人教版高二英語課文下冊Unit 14 Freedom fighters - Reading

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I HAVE A DREAM

In the summer of 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr gave a speech to thousands of black people who marched on Washington DC, the capital of the USA. His speech -- "I Have a Dream" -- made him famous all over the world.

At that time in the southern states, blacks were not treated as equal citizens. Although slavery ended in the USA in 1865, almost a hundred years before, the South had its own laws to continue the separation of blacks and whites. Mixed-race marriages were forbidden by law. There were separate sections for blacks in shops, restaurants, hospitals and on buses and trains. Often blacks were not allowed into hotels, schools or libraries at all. Black children were educated in separate schools,and black people had no right to vote in the southern states.

King fought for political fights for black people in the USA. By doing this he set an example to the rest of the world. His message was that black people should not be separated but should be treated with respect in the same way as other people.

Born in 1929, King went to university when he was fifteen. Winning a scholarship gave him the chance to go to a college in one of the northern states, where black people had equal rights and were free to live, study and work as they wished. All his life he believed that it was right and necessary to demand changes in society if people did not have their civil rights. He believed that he could achieve that goal by peaceful actions, not by violence.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black woman, got on a bus in Alabama and sat down in the "Whites-only" section. She refused to stand up for a white man and was arrested by the police. King led a boycott of the bus company. For 381 days, black people refused to take the city buses. In the end the government lawyers in the capital said that the bus company was wrong to separate blacks from whites.

Winning this case gave King national attention. He led many non-violent demonstrations against racial discrimination and the Vietnam War, during which he himself was often beaten or arrested by the police. One of these was in Birmingham, Alabama. Housing conditions for blacks in Birmingham were bad and there were few jobs for blacks. King wrote an important letter from prison. "We have waited 340 years for our rights! We find it difficult to wait. This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never'," he said.

It was during the "March on Washington DC" in 1963 that he gave the speech "I Have a Dream", which inspired people of all races to fight for equality. The following year, King received the Nobel Peace Prize. In the same year, a new Civil Rights Act was passed and in 1965 a new Voting Rights Bill became law. From then on, all black people had the right to vote.

Martin Luther King, Jr was murdered in 1968. However, his struggle had already changed the whole of society in the USA. Soon after his death, black people started enjoying the rights they had waited and fought for so long.