Who Was Martin Luther King Jr 马丁·路德·金 Chapter 1 A Perfect Boy

On January 15, 1929, a baby boy was born in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The doctors said he was perfect. His parents were so happy. They named him Michael, the same name that his father had. But when little Michael was five, his father decided¹ to change both of their names to Martin. So now, the little boy became Martin Luther King, Jr.
Young Martin had a very happy home life. He had an older sister named Willie Christine. (Everyone called her Chris.) He also had a younger brother named Alfred Daniel. The Kings lived in a large house on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta. Their neighborhood was comfortable. No one was very poor or very rich.
There was a lot of love in Martin’s family. Martin never remembered his parents arguing. Martin’s mother, Alberta Williams King, was very soft-spoken and easygoing. Her father was a well-known minister. After high school, she went to college, which was something that not many black women did back then. Alberta had a warm personality, and Martin always found it very easy to talk to her.
Martin’s father, Martin, Sr., was a large man in many ways. He weighed about 220 pounds and was filled with self-confidence. Martin, Jr., admired his father very much. His father’s family was very poor and lived in a rundown shack². They were sharecroppers. A sharecropper is a farmer who does not own his own land. Instead, he works³ on another farmer’s land and gets some of the crops for himself. Martin’s father worked hard to get his high-school and college diplomas. After college, he became a minister of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
The Ebenezer Baptist Church was like a second home to Martin. He sang in the church choir⁴. He went to Sunday school and made many friends. It was there that Martin learned⁵ to get along with all kinds of people—kids as well as teachers.
One of Martin’s good friends was white. The boys had known each other since they were three years old. The boy didn’t live near Martin, but his father owned a store across the street from the King home. Martin and the boy were always together. But when they turned six, they started school. Martin went to a school for black children. The boy went to a school for white children. One day the boy’s father told his son that he could no longer play with Martin. Martin ran home and cried to his mother. It was the end of the friendship.
That night at dinner, the family had a long talk. This was the first time that Martin realized how many white people felt about black people. Even so, his parents told Martin not to hate white people. It was his duty as a Christian⁶ to love everyone.
Martin’s mother told him that he should always keep a sense of “somebodyness”—that he was important—even though the outside world was telling him he was not.
As Martin Luther King, Jr., grew up, he became more and more aware of the problems facing black people, especially in the South. Everywhere he looked there were “Whites Only” signs. Blacks could not go into many hotels, restaurants, and stores. Blacks could not even drink out of the same water fountains as whites. In many cities, blacks had to ride in the back of a bus. If they tried to sit in the front, they were thrown in jail⁷. And if black people wanted to go to a movie theater, they had to sit way up in the balcony. These rules were called Jim Crow laws. And they made Martin very angry.
JIM CROW LAWS
THE TERM “JIM CROW” WAS STARTED AROUND 1830 BY A MINSTREL PERFORMER. MINSTREL PERFORMERS WERE ENTERTAINERS WHO TRAVELED AROUND THE NORTH AND SOUTH PUTTING On SHOWS. THEY WERE MOST POPULAR BEFORE AND AFTER THE U.S. CIVIL WAR.
In ONE SHOW, A WHITE SINGER BLACKENED HIS FACE WITH CHARCOAL⁸ TO LOOK LIKE A BLACK PERSON. HE DANCED AROUND In A SILLY WAY THAT MADE FUN OF BLACK PEOPLE. HE SANG A SONG THAT ENDED WITH THE WORDS “I JUMP JIM CROW.”
SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT THIS CHARACTER WAS BASED On An OLD BLACK SLAVE OWNED BY A “MR. CROW.” BY THE 1850S, THE JIM CROW CHARACTER SHOWED UP In MANY MINSTREL SHOWS.
BY THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR, THE TERM “JIM CROW” WAS A NEGATIVE WAY OF TALKING ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE. AND BY THE END OF THE 1800S, RACIST⁹ LAWS WERE CALLED JIM CROW LAWS.
In high school, Martin had to take a long bus ride to and from school. He always walked to the back, where the other black people sat.
Once, Martin and a teacher traveled by bus to Dublin, Georgia, for a speech contest. Martin won the contest and was very proud. On the way home to Atlanta, the bus driver ordered Martin and his teacher to give up their seats to white passengers. When they did not move right away, the bus driver became angry. It was the law, after all. They ended up standing¹⁰ in the aisle¹¹ for the ninety-mile ride. But Martin told himself, “One of these days, I’m going to put my body up there where my mind is.” He knew that one day he would have a seat up front.
 

1 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。

2 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 jail   

n.监狱，看守所；vt.监禁，拘留

参考例句：

• The castle had been used as a jail.这城堡曾用作监狱。
• If she carries on shoplifting,she'll end up in jail.她如果还在店铺里偷东西，最终会被抓进监狱的。

8 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

9 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。