马丁路德金日为争取节日庆祝和平而斗争.docx

马丁路德金日 为争取节日庆祝和平而斗争马丁·路德· 金日：为争取节日庆祝和平而斗争MLK Day: The Fight for a Holiday to Celebrate Peace马丁·路德·金日：为争取节日庆祝和平而斗争In 1968, American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed outside his motel room. Four days later, a congressman proposed a federal holiday honoring King. It was to be a holiday celebrating peace.1968 年，美国民权活动家马丁·路德·金在汽车旅馆房间外被枪杀四天后，一位国会议员提出设立一个纪念他的联邦节日，这是一个值得庆祝和平的节日Who could object to such a proposal?谁会反对这样的提议呢？Many people, it turned out. The struggle to approve Martin Luther King Day took more than 15 years. And it ended with a very unlikely lawmaker: Ronald Reagan, one of America's most conservative presidents.结果有很多人反对。

争取马丁·路德· 金日获得通过的斗争耗费了约 15 年之多，最后一位让人臆想不到的立法者结束了这一纷争，他就是美国最保守总统之一的罗纳德·里根Objections to the King holiday反对设立马丁·路德· 金节日In King's famous 1963 speech in Washington, D.C., he described his dream for racial unity in the United States. In one line, King said he hoped "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."1963 年，马丁 ·路德·金在华盛顿特区发表了那篇“我有一个梦想”的著名演讲，他在演讲中谈到自己追求美国种族团结的梦想他说到，他希望“黑人儿童将能够和白人儿童一样像兄弟姐妹般的手拉手The speech helped create King's public image as a seeker of justice and equality. He based the movement on non-violent resistance, leading large peaceful protests.这篇演讲帮助塑造了马丁·路德· 金追寻正义与和平的公共形象。

他以非暴力抵抗作为运动基础并引发了大规模的和平抗议活动Among other things, King's activism helped end laws that separated black and white Americans.除此之外，马丁·路德 ·金的行动也帮助结束了美国黑人和白人隔离的法律But people who objected to King's message – or to King himself –called him a troublemaker, communist and racist. For years after his death, most lawmakers would not consider a proposed bill to make King's birthday a federal holiday.但是反对马丁·路德· 金观点或他本身的人们，称他是个麻烦制造者、共产主义者和种族主义者在他去世后很多年，大多数国会议员都不考虑确定马丁·路德 ·金的生日作为联邦节日的议案Finally, in 1979, after ten years of petitions from millions of citizens, lawmakers discussed the idea of a King holiday in an official hearing.最后在 1979 年，经过数百万公民长达十年请愿之后，议员们在一场官方听证会上讨论了设立马丁·路德· 金节日的想法。

Author David Chappell writes about some of the objections in his book "Waking from the Dream."作家大卫·查贝尔在他的《梦中觉醒 》一书中写出了一些反对意见Chappell reports that one opponent said King used peaceful protests to make others so angry they had to react violently.查贝尔说，有位反对者表示，马丁·路德· 金利用和平示威使其他人愤怒，从而不得不做出激烈回应Another claimed communist groups were often asked to raise money for King.还有人声称共产主义组织经常被要求为马丁·路德· 金筹款A third asserted that King wanted government programs to support blacks over whites.第三个人宣称马丁·路德 ·金想要政府项目支持黑人凌驾于白人之上。

And many opponents questioned whether King deserved the same respect as George Washington, the nation's first president who is honored with a federal holiday.很多反对者质疑马丁·路德· 金是否应该得到同乔治 ·华盛顿同等的尊重，这位美国首任总统被赋予联邦节假日的荣耀The bill did not pass.这项议案未能通过But wait, how about...?且慢，想想别的怎么样？Some lawmakers proposed alternative ideas. How about a statue of King in the Capitol building? While the Capitol included more than 600 works of art at the end of the 1970s, only two featured black Americans.一些议员提出了替代性想法比如在国会大厦设立一座马丁·路德· 金雕像怎么样？虽然上世纪 70 年代末国会大厦包含了 600 多件艺术作品，但是只有 2 件是以美国黑人为特色的艺术品。

Others suggested a day somewhat less than a federal holiday. Why not a "commemoration" of King's birthday on the third Sunday of January? A more informal Sunday commemoration cost less than giving federal workers a paid weekday off, they said.还有人建议马丁·路德 ·金节日的规格略低于联邦节日为什么不在 1 月的第三个星期天纪念马丁· 路德·金的诞辰呢？他们说，一个更为不正式的星期天纪念日比一个联邦工作日的代价要低得多King holiday supporters agreed to a statue of King in the Capitol. But they insisted that the civil rights leader also deserved the full respect of a national holiday.马丁·路德·金的支持者同意在国会大厦设立马丁·路德·金的塑像。

但是他们坚持认为，这位民权领导人值得国定假日的充分尊重One supporter, musician Steven Wonder, even released a hit song celebrating King's work and criticizing those who opposed a holiday. The song was called "Happy Birthday."作为支持者之一的音乐家史蒂夫·旺德甚至发布了一首热门歌曲来歌颂马丁 ·路德·金的成就，并批评那些反对设立假日的人士这首歌的歌名就是《生日快乐》Two years later, Wonder – along with King's widow, Coretta Scott King – presented Congress with the signatures of more than 6 million people supporting the King Holiday.两年后，旺德和马丁·路德· 金的遗孀科瑞塔 ·斯科特·金一同向国会提交了 600 万人支持设立马丁·路德· 金日的签名Another vote另一次投票In 1983, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate officially discussed the King holiday again. The timing was surprising because conservative Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan had recently been elected president. His party also controlled the Senate. Reagan had said publicly he did not support the King holiday proposal.1983 年，美国参众两院再次正式讨论了马丁·路德·金节日。

这一时机令人惊讶，因为保守共和党人里根新当选了总统他的党派还控制了参议院里根曾公开表示他不支持马丁·路德· 金节日提案In addition, the U.S. economy was struggling. Lawmakers were reluctant to agree to the cost of another holiday.此外，美国经济当时处于崩溃边缘议员们不赞成付出另一个假日的代价But American culture had also changed. Author David Chappell says that in the early 1980s, the arguments against King were not as effective as they once were. Many voters no longer responded positively to opponents' charges that King incited violence, was linked。