时代周刊 金博士遗产的洗白和复兴(2)

King did not craft this conclusion from thin air. This was a lesson learned from experience.

这个结论并非金凭空捏造而来，而是真真切切的教训。

The brutality¹ of the South and the hypocrisy² of the country

南方的残暴和这个国家的虚伪

led him to conclude that the view of racial equality as a charitable enterprise distorted the principles of democracy itself

使他总结出了，种族平等是一项慈善事业这一观念不仅歪曲了民主原则，

and disfigured the moral character of those who believed the lie.

也损坏了那些相信了这一谎言的人的道德品质。

Nearly a year after his refusal to leave his bed, in August 1967,

1967年8月，在他拒绝下床将近一年之后，

King stated plainly "that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously."

金明确指出：“绝大多数美国白人都是种族主义者，不管是有意识还是无意识的。”

Eight months later, he would lie dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

就在他发表这一言论的八个月后，他就将死在洛林汽车旅馆的阳台上。

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. has been dead for 50 years now, and over this half-century his bones have been picked clean.

如今，马丁·路德·金已经离世50年了，在过去的半个世纪里，他的名声已经被洗得干干净净。

Conservatives invoke³ his name in defense⁴ of their vision of a color-blind society.

保守派用他的名字为他们对色盲人群的愿景辩护。

Liberals use him to authenticate⁵ their own politics.

自由主义者用他来验证他们自己的政治观点。

Black politicians yoke⁶ his legacy⁷ to their own ambitions.

黑人政治家们也将他的遗产和自己的野心绑定在一起。

In so many ways, King's life has been reduced to the lead character in a fable⁸ the nation tells itself about "the movement,"

从很多方面来看，马丁路德金的生命都已经沦为了某个传说的主角这一个形象，那是这个国家不断讲给自己的人民听的一个关于“黑人民权运动”的传说，

which begins with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and culminates⁹ with the 1963 March on Washington or in Selma in 1965.

那场运动爆发于1954年的布朗诉教育委员会案，到1963年华盛顿游行或1965年塞尔玛游行达到高潮。

It is a neat tale with Southern villains¹⁰, heightened drama, tragic¹¹ deaths and heroic triumph.

这是一个情节并不复杂的故事，讲述了南方的恶棍、夸张的戏剧、悲剧性的死亡和英雄的胜利。

It does not mention King's depression.

对金的抑郁却只字未提。

It does not reckon with what he told the Rev¹².D.E.King, that his work "has been in vain. The whole thing will have to be done away."

金博士对D.E.金神父的倾诉，说自己的努力“全都白费了。整个体系都必须取缔。”的话也没有提及。

Instead, it enlists¹³ King in fortifying¹⁴ the illusion of this nation's inherent goodness.

相反，它将金塑造成了一个强化这个国家拥有与生俱来的美德这一假象的形象。

It coddles the country from a damning reality.

继续纵容着这个现实已经如此糟糕的国家。

A genuine reckoning with the murdered preacher reveals a different story.

对这位被杀害的牧师进行诚实的考量却揭示了一个不同的故事。

In 1967 at Stanford University, as he toured the nation trying to rally support for what would become his Poor People's Campaign,

1967年在斯坦福大学时，当时他正奔波于全国各地，试图为后来的“穷人运动”争取民意，

King offered this assessment¹⁵ of the movement and the challenges ahead:

金就对这场运动及其未来的挑战做出了如下评价：

"(W)e must see that the struggle today is much more difficult.

“我们必须看到，今天的斗争要困难得多。

It's more difficult today because we are struggling now for genuine equality .

今天之所以更加困难，是因为我们是在为真正的平等而斗争。

(N)egroes generally live in worse slums today than 20 or 25 years ago.

今天的黑人生活的贫民窟还不如20-25年前的。

In the North, schools are more segregated¹⁶ today than they were in 1954 .

在北方，今天的学校的种族隔离问题比1954年的还要严重。

(T)he unemployment rate among whites at one time was about the same as the unemployment rate among Negroes.

曾经，白人的失业率和黑人的失业率差不多。

But today the unemployment rate among Negroes is twice that of whites.

如今，黑人的失业率已经变成了白人失业率的两倍。

And the average income of the Negro is today 50% less than whites."

平均收入却只有白人的一半。”

1 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

2 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

3 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 authenticate   

vt.证明…为真，鉴定

参考例句：

• We would have to authenticate your relationship with the boy.我们必须证实一下您和那个孩子的关系。
• An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting from his imitation.这幅画是凡·高的真迹还是赝品,需由专家来鉴定。

6 yoke   

n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶

参考例句：

• An ass and an ox,fastened to the same yoke,were drawing a wagon.驴子和公牛一起套在轭上拉车。
• The defeated army passed under the yoke.败军在轭门下通过。

7 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

8 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

9 culminates   

v.达到极点( culminate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Each civilization is born, it culminates, and it decay. 各种文明都要历经诞生，鼎盛和衰落。 来自《用法词典》
• The tower culminates in a 40-foot spire. 这塔的顶端是一个40英尺高的塔尖。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

12 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

13 enlists   

v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的第三人称单数 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• This method enlists the orchestration by creating its activation subscription. 此方法通过创建业务流程的激活订阅来登记业务流程。 来自互联网
• Party spirit enlists a man's virtue in the cause of his vice. 党派心使人的美德也为罪恶效劳。 来自互联网

14 fortifying   

筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 )； 筑堡于； 增强； 强化（食品）

参考例句：

• Fortifying executive function and restraining impulsivity are possible with active interventions. 积极干预可能有助加强执行功能和抑制冲动性。
• Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, fortifying himself against still another disappointment. 文戈不再张望，他绷紧脸，仿佛正在鼓足勇气准备迎接另一次失望似的。

15 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

16 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。