11 Chapter 10 A Legacy of Strength

Chapter 10 A Legacy of Strength Though he was traveling the world and speaking about how great life was in the United States, life was not great for many black people, especially in the South. America was still a racially divided country. To try to change that, many African Americans joined the Civil Rights Movement as the 1960s began. They rallied and marched, calling for an end to Jim Crow laws and other forms of racism. Some leaders in the movement wanted Jesse to support their cause through speeches. However, he chose not to.

尽管他周游世界，大谈美国的生活是多么美好，但对许多黑人来说，生活并不美好，尤其是在南方。 美国仍然是一个种族分裂的国家。 为了改变这种状况，许多非裔美国人在20世纪60年代初加入了民权运动。 他们集会游行，呼吁结束吉姆·克劳法和其他形式的种族主义。 该运动的一些领导人希望杰西通过演讲来支持他们的事业。 然而，他选择不这么做。

At that time, he believed protest was not the way to change things. He wanted to live his life as best he could. He did not want to rock the boat. He appreciated what people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were doing to make life better for African Americans. But he did not think they should protest. In 1970, he cowrote a book titled Blackthink, in which he expressed these feelings. "If the Negro doesn't succeed in today's America," he wrote, "it is because he

当时，他认为抗议不是改变事情的方式。 他想尽可能地过好自己的生活。 他不想惹事生非。 他很欣赏像博士这样的人。 为改善非裔美国人的生活所做的努力。 但是他认为他们不应该抗议。 1970年，他与人合写了一本名为《Blackthink》的书，在书中他表达了这些感受。 “如果黑人在今天的美国没有成功，”他写道，“那是因为他

has chosen to fail." He even compared the ideas of some black leaders to the ideas of Hitler. He wrote that he believed that arguing and protesting were not the answers to America's problems with race. Many of his longtime admirers were shocked and hurt. They were angry that a black hero like Jesse had said he was not on their side. For the first time in his life, he received hate mail. Hearing from other blacks changed him. He realized he had been focusing on his own story and not appreciating the troubles other black people endured. He finally understood what the Civil Rights Movement was all about. Two years later, he wrote another book, I Have Changed. In it, he apologized for Blackthink. Finally, Jesse understood the goals of the Civil Rights Movement more clearly. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Jesse was paid to appear in advertisements for products such as credit cards, cigars, and soup. He also ran an advertising business that

选择了失败。”他甚至将一些黑人领袖的思想与希特勒的思想进行了比较。 他写道，他认为争论和抗议不是解决美国种族问题的办法。 他的许多长期崇拜者感到震惊和受伤。 他们对杰西这样的黑人英雄说他不站在他们一边感到愤怒。 这是他有生以来第一次收到恐吓信。 其他黑人的声音改变了他。 他意识到他一直专注于自己的故事，而没有意识到其他黑人所经历的困难。 他终于明白了民权运动的意义。 两年后，他写了另一本书《我变了》。 在信中，他为Blackthink道歉。 最后，杰西更清楚地理解了民权运动的目标。 在整个20世纪60年代和70年代，杰西被雇佣出现在信用卡、雪茄和汤等产品的广告中。 他还经营一家广告公司

helped companies make ads and get attention for their products. All of his and Ruth's three daughters graduated from college, including two who had attended Ohio State. In 1961, Marlene had become the first African American woman named homecoming queen at OSU. In the early 1970s, Jesse and Ruth moved from Chicago to Arizona.

帮助公司做广告，为他们的产品获得关注。 他和露丝的三个女儿都从大学毕业，其中两个曾就读于俄亥俄州立大学。 1961年，玛琳成为俄勒冈州立大学第一位被评为返校节皇后的非裔美国女性。 20世纪70年代初，杰西和露丝从芝加哥搬到了亚利桑那州。

In the 1970s, Jesse again played a role in the Olympics. In 1972, he was honored at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. He returned to the country where he first won Olympic glory. The organizers of the Games gave him a special award, and once again he heard cheers from a huge crowd. And in 1973, he was elected to the board of directors of the US Olympic Committee.

在20世纪70年代，杰西再次在奥运会上发挥了作用。 1972年，他在德国慕尼黑夏季奥运会上获得荣誉。 他回到了他第一次赢得奥运荣誉的国家。 奥运会的组织者给了他一个特别奖，他再一次听到了群众的欢呼声。 1973年，他当选为美国奥委会董事会成员。

Over the next few years, he received many other awards. Ohio State gave him an honorary college degree. He had never graduated from the school, so the degree meant a great deal to him. The NCAA, which organizes college sports, gave him the 1974 Theodore Roosevelt Award. That same year, he was elected to the International Track and Field Hall of Fame.

在接下来的几年里，他获得了许多其他奖项。 俄亥俄州立大学授予他荣誉大学学位。 他从未从这所学校毕业，所以这个学位对他来说意义重大。 组织大学体育运动的全国大学生体育协会授予他1974年的西奥多·罗斯福奖。 同年，他入选国际田径名人堂。