美国国家公共电台 NPR Racial Issues Have Often Been A Test for U.S. Presidents With Conflicted Feelings

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

President Trump's reaction to the violence in Charlottesville last week seemed to change by the day. He's far from being the first president to struggle with his response to the country's racial divisions.

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GARCIA-NAVARRO: When we want a history lesson, we go to Professor Ron. You know him as NPR's Ron Elving.

RON ELVING, BYLINE¹: World War II marked a new moment in race relations for the U.S. Many African-Americans had served in the military, where they were generally consigned² to segregated³ units reflecting their status back home. And then President Harry⁴ S. Truman, a Democrat⁵, decided⁶ it was time for a change.

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HARRY S. TRUMAN: I should like to talk to you briefly⁷ about civil rights and human freedom.

ELVING: On July 26, 1948, Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation⁸ in the armed forces. It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. That order took many people by surprise, not least because Truman himself hailed from Missouri, a one-time slave state, and his ancestors had fought for the Confederacy. He also knew that the support of southern states would be crucial in the election of that November, yet he signed the order and always defended it as the right thing to do. Nearly a decade later, the nation would witness a president struggling with issues of racial division on television.

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DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER: Good evening, my fellow citizens.

ELVING: In September of 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower gave this address.

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EISENHOWER: I should like to speak to you about the serious situation that has arisen in Little Rock.

ELVING: Soon after Eisenhower had come to the White House, the U.S. Supreme⁹ Court ruled segregation in schools unconstitutional. And then nine teenagers in Little Rock, Ark., tried to enroll¹⁰ in that city's otherwise all white Central High School. A mob gathered outside to block them. Eisenhower intervened and sent in the 101st Airborne Division to enforce his order.

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EISENHOWER: In speaking from the house of Lincoln of Jackson and of Wilson, my words would better convey both the sadness I feel and the action I was compelled today to make.

ELVING: The Civil Rights Movement continued to gain momentum¹¹ through the later 1950s and early 1960s. Yet in 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in the door to block enrollment¹² of black students at the University of Alabama. President John F. Kennedy had tried to avoid offending his Southern supporters, but Wallace's challenge drove him to issue this rebuke¹³ on June 11, 1963.

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JOHN F. KENNEDY: This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal and that the rights of every man are diminished when the right one man are threatened.

ELVING: But it would be Lyndon B. Johnson's task to fulfill¹⁴ Kennedy's promise. Johnson, a Texan, grew up in the segregated south. When he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he said it was long overdue¹⁵. But he feared his Democratic Party would lose the South for a generation. And he was right. In 1965, he was nervous about promoting another law guaranteeing the right to vote. But events forced his hand.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: It is a Sunday to be remembered. The long awaited, long delayed Freedom March to Montgomery begins.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Go home or go to your church. This march will not continue.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: President Johnson addresses a joint¹⁶ session of Congress to push a voting rights bill aimed at ending discrimination. It would appoint federal voting registrars¹⁷ in some instances and put an end to complicated literacy tests and other hampering¹⁸ tactics.

LYNDON B JOHNSON: The command of the Constitution is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong, deadly wrong to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country.

ELVING: President Barack Obama, as the first African-American president, was forced to confront the issue of race repeatedly. While campaigning in 2008, he was criticized for incendiary sermons given by the Minister of his church in Chicago, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama chose this occasion to deconstruct his own complex racial identity and its implications.

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BARACK OBAMA: I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother, a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic¹⁹ stereotypes²⁰ that made me cringe.

ELVING: Although some hailed Obama's presidency²¹ as the coming of a post-racial America, the reality was far different. While aspirations²² were inspired and expectations raised, tensions also increased in many parts of the country.

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OBAMA: But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin.

ELVING: In Florida, the shooting of a black teenager named Trayvon Martin became a flashpoint.

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OBAMA: You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.

ELVING: No issue has challenged presidents more profoundly, whether in political or personal terms. Each generation has entertained the hope that race would recede²³ as a dividing line in America. But as recent events prove, the problems posed by the nation's deepest conflict persist. And the words that any president brings to bear on that conflict always matter. I'm Ron Elving, NPR News, Washington.

(ESBJORN SVENSSON TRIO'S "SERENADE FOR THE RENEGADE")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 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。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 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。

7 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

8 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

11 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

12 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

13 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

14 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

15 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 registrars   

n.主管注册者( registrar的名词复数 )；记录者；登记员；注册主任

参考例句：

• Authorization Code is required when attempting to transfer a domain between registrars. 当域名要转移注册商时需要授权代码。 来自互联网
• Only IATF registrars are authorized to conduct the surveillance audit. 仅仅IATF登记官被授权进行监视审计。 来自互联网

18 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

19 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

20 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

21 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

22 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

23 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。