VOA慢速英语2017 民权领袖故居可能会重回美国（在线收听）

Civil Rights Leader’s Home May Be Returned to US

Rosa Parks became famous in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama.

罗莎·帕克斯(Rosa Parks)在1955年一夜成名。当时她在阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利市的公汽上拒绝向白人乘客让出座位。

She was important in the movement for civil rights in the American South during the 1950s and 60s.

她在上世纪五六十年代美国南部的民权运动中非常重要。

At the time, blacks in the South were forced to sit in the back of public buses and to give up their seats to white people.

当时，美国南部的黑人被迫坐在公汽后部，并且要向白人让出座位。

Parks moved to Detroit, Michigan, in 1957 to escape death threats. She continued living in Detroit until her death in 2005, at age 92.

为了逃离死亡威胁，帕克斯于1957年搬到了密西根州的底特律市。她一直住在底特律，直到2005年去世，享年92岁。

But the house in Detroit where Parks lived for many years was abandoned and scheduled to be torn down. Her niece, Rhea McCauley, bought it for $500 to stop it from being destroyed. She then gave it to American artist, Ryan Mendoza.

但是帕克斯在底特律居住多年的房屋被废弃并计划拆除。为了阻止房屋被毁，她的侄女蕾亚·麦考利(Rhea McCauley)以500美元买了下来。然后她将房屋送给了美国艺术家瑞恩·门多萨（Ryan Mendoza）。

Mendoza and others took it apart and then sent it across the Atlantic Ocean to the German capital of Berlin. There, he led efforts to rebuild the house.

门多萨等人将房屋拆分后运到了大西洋对岸的德国首都柏林。在那里，他主导了房屋的重建。

It now is behind his own house in Berlin. It gets daily visitors, although it is difficult to find, Mendoza said.

目前它座落在门多萨自家房屋的背后。门多萨表示，尽管地方不好找，但是每天都有人来参观。

Artist wants to return Park’s home to U.S.

艺术家希望将帕克斯的房屋带回美国

But less than a year after the house was rebuilt in Berlin, Mendoza decided it should be returned to the United States.

但是距离该房屋在柏林重建不到一年时间，门多萨决定将它送回美国。

He made the decision after deadly violence took place at a recent white nationalist event in Charlottesville, Virginia. That incident increased calls for removing statues of Confederate leaders from the Civil War in the U.S.

在弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔市最近的白人民族主义运动上发生致命暴力事件之后，他做出了这项决定。这一事件加大了人们对拆除美国内战中的邦联领导人的雕像的呼吁。

Mendoza said there are not enough civil rights monuments “to balance things out” with the Confederate statues.

门多萨表示，没有足够多的公民权利遗迹来平衡邦联雕像的影响。

He said the Rosa Parks house belongs back in America.

他说，帕克斯的房屋应在美国恢复原状。

“Imagine if the house were on a public setting in a prominent city in the U.S.,” Mendoza said. “That’s an education tool that shouldn’t be denied the American people. They have to know their past.”

门多萨表示：“想象一下，如果这栋房屋在美国一个著名城市的公共场合。它是美国人民不应该被剥夺的教育工具。他们必须了解他们的过去。”

Peter Hammer is a law professor and director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University in Detroit. He believes the house would be welcomed back in Detroit.

皮特·哈默（Peter Hammer）是一名法律教授，也是底特律市韦恩州立大学Damon J. Keith民权中心的负责人。他认为这栋房屋在底特律将会受到欢迎。

“My sense is that the Germans have adequately shamed us for not protecting our own history,” Hammer told VOA.

他对美国之音表示：“我的意思是，我们未能保护自己的历史，德国人已经为此羞辱过我们了。”

He noted that Detroit has failed to protect historical homes in the past. Such houses include the former home of Ralph Bunche, the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

他指出，底特律过去未能保护好历史住宅。这类房屋包括首位赢得诺贝尔和平奖的非裔美国人拉尔夫·布奇（Ralph Bunche）的故居。

He received the award in 1950 for helping negotiate peace between Israelis and Arabs that led to the creation of the country of Israel in 1948. Bunche’s home in Detroit became a parking lot.

布奇1950年获得了诺贝尔和平奖，获奖原因是他帮助了以色列人和阿拉伯人之间和平谈判，这次谈判直接导致了1948年以色列建国。布奇在底特律的住房成了一个停车场。

Detroit’s failure to protect history also is shown by the loss of the Rosa Parks house, Hammer said.

哈默表示，失去帕斯克的房屋，也表明了底特律未能保护好历史。

He said that Parks was an important civil rights activist “long before" she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama.

他说，帕斯克是“很久以前”一位非常重要的民权活动家。她在阿拉巴马州的公汽上拒绝让出自己的座位。

In Detroit, Hammer said Parks served as a mentor to people fighting for equal rights. A mentor is someone who gives help and advice to people who are less experienced.

哈默表示，在底特律，帕斯克成为了人们争取平等权利的导师。导师是指给缺乏经验者提供帮助和建议的人。

I’m Bruce Alpert.

Words in This Story

abandon - v. left without people living there

schedule - v. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done

monument - n. a building or statue that honors a person or event

prominent - adj. put in a place that is important and where it will receive attention

adequately - adv. enough to meet some need

shamed - v. to cause someone to feel embarrassed or ashamed