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  3. Better Day Coming: Civil Rights in America in the 20th Ce

Better Day Coming: Civil Rights in America in the 20th Ce

游客2023-08-03  15
问题                        Better Day Coming: Civil Rights in America in the 20th Century
World War Two
    In 1941, when America entered World War Two, most blacks still lived in the Southern States. There, they could not vote. Laws requiring separation of the races required black children to attend segregated schools that were grossly under-funded and, in many cases, consisted of falling-down shacks. Blacks traveling by bus were made to sit in the rear seats; if journeying by train, in separate carriages. Whites addressed blacks by their first names only and never used courtesy titles like "Mr." or "Mrs."
    Racial discrimination infected the entire nation, not just the South. Blacks in the North lived in ghettos, because they were unable to buy or rent houses elsewhere. Many trade unions routinely excluded blacks from membership. Although no laws required them, segregated schools were common in Northern cities. Above all, racial segregation was still the official policy of the federal government.
    Nevertheless, blacks had high hopes that World War Two would enable them to regain some of their lost rights. For one thing, they believed that if they fought for their country they should be rewarded with equal citizenship. In the second place, President Roosevelt defined the conflict as a war for democratic freedom. Blacks were quick to compare the racial theories of the Nazis with the racist beliefs of Southern whites. They vowed to conquer "Hitlerism without and Hitlerism within". Finally, the expansion of the wartime economy enabled blacks to enter industries that had previously barred them, leading them to hope for promotion and access to more decision-making positions.
    The outcome of the war, however, proved a massive disappointment. The government refused to abandon racial segregation in the forces, and was even reluctant to send black troops into battle. Roosevelt did nothing to challenge the mass disenfranchisement of black voters in the South. And although the president ordered an end to discrimination in the defence industries, white workers stubbornly resisted the recruitment and promotion of blacks.
The Cold War
    Yet only three years after the war ended, Roosevelt’s successor, Harry S. Truman, embraced the cause of civil rights. He asked Congress to legislate against racial discrimination. He integrated the armed services.
    Why this sudden about-turn by the federal government? One reason is that the war had helped to discredit theories of racial superiority. When Allied troops uncovered the full extent of the Holocaust, the world recoiled in horror. Racism, whether in the form of anti-Semitism or proclamations of white supremacy, could never again be respectable.
    Furthermore, the Cold War had made racial discrimination an international issue. As the colonial empires of Europe broke up, the United States and the Soviet Union jockeyed for influence among the non-white peoples of Asia and Africa. Soviet propaganda lashed the United States for its treatment of blacks. Racial segregation suddenly became an embarrassment to Washington. Anxious to erase this stain on America’s reputation, the Supreme Court, declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
The Civil Rights Movement
    Encouraged by a feeling that history was finally going their way, blacks in the South did what had once been unthinkable. They openly rebelled against racial discrimination. This new civil rights movement began in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to obey a bus driver who ordered her to surrender her seat to a white man. Her arrest prompted 50,000 blacks to boycott(联合抵制) the city buses for more than a year, until seating was finally integrated. Not only was the protest a triumphant success, garnering(存储) worldwide sympathy, but it also threw up a inspiring and eloquent leader, a young Baptist clergyman called Martin Luther King, Jr.
    The civil rights movement was bold and brave. In the South, whites outnumbered blacks by four-to-one and monopolized state power. But by strictly adhering to non-violent tactics, blacks claimed the moral high ground and gained the tactical advantage. As blacks in the South became increasingly confident about the sympathy of the outside world, their protests snowballed. In 1960, black college students staged "sit-ins" at cafeterias that served only whites. In 1961 integrated teams of black and white travelers staged bus journeys, or "Freedom Rides", across the South, challenging segregation laws along the Way.
    In the face of these challenges, whites often reacted by arresting the protesters, and sometimes by attacking them. The Ku Klux Klan revived: it set off bombs and killed civil rights workers. But the leaders of the civil rights movement refused to be deterred by prison: King went to jail 13 times. And by maintaining a discipline and a spirit of non-violence, the movement turned the violence of its opponents to its own advantage. Newspaper reporters and television cameras aided the movement occasionally: the world was sickened by the sight of white mobs and club-wielding policemen attacking non-violent, hymn-singing marchers.
Malcolm X and Black Power
    Although a triumphant success in the South, the civil rights movement failed to address the problems of Northern blacks, who by 1960 comprised half of America’s black population. Although less blatant(喧嚣的) than in the South, and not supported by local laws, racial discrimination was still rife in the North. Blacks found it hard to escape the ghetto, and difficult to find decent jobs. Schools were not supposed to be segregated, but many were. And policemen in the Northern cities often treated blacks with contempt and violence.
    Malcolm X, a member of the Nation of Islam, vented the feelings of disillusionment and anger that were common in the Northern ghettos(犹太人区). As a witty and articulate speaker, he openly criticized whites for being murderers and hypocrites and urged blacks to separate themselves from white society. He also ridiculed King for adhering to non-violence.
    Malcolm X’s rejection of Christianity limited his appeal. Yet although his message was an extreme one, millions of blacks lauded his stress upon racial pride, and applauded him when he castigated white society. By 1966 many civil rights workers had rejected King’s ideal of integration, and were calling instead for "Black Power". Members of groups such as the Black Panthers openly carried guns. By the time of King’s assassination in 1968, the non-violent civil rights movement had ceased to be an effective force. The momentum towards a more violent approach was not, however, maintained for long, and it too had faded away by the early 1970s.
Race Relations in America Today
    Racial tensions and problems remain. Poverty, unemployment, family breakdown, and continuing segregation have bred feelings of despair among a younger generation. A million blacks are in jail—half the total prison population. After 1970, however, white Americans became tired of hearing about the complaints of black Americans.
    Despite these disappointments, the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s achieved some impressive results. In the South, blacks gained the right to vote, and they now routinely elect mayors and Congressmen. Schools are no longer segregated by law. Toilets and waiting-room are no longer disfigured by "white" and "colored" signs. Everywhere, blacks have gained access to jobs that were previously closed to them; the black middle-class has grown in size and wealth, and blacks have reached positions of power and influence that would have been unthinkable 40 years ago.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案 C
解析 由题干中的信息词World War II和North，定位在第一个小标题下的第二段。由这部分内容可知，北部的黑人居住在限制区内，因为他们不能买或租别处的房子，但是这并不能说明他们买不起。所以答案是不确定。
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