2006年VOA标准英语-Desmond Tutu Discusses His Life as an Advocate

By Amanda Cassandra
New York
19 October 2006
 
Nobel Prize winner and influential¹ religious leader Desmond Tutu was in New York to talk about South Africa's struggle with apartheid and his personal path to becoming an activist² as detailed³ in a new biography.

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		Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Tutu discussed his career transformation⁴ from an Anglican priest to one of the founders⁵ of democracy in South Africa with John Allen, his friend and author of the book Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorized⁶ Biography of Desmond Tutu.

Tutu says he did not start out wanting to be a civil rights leader.

"I didn't at first think there was anything wrong with how things were organized," said Desmond Tutu. "This is how things are and so you have to accept it. It was my exposure to other people which began to move the shades from my eyes and I could then begin to see this wasn't right."

Allen describes meeting Tutu as a journalist in 1976 and perceiving him as a man who could unite all South Africans.

"The passionate⁷ intensity⁸ with which he spoke⁹ was so attractive to me as a journalist," said John Allen. "And then the other side was the compassion¹⁰, the reaching out to white South Africans. He had this extraordinary capacity to reach out and communicate with white South Africans."

Tutu says his strategy for galvanizing South Africans against apartheid was simple.

"It was fairly straightforward¹¹ that one of the things we had to do was to seek to establish a moral position," he said. "The second was maintaining the morale¹² of our people. Telling our people 'your cause is a just cause.' This is, in fact, a moral universe. We're going to win."

Tutu drew a parallel between the African American struggle for freedom in the United States and South Africa.

"It is like what happened here in the time of slavery, when you had the spirituals," said Archbishop Tutu. "People believing fervently¹³ that freedom was coming. It might not come in their lifetime, but it was coming. The faith community sustained the hope of the people. They knew that we were in a struggle and you say to them obviously in a struggle there are causalities."

Allen says the non-violent tactics Tutu employed were brave and difficult, but ultimately successful.

"People who call pacifists weak, that's not the case," he said. "Actually you go into confrontation¹⁴. You confront violent people without weapons and your confrontation draws out their violence as it did in Birmingham with the dogs as it did in South Africa with the dogs. And that worked beautifully in Capetown in those few months. It was called the Defiance¹⁵ Campaign. The police violence, which was normally confined to black townships, was exported into the city. There was a particular evening, in which the Anglican Cathedral went to a judge to seek an order to stop the police from beating people up indiscriminately on the streets. Well, the police lawyer had considerable difficulty persuading the judge not to grant the order when the judges own clerk had been beaten up on the way to court to hear the case that evening."

In 1984, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. Two years later, he became the first black Anglican Archbishop in South Africa.

Tutu and Allen discussed Tutu's life and Allen's book before a crowd of 700 at New York's historic Trinity Church on Wall Street.

1 influential   

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。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

8 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

11 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

12 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

13 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

14 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

15 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。