VOA慢速英语2019--Protests, Viral Videos and a Divided Nation

 

A group of five black men shouted insults while protesting centuries of oppression. Catholic high school students gathered in Washington to protest abortion¹. And Native Americans marched to end injustice² for indigenous³ people around the world.

These three groups met just for a few minutes Friday at the base of Washington’s Lincoln Memorial. The unexpected meetings were captured on video. Short parts of those videos then went viral on social media in the United States. They cast attention on a deeply divided nation that seems unable to agree on anything.

At first the attention of the internet centered on a short video of one of the high school students, Nick Sandmann. He wore a red “Make America Great Again” hat, demonstrating his support for President Donald Trump⁴. In part of the video, he appeared to be smiling and facing off against a 64-year-old Native American, Nathan Phillips, who was playing a traditional song on a drum.

Sandmann’s classmates gathered around the two, laughing.

In other videos taken Friday, members of a group calling itself the Black Hebrew Israelites were seen insulting many people marching on the National Mall, including Sandmann’s student group. They also shouted offensive remarks to the Native Americans taking part in the Indigenous Peoples March.

Videos from Friday were all over social media. They became leading news stories in the United States.

Now, all parties involved agree: the short viral videos do not show the full story.

The videos showed students from Kentucky's Covington Catholic Highschool laughing at Phillips’ Native American group and jokingly singing along with him. Phillips told reporters he had heard the students shout things like “Build that wall!” and “Go back to the reservation!”

But Sandmann, the Catholic high school student, said in a statement over the weekend: “I would caution everyone passing judgment⁵ based on a few seconds of video to watch the longer clips that are on the internet, as they show a much different story…”

The fullest explanation of what may have happened comes from a long video published on Facebook by Shar Yaqataz Banyamyan. It showed members of his Black Hebrew Israelite group repeatedly talking with the crowd as people from the Indigenous Peoples March and the high school students argued with them.

Sandmann said in his statement that the students from his all-male high school were waiting for their buses near Banyamyan’s group. Members of the group then started to shout insults at the students.

Phillips said he tried to step between the two groups to calm the situation.

The full video also shows some of the students trying to do a traditional war dance of New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people. The dance was made famous by the country’s rugby sports team.

Phillips and Marcus Frejo, another Native American, said they felt the students were making fun of the dance. They walked into the crowd to intervene.

Phillips and Sandmann locked eyes, their faces only centimeters apart. Both men said their goal was simply to make sure things did not get out of control.

The high school students felt they were unfairly seen as the enemies in a situation they said they did not start.

But the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington has apologized for the incident. It said it would carry out an investigation⁶ that could lead to punishment -- including dismissal -- if any wrongdoing by the students was found.

The Indigenous Peoples Movement felt the encounter was a reminder⁷ that the U.S. was founded on racism⁸ and that Trump’s presidency⁹ is increasing hatred¹⁰ based on skin color.

On Tuesday, Trump commented about the situation on Twitter, writing, “Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be.”

Banyamyan posted his own reaction on Facebook. He recalled the dozens of high school students in their "Make America Great Again" gear coming over to his small group and chanting. Banyamyan praised Phillips and called Sandmann evil.

After the sun set Friday and the high school students had left, Banyamyan’s video recording¹¹ showed a few police officers stopping by to check on the group. One of the officers said they were worried by the number of people who had gathered for a short time in that one place. One of the Black Hebrew Israelites said there were no problems.

“We weren’t threatened by them,” he told officers. “It was an okay dialogue.”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

And I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

oppression - n. the act of treating a person or group of people in a cruel or unfair way

indigenous - adj. living or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

caution - v. to warn or tell (someone) about a possible danger, problem, etc.

encounter - n. a violent or very unfriendly meeting

chant - v. to say (a word or phrase) many times in a rhythmic way usually loudly and with other people

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

3 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

9 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。

10 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

11 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。