found that poor, uneducated white people judged themselves better than he was because they were white and he was black. From that time on, William Du Bois opposed all kinds of racial prejudice. He never missed a chance to express his opinions about race relations.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

William Du Bois went to excellent colleges, Harvard University in Massachusetts and the University of Berlin in Germany. He received his doctorate2 degree in history from Harvard in eighteen ninety-five.

His book, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, was published four years later. It was the first study of a black community in the United States. He became a professor of economics3 and history at Atlanta University in eighteen ninety-seven. He remained there until nineteen ten.

William Du Bois had believed that education and knowledge could help solve the race problem. But racial prejudice in the United States was causing violence. Mobs4 of whites killed blacks. Laws provided for separation of the races. Race riots5 were common.

The situation in the country made Mister Du Bois believe that social change could happen only through protest.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Du Bois's belief in the need for protest clashed6 with the ideas of the most influential7 black leader of the time, Booker T. Washington.

Mister Washington urged black people to accept unfair treatment for a time. He said they would improve their condition through hard work and economic gain. He believed that in this way blacks would win the respect of whites.

Mister Du Bois attacked this way of thinking in his famous book, The Souls of Black Folk. The book was a collection of separate pieces he had written. It was published in nineteen-oh-three.

In the very beginning of The Souls of Black Folk he expressed the reason he felt the book was important:

VOICE THREE:

Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.

VOICE TWO:

Later in the book, Mister Du Bois explained the struggle blacks, or Negroes as they then were called, faced in America:

VOICE THREE:

One ever feels his twoness -- an American, a Negro: two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideas in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder8. ... He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.

VOICE ONE:

W.E.B. Du Bois charged that Booker Washington's plan would not free blacks from oppression, but would continue it. The dispute between the two leaders divided blacks into two groups 鈥?the conservative9 supporters of Mister Washington and his extremist opponents.

In nineteen-oh-five, Mister Du Bois established the Niagara Movement to oppose Mister Washington. He and other black leaders called for complete political, civil and social rights for black Americans.

The organization did not last long. Disputes among its members and a campaign against it by Booker T. Washington kept it from growing. Yet the Niagara Movement led to the creation10 in nineteen-oh-nine of an organization that would last: the National Association for the Advancement11 of Colored People. Mister Du Bois became director of research for the organization. He also became editor of the N.A.A.C.P. magazine, The Crisis12.

VOICE TWO:

W.E.B. Du Bois felt that it was good for blacks to be linked through culture and spirit to the home of their ancestors. Throughout his life he was active in the Pan-African movement. Pan-Africanism was the belief that all people who came from Africa had common interests and should work together in their struggle for freedom.

Mister Du Bois believed black Americans should support independence for African nations that were European colonies. He believed that once African nations were free of European control they could be markets for products and services made by black Americans.

He believed that blacks should develop a separate group economy. A separate market system, he said, could be a weapon for fighting economic injustice13 against blacks and for improving their poor living conditions.

Mister Du Bois also called for the development of black literature and art. He urged the readers of the N.A.A.C.P. magazine, The Crisis, to see beauty in black.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen thirty-four, W. E. B. Du Bois resigned from his position at The Crisis magazine. It was during the severe economic depression in the United States. He charged that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People supported the interests of successful blacks. He said the organization was not concerned with the problems of poorer blacks.

Mister Du Bois returned to Atlanta University, where he had taught before. He remained there as a professor for the next ten years. During this period, he wrote about his involvement in both the African and the African-American struggles for freedom.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen forty-four, Mister Du Bois returned to the N.A.A.C.P. in a research position. Four years later he left after another disagreement with the organization. He became more and more concerned about politics. He wrote:

VOICE THREE:

As...a citizen of the world as well as of the United States of America, I claim the right to know and think and tell the truth as I see it. I believe in Socialism as well as Democracy. I believe in Communism wherever and whenever men are wise and good enough to achieve it; but I do not believe that all nations will achieve it in the same way or at the same time. I despise14 men and nations which judge human beings by their color, religious beliefs or income. ... I hate War.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen fifty, W. E. B. Du Bois became an official of the Peace Information Center. The organization made public the work other nations were doing to support peace in the world.

The United States government accused the group of supporting the Soviet15 Union and charged its officials with acting16 as foreign agents. A federal judge found Mister Du Bois not guilty. But most Americans continued to consider him a criminal. He was treated as if he did not exist.

In nineteen sixty-one, at the age of ninety-two, Mister Du Bois joined the Communist party of the United States. Then he and his second wife moved to Ghana in West Africa. He gave up his American citizenship17 a year later. He died in Ghana on August twenty-seventh, nineteen sixty-three.

His death was announced the next day to a huge crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands of blacks and whites had gathered for the March on Washington to seek improved civil rights in the United States. W. E. B. Du Bois had helped make that march possible.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This Special English program was written by Vivian Chakarian and produced by Caty Weaver18. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week to another PEOPLE IN AMERICA program on the Voice of America

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 decided lvqzZd     
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。
2 doctorate fkEzt     
n.(大学授予的)博士学位
参考例句:
  • He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
  • Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士?
3 economics grzxZ     
n.经济学,经济情况
参考例句:
  • He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学,该学科是很重要的。
  • One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。
4 mobs da8e95c51590ac43e4c86b358fc912fc     
v.聚众包围( mob的第三人称单数 );聚众闹事
参考例句:
  • There was a raid on a bank by armed mobs yesterday. 昨天发生了一起武装暴徒抢劫银行的事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The following day mobs seized the Parliament building. 第二天暴徒占领了议会大厦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 riots riots     
n. 暴乱, 骚乱, 暴动 vi. 骚乱, 闹事
参考例句:
  • the instigators of the riots 煽动骚乱的人
  • The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent. 骚乱清楚地表明了人们的不满情绪。
6 clashed c50b1a68c35cdd8163b8ede83f8987a0     
发出撞击声(clash的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • The color of the curtains clashed with the color of the carpet. 窗帘的颜色与地毯的颜色不协调。
  • Her wedding clashed with my examination, so I couldn't go. 她的婚礼与我的考试冲突,因此我无法参加。
7 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
8 asunder GVkzU     
adj.分离的,化为碎片
参考例句:
  • The curtains had been drawn asunder.窗帘被拉向两边。
  • Your conscience,conviction,integrity,and loyalties were torn asunder.你的良心、信念、正直和忠诚都被扯得粉碎了。
9 conservative jprzC     
adj.保守的,守旧的;n.保守的人,保守派
参考例句:
  • He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
  • The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。
10 creation CzExH     
n.创造,创造的作品,产物,宇宙,天地万物
参考例句:
  • Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
  • The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。
11 advancement tzgziL     
n.前进,促进,提升
参考例句:
  • His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
  • The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。
12 crisis pzJxT     
n.危机,危急关头,决定性时刻,关键阶段
参考例句:
  • He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明,在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
  • The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。
13 injustice O45yL     
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。
14 despise PmqzQ     
vt.看不起,轻视,鄙视
参考例句:
  • Don't cheat at exams or others will despise you.考试不要作弊,否则别人会瞧不起你。
  • No one will despise you.没有人鄙视你。
15 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃
参考例句:
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
16 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
17 citizenship AV3yA     
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份)
参考例句:
  • He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生,但没有瑞典公民身分。
  • Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后,她选择了澳大利亚国籍。
18 weaver LgWwd     
n.织布工;编织者
参考例句:
  • She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
  • The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

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