2006年VOA标准英语-African American History Month Ends with R

By Chris Simkins
Washington, DC
01 March 2006
 
watch Black History report

 
Frederick Douglass
  
Over the last 80 years millions of people have observed African-American History Month in the United States during February. Now that the annual tradition has ended for this year a renewed debate has been sparked over whether the U.S. tradition has outlived its usefulness. VOA's Chris Simkins reports on how the observance got started and why some believe there is no longer a need to celebrate it. 

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Martin Luther King  
  
African American History Month, a time when people recall and celebrate the positive accomplishments¹ made by people of African descent. They include people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who led a nonviolent movement against racial segregation² in the 1950s and 60s, or Frederick Douglass, who fought to end slavery in the United States in the 1850s and 60's.

The annual tradition of recognizing contributions made by African-Americans to the nation began 80 years ago after historian and teacher Carter Woodson founded, what was then called Negro History Week, in 1926.

Greg Carr  
  
Greg Carr, a professor of African-American studies at Howard University in Washington, DC, says Woodson dedicated³ his life to preserving black life, history and culture.  "Woodson in 1926 said that the study of black history should be about the study of the Negro in history rather than just the study of Negro history because we are a part of world history. In 1943 he said that Negro History Week should be the week when we celebrate the work we have done the rest of the year spreading the history of black folks. Now today it is almost the exact opposite."

Today, the black history celebration has been extended into a month-long observance. The tradition is still born out of the belief that if African-Americans were to take their rightful place in American society, people of all races should learn about black contributions to American history. But many people, including some blacks, now question the relevance⁴ of a black history month. 

Morgan Freeman   
  
One person leading that charge is Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman. In a nationally televised interview Freeman said there was no need to set aside a special time to celebrate black history. Some other prominent blacks agree with Freeman's comments saying black history is included enough in normal discussions and studies of American history all year long.

Sandy Bellamy, Executive Director of the Reginald Lewis Museum of African American History in Baltimore, Maryland disagrees. She says even today some American history textbooks have little written in them about black history.

"You cannot be marginalized, you should not be marginalized or relegated⁵ to the footnotes of American history. African-Americans really need to be a part of the entire narrative⁶."

But others argue people should not separate the accomplishments of black Americans but integrate them into regular American history. That's what Lonnie Bunch is trying to do. He is the director of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. The museum will be built near the Washington Monument and close to other well-known Smithsonian museums.

Bunch says this museum will help ensure that the study of black history takes place all year long: However, he still likes the idea of maintaining a Black History Month.

 
Lonnie Bunch
  
"I think the challenge for us is to take African American History and really tweak it. Move it away from a celebration of sort of 'famous first' and 'who invented the golf tee' kind of list ,but rather help us create a month that allows us to understand ambiguity⁷ of the past, to understand slavery and how it is important for all of us in this country whether our families came here in 1820,1920 or 20 minutes ago."

People on both sides of the African-American History Month debate say whether the annual tradition is relevant or not, it is important to fulfill⁸ Carter Woodson's dream of the importance of a people having knowledge of their race and its contributions to civilization.

1 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 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。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

5 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

7 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

8 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。