美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'A More Beautiful And Terrible History,' Fuel For The Fight Ahead

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's February, which means it's Black History Month, the time designated by Congress to focus on the contributions of African-Americans to this country. And often, that focus will turn to a celebration of the civil rights movement and its many heroes and heroines - Rosa Parks, John Lewis and, of course, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. So what could be wrong with that?

Well, what's wrong with that, says historian Jeanne Theoharis, is the way the story is too often told, in a way that neutralizes¹ the past and makes it irrelevant² to the present - in a word, whitewashing³ it. She lays out her thesis in her latest book, "A More Beautiful And Terrible History: The Uses And Misuses⁴ Of Civil Rights History." And Professor Jeanne Theoharis is with us now from NPR New York. Professor Theoharis, thank you so much for speaking with us.

JEANNE THEOHARIS: Thank you so much for having me.

MARTIN: Now, you are a professor of political science at Brooklyn College. And I think people might be familiar with your previous book, "The Rebellious⁵ Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks." What gave you the idea for this book? Is there something that was just sticking in your craw as a historian and you said, I've got to get this straight?

THEOHARIS: Well, I think there were two things. One was the experience of going around the country talking about the Rosa Parks book and feeling how hungry people were both for more substantive⁶ histories of the civil rights movement but also to help make sense of why we get the fables⁷, why we get the versions we get.

MARTIN: Well, you say in the book, for example, that civil rights mis-histories give us a pleasurable sense of accomplishment⁹ and that the U.S., in this version, is a self-cleaning oven but that the self-cleaning America fable⁸ conveniently makes it seem as if the United States was destined¹⁰ to have a great civil rights movement, that most people did the right thing. And you say this is a pleasurable idea to be sure but one that obscures the more sobering reality which is how hard and infrequent such courage was, how tenacious¹¹ and how steadfast¹² activists¹³ had to be and how much pressure people exerted against the movement, just how hard it was. Why do you think it's so terrible that people think that?

THEOHARIS: To me, this history should humble¹⁴ us. And I think the way it is used and the way it's taken up in our kind of national sort of public discourse¹⁵ is quite the opposite. It is used to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel good about our progress as opposed to kind of take stock of what it took, of how hard it was, of how many people did not do the right thing, of how hard it is to do the right thing and of how much farther we have to go. Because I think oftentimes, people like King and Parks, the civil rights movement is held up with a happy ending, right? It's painful. It's dramatic. But then we have the happy ending of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And it's clean.

And I think what a fuller history of the civil rights movement actually shows us is there were certainly victories. There are certainly milestones¹⁶, milestones that we are now, again, fighting to try to uphold. But there was much more work to be done, and people like Parks and King were adamant¹⁷ about that. Civil rights activists have taken on a huge place in the American consciousness, which would not be a problem necessarily if we actually knew who these people were - right? - if we actually had a sense of the breadth of what they stood for and what they are asking of us today.

MARTIN: Give us an example about the way you think that this kind of museum version, the soft-filter version, obscures a deeper truth.

THEOHARIS: Well, we see the civil rights movement and we see these heroes invoked¹⁸ at very particular moments. So I think about when Rosa Parks dies in October of 2005. She becomes the first woman, the first civilian¹⁹ to lie in honor in the nation's capital. But I think we cannot separate that from less than two months earlier, Hurricane Katrina, there's growing public outrage²⁰ about the kind of racial and social injustices²¹ that were laid bare during the storm and federal inaction.

MARTIN: Before we let you go, the book is titled "A More Beautiful And Terrible History," what about the more beautiful part? Tell me about something that you think is actually more beautiful than people are giving it credit for being or that people generally acknowledge.

THEOHARIS: So I spend a lot of time in the book talking about the civil rights struggle outside the South, talking about Northern activism. And I think part of what's beautiful about that is peoples' tenacity²². It's how courageous²³ people were. It's how steadfast black mothers were over decades in Boston in fighting for school desegregation, over decades in New York fighting for school desegregation, over decades in LA fighting for school desegregation. And I think getting to see that - right? - is also kind of more moving, more inspiring. It gives us strength. It gives us bread and butter for the fight ahead.

MARTIN: Jeanne Theoharis' latest book is "A More Beautiful And Terrible History: The Uses And Misuses Of Civil Rights History." She was kind enough to join us from our bureau in New Professor Theoharis, thank you so much for speaking with us.

THEOHARIS: Thank you so much for having me.

1 neutralizes   

v.使失效( neutralize的第三人称单数 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化

参考例句：

• The dendrimer locks onto toxins and neutralizes them. 树状物锁在毒物表面，从而中和毒物。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器
• A substance, such as magnesia or sodium bicarbonate, that neutralizes acid. 解酸的，抗酸的，防酸的，中和酸的消除或中和酸度的，尤其胃酸。 来自互联网

2 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

3 whitewashing   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的现在分词 )； 喷浆

参考例句：

• Tom went on whitewashing the fence, paying no attention to Ben. 汤姆没有理睬本，继续在粉刷着篱笆。
• When whitewashing the wall, he painted with a roller in his hand. 刷墙的时候，他手里拿个辊子，挥舞着胳膊。

4 misuses   

n.用错，滥用( misuse的名词复数 )；误用者v.使用…不当( misuse的第三人称单数 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misuses his horses by giving them loads that are too heavy. 他给它们过重的负荷来虐待他的马。 来自互联网
• He often misuses his authority to tyrannize his underlings. 他常用手中的职权凌轹下属。 来自互联网

5 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

6 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

7 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

8 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

9 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

10 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

11 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

12 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

16 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

17 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

18 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

20 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

21 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

22 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

23 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。