美國黑人青年被射殺，種族問題仍堪憂

Death incites unrest

美國黑人青年被射殺，種族問題仍堪憂

A media firestorm has swept across the US since Aug 9 when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

8月9日，18歲黑人青年邁克爾•布朗在美國密蘇里州弗格森市遭一名警察槍擊后身亡，事件引發(fā)媒體熱議。

Residents in the area took to the streets to protest what they feel is racial injustice in US law enforcement practices. Protests carried on for days and grew so intense in certain areas that the police deployed military-grade armored vehicles, tear gas and rubber bullets.

當(dāng)?shù)孛癖娂娂娚辖挚棺h，認(rèn)為這是美國執(zhí)法中的種族歧視。抗議持續(xù)數(shù)天，在一些地區(qū)愈演愈烈，警察甚至派出軍事裝甲車，并動(dòng)用催淚瓦斯與橡膠子彈。

Brown was initially stopped by the officer for jaywalking. When confrontation ensued, the officer, who is white, shot Brown at least six times. The officer claims he acted in self-defense. Brown was unarmed at the time he was killed. An investigation into what really happened is currently underway. But many people are wondering if the same thing would have happened had Brown been white.

起初，布朗因亂穿馬路被警察攔住，在隨后的雙方對峙中，一名白人警察至少向布朗連開6槍。雖然該警察稱自己是正當(dāng)防衛(wèi)，但布朗被射殺身亡時(shí)手中并無武器。目前，事件真相正在進(jìn)一步調(diào)查中。然而，很多人卻提出質(zhì)疑：如果布朗是一名白人，慘劇是否還會(huì)重演?

The killing of Brown might be the catalyst of the Ferguson unrest, but as explanatory journalism website Vox.com points out, the underlying cause of the turmoil is years of racial tensions between Ferguson’s minority communities, police, and local government.

布朗之死也許是弗格森騷亂的導(dǎo)火索，但正如解釋性新聞網(wǎng)站Vox.com所言，弗格森地區(qū)的少數(shù)民族群體、警察與當(dāng)?shù)卣g多年來緊張的種族矛盾才是造成這場騷亂的根本原因。

Prior to the shooting, Americans were already discussing the history of police violence against black men, and general racism as well. In 2012 Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch guard in Florida. The guard, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of all charges related to the killing.

早在槍擊案發(fā)生之前，關(guān)于警察對待黑人暴力執(zhí)法，以及普遍存在的種族歧視就曾遭到美國民眾的熱議。2012年，弗羅里達(dá)州一名手無寸鐵的黑人青年特雷沃恩•馬丁被附近社區(qū)警衛(wèi)射殺身亡，而這位名叫喬治•齊默爾的警衛(wèi)最后卻被無罪釋放。

An old problem

問題由來已久

But this time in Ferguson, the problems may have been worsened by the lack of black representation in local government. According to the US Census Bureau, Ferguson is about 67 percent black. But both its mayor and police chief are white. Out of 53 commissioned police officers, only three are black, according to the Los Angeles Times.

此次，導(dǎo)致弗格森事件繼續(xù)惡化的一大原因或許是當(dāng)?shù)卣腥鄙俸谌舜?。美國人口普查局?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)顯示，弗格森人口總數(shù)中約67%為黑人，但該市市長與警察局局長均為白人。而據(jù)《洛杉磯時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道，當(dāng)?shù)毓蛡虻?3名警察中，只有3名為黑人。

The disparities also apply to the number of police actions against white and black residents. A report from the Missouri attorney general’s office found black people made up more than 93 percent of arrests carried out by Ferguson police in 2013.

此外，差異還體現(xiàn)在被警察對白人與黑人居民的執(zhí)法數(shù)量上：來自密蘇里州司法部長辦公室的報(bào)告顯示，2013年弗格森警察逮捕人數(shù)中，93%以上均為黑人。

US president Barack Obama, in a speech calling for calm in Ferguson on Aug 18, acknowledged the deep racial divisions that continue to plague not only Ferguson but cities across the US, reported The New York Times.

據(jù)《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道，8月19日，美國總統(tǒng)奧巴馬發(fā)表演講，呼吁弗格森民眾保持冷靜，并承認(rèn)：不僅是弗格森、整個(gè)美國都存在巨大的種族差異。

“In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement,” Obama said. “In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear.”

奧巴馬說，“在全國的太多社區(qū)，當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窈蛨?zhí)法部門之間都存在著一條不信任的鴻溝，在太多社區(qū)，有太多的有色人種青年被社會(huì)拋棄，并被視為恐懼的對象。”

Annette Gordon-Reed, writing in the Financial Times, points out that the US has yet to overcome its tortured racial past. Deep-rooted prejudices have made black people, particularly young black men,presumptive criminals outside the boundaries of full citizenship, Gordon-Reed says.

安妮特•戈登•里德在《金融時(shí)報(bào)》中指出，美國仍未擺脫種族對立的歷史陰影，根深蒂固的偏見讓黑人群體，尤其是年輕的黑人群體被假定為罪犯，將他們隔離在充分享有公民權(quán)的邊界之外。

This conclusion can be drawn if one looks at the record of police conduct, says Gordon-Reed —“from instances of brutal treatment of blacks in custody, to racial disparities in drug arrests and sentencing”.

戈登•里德還說，如果查看美國警察執(zhí)法記錄，結(jié)論就不言而喻——“從黑人群體在監(jiān)獄中遭到粗魯對待，到毒品逮捕與量刑時(shí)的種族歧視”，這樣的例子比比皆是。