[ti:Obama Economic Justice is Unfinished Business]
[ar:Avi Arditti]
[al:In the News]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
[00:09.86]President Barack Obama
[00:12.40]this week joined hundreds of thousands of Americans
[00:16.21]across the country in marking the 50th anniversary
[00:20.47]of the March on Washington for civil rights.
[00:23.99]The president noted what he called
[00:27.09]"unfinished business" in the struggle
[00:29.52]for equality and justice in the United States.
[00:32.86]His comments come at a time
[00:35.66]when Americans are talking about civil rights
[00:39.00]and race relations.
[00:40.50]Some are still reacting
[00:43.45]to a Florida court's decision
[00:45.72]in the murder trial of George Zimmermann.
[00:48.42]The jury found the neighborhood watch volunteer
[00:52.34]not guilty in the shooting death
[00:54.77]of Trayvon Martin,
[00:56.25]a 17-year-old African American.
[00:58.90]On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people
[01:06.38]marched in Washington for jobs and civil rights.
[01:10.08]It was the biggest demonstration of its kind.
[01:13.47]Many people stood outside the Lincoln Memorial
[01:17.66]to hear speakers talk about civil rights
[01:20.50]for African Americans.
[01:22.34]The march ended
[01:24.47]with civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
[01:28.11]giving his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
[01:31.26]His comments energized
[01:34.96]the civil rights movement in the United States
[01:37.19]and led to important laws,
[01:39.54]including the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
[01:43.43]The law bars major forms of discrimination
[01:47.27]against minorities and women.
[01:49.50]Last Wednesday,
[01:52.03]the nation's first black president
[01:54.22]stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
[01:56.79]Mr. Obama remembered King
[01:59.80]and the sacrifices
[02:01.47]of those who marched here in Washington.
[02:03.95]He said the marchers brought change
[02:07.04]not only for African Americans,
[02:09.01]but also for other groups
[02:11.34]and for those hoping for freedom around the world.
[02:14.63]The president's speech marked one of the first times
[02:19.04]since he took office in 2009
[02:21.96]that he has spoken about issues of race.
[02:24.94]It also came two months after the nation's highest court
[02:29.95]ruled against part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
[02:34.45]Mr. Obama said those who suggest
[02:38.06]little has changed in America dishonor
[02:41.28]the marchers of 50 years ago.
[02:43.50]At the same time,
[02:45.82]he said work toward racial equality is not complete.
[02:49.67]The president noted that challenges to voting rights,
[02:54.33]high unemployment rates and other problems need attention.
[02:58.39]"To secure the gains that this country has made
[03:01.37]requires constant vigilance,
[03:03.39]not complacency, whether by challenging those
[03:07.19]who erect new barriers to the vote,
[03:09.41]or ensuring that the scales of justice work
[03:12.45]equally for all, and the criminal justice system
[03:15.46]is not simply a pipeline
[03:16.71]from under-funded schools to overcrowded jails.
[03:19.74]It requires vigilance."
[03:21.76]The crowd on the National Mall
[03:26.23]here in Washington
[03:27.49]also heard from present-day civil rights leaders,
[03:30.87]movie stars and two former U.S. presidents.
[03:34.37]Like Mr. Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter
[03:38.61]belong to the Democratic Party.
[03:40.67]Mr. Carter also criticized the Supreme Court decision
[03:45.05]on the Voting Rights Act.
[03:46.61]"I believe we all know
[03:48.18]how Dr. King would have reacted
[03:50.60]to the new ID requirements
[03:52.73]to exclude certain voters,
[03:54.64]especially African Americans.
[03:57.05]I think we all know how Dr. King would have reacted
[04:00.04]to the Supreme Court striking down
[04:02.51]a crucial part of the Voters Rights Act
[04:05.33]just recently passed overwhelmingly by Congress."
[04:08.31]Another speaker was Martin Luther King's youngest child,
[04:12.52]Bernice King.
[04:13.97]She spoke about her father's message
[04:17.26]to "Let Freedom Ring."
[04:18.97]"Today, 50 years later, my friends,
[04:22.25]we are still crippled by practices
[04:25.14]and policies steeped in racial pride,
[04:28.20]hatred and hostility,
[04:30.27]some of which have us standing our ground
[04:33.92]rather than finding common ground."
[04:36.36]Some people in the crowd
[04:38.52]also took part in the 1963 march.
[04:41.76]They said they are prepared
[04:43.78]to keep the dream of racial equality alive.
[04:47.20]And that's In the News,
[04:49.89]from VOA Learning English. I'm Avi Arditti.
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA¾©Ïã2018ÏÂÔØ
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