美国黑人青年被射杀种族问题仍堪忧

2014-09-04 15:20:46来源：可可英语

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

　　8月9日，18岁黑人青年迈克尔•布朗在美国密苏里州弗格森市遭一名警察枪击后身亡，事件引发媒体热议。

　　Residents in the area took to the streets to protestwhat they feel is racial injustice in US lawenforcement practices. Protests carried on for daysand grew so intense in certain areas that the policedeployed military-grade armored vehicles, tear gasand rubber bullets.

　　当地民众纷纷上街抗议，认为这是美国执法中的种族歧视。抗议持续数天，在一些地区愈演愈烈，警察甚至派出军事装甲车，并动用催泪瓦斯与橡胶子弹。

　　Brown was initially stopped by the officer for jaywalking. When confrontation ensued, theofficer, 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 iscurrently underway. But many people are wondering if the same thing would have happenedhad Brown been white.

　　起初，布朗因乱穿马路被警察拦住，在随后的双方对峙中，一名白人警察至少向布朗连开6枪。虽然该警察称自己是正当防卫，但布朗被射杀身亡时手中并无武器。目前，事件真相正在进一步调查中。然而，很多人却提出质疑：如果布朗是一名白人，惨剧是否还会重演?

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

　　布朗之死也许是弗格森骚乱的导火索，但正如解释性新闻网站Vox.com所言，弗格森地区的少数民族群体、警察与当地政府间多年来紧张的种族矛盾才是造成这场骚乱的根本原因。

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

　　早在枪击案发生之前，关于警察对待黑人暴力执法，以及普遍存在的种族歧视就曾遭到美国民众的热议。2012年，弗罗里达州一名手无寸铁的黑人青年特雷沃恩•马丁被附近社区警卫射杀身亡，而这位名叫乔治•齐默尔的警卫最后却被无罪释放。

　　An old problem

　　问题由来已久

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

　　此次，导致弗格森事件继续恶化的一大原因或许是当地政府中缺少黑人代表。美国人口普查局数据显示，弗格森人口总数中约67%为黑人，但该市市长与警察局局长均为白人。而据《洛杉矶时报》报道，当地雇佣的53名警察中，只有3名为黑人。

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