VOA标准英语2010年-Martin Luther King's Final Campaign Re

Community leaders say Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s final campaign to bring about social justice won't be forgotten.

One of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final campaigns was to support striking sanitation¹ workers who wanted higher wages and union representation. Their plight² was the reason the civil rights leader was in Memphis, Tennessee at the time of his assassination³ almost 42 years ago.

The strike lasted more than two months and ended soon after King's death. The civil rights leader's final days are being remembered during Black History Month, which is commemorated⁴ each February in the United States.

Back in 1968, the sanitation workers were angry about their meager⁵ salaries. They had no health insurance and were barred from being recognized as union workers. The strike divided the city along racial lines and came to symbolize⁶ the demands of African Americans for equality. Reverend Samuel "Billy" Kyles persuaded King to come to Memphis. He says the civil rights leader linked the plight of the sanitation workers to the larger cause of eliminating poverty.

"He came to Memphis to help the garbage workers and that is something we will always remember because he had such a compassion⁷ for the poor," says Kyles.

Dr. King was in Memphis campaigning for the rights of striking sanitation workers at the time of his death.

King and other civil rights leaders had launched "The Poor People's Campaign" a few months before he arrived in Memphis.

"It is my hope that powerful poor people will really mean having the ability and the aggressiveness to make the power structure of this nation says yes when they may be desirous of saying no," said King.

"The Poor People's Campaign" was the second phase of the civil rights movement. The goal was to build a nationwide coalition⁸ of poor people of all races and ethnic⁹ backgrounds and to push for jobs, equal wages and decent housing.

"We are tired of working full time jobs for part time income," King said at the time. "We are tired of living in run down dilapidated, rat-infested shacks¹⁰ and slums."

Kyles says King was planning another March on Washington to persuade the government to spend billions of dollars on poor people. 

"I saw him stand on the front porch of a home in Quitman County, Mississippi and he saw little kids running around with their stomachs swollen," Kyles remembers. "You would have thought you were in a third world county. And he stood there and he wept. He said 'We can do better than this.'"

Reverend Frank McRae helped end the dispute between the city and the sanitation workers. He says King would be happy that his work achieved results. Nearly two weeks after King's death, the city agreed to wage increases and union representation. And the Memphis sanitation workers ended their strike.

"I think he would be pleased. That is the reason he came here," McRae says. "And those positive things were effected by primarily, if not exclusively, because of his death."

Community leaders say King's final campaign to bring about social justice will never be forgotten.
 

1 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

2 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

3 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

4 commemorated   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln commemorated the soldiers killed in the battle in his address. 林肯在演说中表扬阵亡将士。 来自辞典例句
• You'll be commemorated for killing a spy, and be specially discharged. 你们每杀一个间谍将会被记录到特殊档案。 来自电影对白

5 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

6 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

7 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 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。

10 shacks   

n.窝棚，简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网