參考譯文：

羅莎.帕克斯（1913－2005）：美國民權運動之母

今天，我們向你介紹被人尊稱為美國民權運動之母的羅莎.帕克斯。

一直到二十世紀六十年代以前，黑人在美國的許多領域都無法享受到與白人一樣的權利，美國南方一些州的法律仍然實行各族隔離，這些法律迫使黑人上單獨的學校、居住在城市某個單獨的區(qū)域，就是乘坐公共汽車，也只能坐在單獨的區(qū)域。1955年12月1日，在美國南部的阿拉巴馬州蒙哥馬利市，一位42歲的黑人婦女乘坐公共汽車，當時法律要求黑人只能坐在白人讓他們坐的位置上，這位婦女拒絕這么做，于是她被捕了。蒙哥馬利市的這一和平不服從行為開啟了黑人抗議大幕，它導致美國少數(shù)民族權利的合法轉(zhuǎn)變。開啟美國民權運動這一大幕的婦女就是羅莎.帕克斯。今天，我們就向你講述她的故事。

1913年，羅莎.帕克斯出生于阿拉巴馬州Tuskegee的羅莎.路易絲.麥克利家，她11歲時才在當?shù)氐膶W校上學，之后，她被送到蒙哥馬利市上學。為了照顧她病中的奶奶，她高中時退學，隨后她又照顧她的母親。她一直到21歲時，才完成高中的學業(yè)。1932年，她與雷蒙德.帕克斯結(jié)婚，雷蒙德是一位理發(fā)師，他還是一位民權活動家。結(jié)婚后，他們共同為美國有色人種發(fā)展聯(lián)合會在當?shù)氐臋C構(gòu)工作。在1943年，帕克斯太太成為該組織的一名官員，后來又成為該組織的一名領導人。羅莎.帕克斯是蒙哥馬利市的一名縫紉師，她從二十世紀三十年代一直到1955年一直做裁縫，后來，她成為無數(shù)非裔美國人追求自由的代表。

二十世紀五十年代，在美國南方的許多地區(qū)，城市公交車前幾排坐位都只能由白人來坐，黑人一般坐在后面，而在中間，白人與黑人都可以坐，但當黑人坐在中間，如果白人想要坐人話，黑人就得將坐位讓給白人。

羅莎.帕克斯和其他三個黑人坐在中間，此時有一個白人上了公交車，想要一個坐位。司機命令所有的黑人都離開他們的坐位，這樣白人就可以不必與他們中的任何一個黑人坐在一起了。這三個黑人站了起來，但帕克斯太太拒絕了，于是她被捕了。在關于此事件的一些流傳的說法中，有一個說法是，帕克斯太太之所以拒絕讓坐，是因為她的腳實在是太累。但幾年后她自己說，那個說法是錯誤的。她說，她真正感到厭倦的是接受不平等的待遇。她后來解釋說，這里似乎就是她要停止那種令人擺布、追求她應有的人權的地方。

蒙哥馬利的一個黑人婦女活動組織是著名的一個婦女政治理事會，這個組織正在努力反對黑人在公交車上所受到的不公平待遇。黑人由于冒犯公交司機的命令而經(jīng)常被捕，甚至被殺。羅莎.帕克斯不是第一個拒絕將自己的坐位讓給白人的黑人，但蒙哥馬利的黑人組織認為她成為那些抗議者中的有權利的公民，因為她是該城市中最優(yōu)秀的一位公民。這個婦女組織立即呼吁蒙哥馬利市的所有黑人在帕克斯太太受審的那天拒絕乘坐公交車，這一天是12月5日，星期一。其結(jié)果，這一天，有四萬人步行或使用其他的交通工具。那天晚上，全城舉行集會，蒙哥馬利市的黑人同意繼續(xù)聯(lián)合抵制乘坐市公交車，一直到他們所受的不平等待遇結(jié)束為止。他們還要求市政官員雇用黑人司機，而且任何人都可以坐在公交車的中間，而不必給他人讓坐。

蒙哥馬利市聯(lián)合抵制公交車行動一直持續(xù)了381天，這一行動是由當?shù)睾谌祟I導人尼克松和一名年輕黑人部長馬丁.路德.金領導的。類似的抗議活動在其他南方城市相繼出現(xiàn)。最后，美國最高法院對帕克斯太太的案件作出裁決，該裁決城市公交車上實施種族隔離為非法。這一裁決于1956年11月13日作出，幾乎是帕克斯太太被捕的一年之后。蒙哥馬利市的聯(lián)合抵制乘坐公交車的行動于該裁決到達的當天，即1956年12月20日結(jié)束。羅莎.帕克斯和馬丁.路德.金在美國南方開始了非暴力抗議運動，這一非暴力抗議運動永遠改變了美國的民權狀況。馬丁.路德.金成為該運動著名的演說家，但他沒能看到他所為之努力的成果，而羅莎.帕克斯看到了。

在聯(lián)合抵制乘坐公交車后，羅莎.帕克斯和她家庭的生活越來越困難，她被解雇了，而且沒能找到工作，所以，帕克斯一家離開蒙哥馬利，他們搬到了維吉尼亞，后來又搬到了密歇根州的底特律。帕克斯太太在1965年以前一直做裁縫。后來，密歇根州國會代表JohnConyers給她提供了一份崗位――――在他位于底特律的國會辦公室中工作，她從事此項工作一直到1988年退休為止。

縱觀她的一生，羅莎.帕克斯一直為全國有色人種發(fā)展聯(lián)合會（NAACP）工作，并參與了各種民權活動。她是一位寧靜的女性，這似乎與她的名聲不怎么相符。但她說，她想幫助別人，特別是想幫助年輕人，讓他們自己而更好地生活，同時也幫助他人。在1987年，她成立了羅莎－雷蒙德.帕克斯自我發(fā)展協(xié)會，以幫助改善黑人兒童的生活狀況。

羅莎.帕克斯由于她在民權運動的杰出貢獻而獲得兩項國家最高榮譽。在1996年，克林頓總統(tǒng)授予她總統(tǒng)自由勛章，在1999年，她又獲得了國會授予的金質(zhì)勛章。

在她晚年，人們經(jīng)常問羅莎.帕克斯，當民權法律在二十世紀六十年代得到通過后，種族之間的關系得到了多少改善，她認為消除種族之間的隔閡還有很長的路要走，她仍然關注美國的種族平等運動。羅莎.帕克斯于2005年10月24日逝世，享年92歲。她的遺體被安放在華盛頓的美國國會大廈，她是第一位獲此榮譽的美國女性。三萬多人靜靜地向她的遺體告別，以顯示他們對她的敬仰。Conyers眾議員談到，這位女性平靜的力量對美國意味著什么，他說：“在美國，只有少數(shù)幾個人敢說，他們的行為改變了美國的形象，羅莎.帕克斯就是其中之一。”

羅莎.帕克斯影響了許多美國人。在密歇根州的底特律，有四千人出席了她的葬禮，在這些人中，有美國前總統(tǒng)比爾.克林頓及其夫人希拉里.克林頓參議員，有耶西.杰克遜牧師，還有全國伊斯蘭領導人路易斯.法拉可汗。克林頓總統(tǒng)回憶起他小時候美國南方公交車上所實行的種族隔離，他說，羅莎.帕克斯促進了所有美國人的自由，他說，全世界都知道她，因為她一個人的勇敢行為觸動了人們對種族仇恨那麻木不仁的神經(jīng)。

美國參議院宗教事務官員俄利耶在華盛頓的一次紀念儀式上談到她時說：羅莎.帕克斯的勇敢行為是小事卻帶來巨大力量的范例。耶西.杰克遜牧師對她那微小的勇敢行為對非裔美國人意味著什么時說：1955年發(fā)生在公交車上的那件小事，“她坐在位子上，而我們也許還站著，…她開啟了漫長的通向自由之門?！?/p>

簡評：

有關美國民權運動，我在翻譯中，已經(jīng)談到多次，在此不作更多的評論。在此文中，我注意到一個細節(jié)，那就是發(fā)生在蒙哥馬利市的黑人抵制公交車行動，竟然持續(xù)了381天（文中就是這么說的），這讓我不得不對黑人深表敬意。

一項抗議活動，而且是全市性的抗議活動，如果能夠堅持一周，一個月，那就已經(jīng)很了不起了，如果能夠堅持半年，那么，可以說沒有什么事是做不到的。然而，這些黑人，在那個年代，堅持了一周、一個月、半年，雖然沒有結(jié)果，但他們并沒有氣餒，仍然繼續(xù)堅持，一直到勝利為止，這種集體性的堅韌，讓我不得不佩服。

我們都說，什么事，就怕堅持，如果真的能夠堅持，那么，真的是世上無難事了。然而，我們?nèi)粘Ｉ钪?，最難做到的恰恰是“堅持”二字。一個人，還好說，能夠堅持一年、二年、三年，以至更長時間，但讓一個集體堅持那么長時間，那幾乎是不可能的。美國的黑人做到了，他們?yōu)榱四軌蚪o羅莎.帕克斯討回公道，硬是堅持到底，真正做到了不達目的，誓不罷休。一個集體、一個民族，如果能夠有這樣的精神，那么還有什么事是做不到的。奧巴馬當選美國總統(tǒng)，自然也就是情理之中了。

不要輕易地給自己找借口，沒有什么是不可克服的?？礈誓繕?，堅持吧，堅持到底，就可能勝利，如果不堅持，此前的努力，將付之東流。

Rosa Parks, 1913-2005: Mother of theAmerican Civil Rights Movement

Today, we tell about RosaParks, who has been called the mother of the American civil rightsmovement.

Until the nineteen sixties, black people in manyparts of the United States did not have the same civil rights aswhite people. Laws in the American South kept the two racesseparate. These laws forced black people to attend separateschools, live in separate areas of a city and sit in separate areason a bus.　On December first, nineteen fifty-five, in the southerncity of Montgomery, Alabama, a forty-two year old black woman goton a city bus. The law at that time required black people seated inone area of the bus to give up their seats to white people whowanted them. The woman refused to do this and was arrested.　Thisact of peaceful disobedience started protests in Montgomery thatled to legal changes in minority rights in the United States. Thewoman who started it was Rosa Parks. Today, we tell her story.　

She was born Rosa Louise McCauley innineteen-thirteen in Tuskegee, Alabama. She attended local schoolsuntil she was eleven years old. Then she was sent to school inMontgomery. She left high school early to care for her sickgrandmother, then to care for her mother. She didnot finish high school until she was twenty-one.　Rosa marriedRaymond Parks in nineteen thirty-two. He was a barber who cut men'shair. He was also a civil rights activist. Together, they workedfor the local group of the National Association for the Advancementof Colored People. In nineteen forty-three, Missus Parks became anofficer in the group and later its youth leader.　Rosa Parks was aseamstress in Montgomery. She worked sewing clothes from thenineteen thirties until nineteen fifty-five. Then she became arepresentation of freedom for millions of African-Americans.　

In much of the American South in the nineteenfifties, the first rows of seats on city buses were for whitepeople only. Black people sat in the back of the bus. Both groupscould sit in a middle area. However, black people sitting in thatpart of the bus were expected to leave their seats if a whiteperson wanted to sit there.　

Rosa Parks and three other black people were seatedin the middle area of the bus when a white person got on the busand wanted a seat. The bus driver demanded that all four blackpeople leave their seats so the white person would not have to sitnext to any of them. The three other blacks got up, but MissusParks refused. She was arrested.　Some popular stories about thatincident include the statement that Rosa Parks refused to leave herseat because her feet were tired. But she herself said in lateryears that this was false. What she was really tired of, she said,was accepting unequal treatment. She explainedlater that this seemed to be the place for her to stop being pushedaround and to find out what human rights she had, if any.

A group of black activist women in Montgomery wasknown as the Women's Political Council. The group was working tooppose the mistreatment of black bus passengers.Blacks had been arrested and even killed for violating orders frombus drivers. Rosa Parks was not the first black person to refuse togive up a seat on the bus for a white person. But black groups inMontgomery considered her to be the right citizen around whom tobuild a protest because she was one of the finest citizens of thecity.　The women's group immediately called for all blacks in thecity to refuse to ride on city buses on the day of Missus Parks'strial, Monday, December fifth. The result was that forty thousandpeople walked and used other transportation on that day. Thatnight, at meetings throughout the city, blacks in Montgomery agreedto continue to boycott the city buses until their mistreatmentstopped. They also demanded that the city hire black bus driversand that anyone be permitted to sit in the middle of the bus andnot have to get up for anyone else.　　

The Montgomery bus boycott continued for threehundred eighty-one days. It was led by local black leader E.D.Nixon and a young black minister, Martin Luther King, Junior.Similar protests were held in other southern cities. Finally, theSupreme Court of the United States ruled on Missus Parks's case. Itmade racial separation illegal on city buses. That decision came onNovember thirteenth, nineteen fifty-six, almost a year after MissusParks's arrest. The boycott in Montgomery ended the day after thecourt order arrived, December twentieth.　Rosa Parks and MartinLuther King, Junior had started a movement of non-violent protestin the South. That movement changed civil rights in the UnitedStates forever. Martin Luther King became its famous spokesman, buthe did not live to see many of the results of his work. Rosa Parksdid.　

Life became increasingly difficult for Rosa Parksand her family after the bus boycott.

She was dismissed from her job and could not findanother. So the Parks family left Montgomery.They moved first to Virginia, then to Detroit, Michigan. MissusParks worked as a seamstress until nineteen sixty-five. Then,Michigan Representative John Conyers gave her a job working in hiscongressional office in Detroit. She retired from that job innineteen eighty-eight.　

Through the years, Rosa Parks continued to work forthe NAACP and appeared at civil rights events. She was a quietwoman and often seemed uneasy with her fame. But she said that shewanted to help people, especially young people, to make usefullives for themselves and to helpothers.In nineteen eighty-seven, she founded the Rosa and Raymond ParksInstitute for Self-Development to improve the lives of blackchildren.

Rosa Parks received two of the nation's highesthonors for her civil rights activism. In nineteen ninety-six,President Clinton honored her with the Presidential Medal ofFreedom. And in nineteen ninety-nine, she received theCongressional Gold Medal of Honor.　　

In her later years, Rosa Parks was often asked howmuch relations between the races had improved since the civilrights laws were passed in the nineteen sixties. She thought therewas still a long way to go. Yet she remained the face of themovement for racial equality in the United States.　Rosa Parks diedon October twenty-fourth, two thousand five. She was ninety-twoyears old. Her body lay in honor in the United States Capitolbuilding in Washington. She was the first American woman to be sohonored. Thirty thousand people walked silently past her body toshow their respect.　Representative Conyers spoke about what thiswoman of quiet strength meant to the nation. He said: "There arevery few people who can say their actions and conduct changed theface of the nation. Rosa Parks is one of those individuals."　　

Rosa Parks meant a lot to many Americans. Fourthousand people attended her funeral in Detroit, Michigan. Amongthem were former President Bill Clinton, his wife Senator HillaryRodham Clinton, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Nation of Islamleader Louis Farrakhan.　President Clinton spoke about rememberingthe separation of the races on buses in the South when he was aboy. He said that Rosa Parks helped to set all Americans free. Hesaid the world knows of her because of a single act of bravery thatstruck a deadly blow to racial hatred.　

Earlier, the religious official of the UnitedStates Senate spoke about her at a memorial service in Washington.He said Rosa Parks's bravery serves as an example of the power ofsmall acts. And the Reverend Jesse Jackson commented in a statementabout what her small act of bravery meant for African-Americanpeople. He said that on that bus in nineteenfifty-five, "She sat down in order that we might stand up… and sheopened the doors on the long journey to freedom." 　

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