40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s Death

40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s Death
The Civil rights leader died working toward the dream of racial equality. Transcript of radio broadcast:
04 April 2008


This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Forty years ago, African American civil rights leader, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, was shot and killed. He died on April fourth, nineteen sixty-eight in Memphis, Tennessee.

On Friday, in that city, presidential candidates, civil rights leaders, labor activists and thousands of citizens came together. They honored Doctor King for leading the struggle for racial equality and economic justice.

During the nineteen fifties and sixties, Doctor King had led a campaign of non-violent protests. His work was aimed at ending racial separation and discrimination against African Americans.

His efforts led to passage of the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty-four. That year, he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Forty years ago, Doctor King was in Memphis to organize a strike for workers' rights. The sanitation workers in the city were protesting their low wages and poor working conditions. Doctor King was thirty-nine years old at the time, and had become the nation’s chief civil rights leader.

His murder incited riots in more than one hundred American cities. The race riots lasted for days. Many African American neighborhoods burned. The government ordered about fifty thousand soldiers to help control the violence. An estimated twenty-one thousand people were arrested. Almost fifty people were killed. And millions of dollars in property was damaged or destroyed.

His murder also brought about a divisive and difficult period for race relations in the United States.

In the years since his death, Doctor King has often been called one of the most honored Americans in history. But for many, his work for racial equality remains unfinished.

In the past forty years, African Americans have become successful in education, business, entertainment and politics. The rise of Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama is a powerful sign of racial progress. If elected in November, Mister Obama would become America’s first black president.

Yet experts say the black population as a whole has not reached equality with white people socially and economically. Black Americans experience greater rates of poverty and crime than whites.

Civil rights leaders say that forty years after his death, many African Americans still seek Doctor King’s dream of equality and opportunity.

Martin Luther King Junior is best remembered for his nineteen sixty-three “I Have a Dream” speech. It brought together millions of people in the United States and around the world to work for racial justice.

(SOUND: "I Have a Dream Speech")

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.


----------------------------Google Translate
四十周年纪念马丁路德金两人死亡
该民权领袖死于工作朝着梦想的种族平等。全文电台广播：
2008年4月4日

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语。

40年前，非洲裔美国人的民权领袖，牧师，医生马丁路德金，初中，被开枪打死。他去世于四月第四， 1968年在美国田纳西州孟菲斯。

上周五，在这个城市，总统候选人，民权领袖，劳动积极分子和数以千计的公民走到一起。他们荣幸医生国王领导争取种族平等和经济正义。

在五，六十年代，医生国王曾率领一个运动的非暴力抗议行动。他的工作是旨在结束种族分离和歧视非洲裔美国人。

他的努力导致通过民权法案中的1964年。这一年，他获得了诺贝尔和平奖。

40年前，医生国王是在孟菲斯组织一次罢工工人的权利。环卫工人在城市，抗议他们的工资低，工作条件差。医生国王三十九年岁在那个时候，并已成为国家的行政民权领袖。

他的谋杀，煽动骚乱，超过100美国城市。种族暴动持续了好几天。许多非洲裔美国人，街道被烧毁。政府下令约5.0万士兵，以帮助控制暴力。估计有2.1万多人被捕。近50人被杀害。以及数百万美元的财产被破坏或摧毁。

他的谋杀，也带来了社会分化和困难的时期，为美国社会的种族关系。

在未来几年内，因为他的去世，医生国王常常被称为一个最荣幸的美国人在历史上。但对许多人来说，他的工作，为种族平等仍然没有完成。

在过去40年，非洲美国人已经成功地在教育，商业，娱乐和政治。崛起的民主党总统候选人巴拉克奥巴马是一个功能强大的标志种族进步。他如果当选，在11月，先生奥巴马将成为美国的第一位黑人总统。

但专家们说，黑人人口作为一个整体，还没有达到平等与白人在经济和社会方面。美国黑人体验更高的传输速度，贫困和犯罪高于白人。

民权领袖说，四十年后，他的去世，许多非洲美国人仍然向医生求诊，国王的梦想，在平等和机会。

马丁路德金的初中，最好记住他1963年"我有一个梦想"演说。它聚集了数百万人，在美国和世界各地的工作，为种族正义。

（声音说： "我有一个梦想演说" ）

这是在新闻报道中，在美国之音特别英语，写brianna布雷克。我史蒂夫Ember公司。