评论
打印
Race relations in America
美国种族问题
The lessons of Ferguson
弗格森的教训
There is no excuse for rioting. But smarter policing would make it less likely
暴乱无可原谅，但有能力的警察能尽力避免冲突。
AFTER more than a week of rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, what can America learn? The first and simplest lesson is that cops should wear cameras. Knowing that they are being recorded, the police would be less likely to shoot suspects, and vice versa. Also, had Officer Darren Wilson been wearing a camera on August 9th, Americans would know what happened just before he shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. As it is, there are two conflicting stories and no way to choose between them. The police say that Mr Brown attacked Mr Wilson and tried to wrestle away his gun. In the ensuing struggle the officer, fearing for his life, shot and killed the teenager. Mr Brown's friend, who was with him at the time, gives a completely different account: he says the officer grabbed Mr Brown by the neck and later shot him as he was trying to surrender. Early autopsy results show that Mr Brown was hit by at least six bullets but do not settle the dispute.
经过超过一周的密苏里弗格森骚乱，美国能学到些什么？首先，最简单的一点，警察应该携带影像记录设备。当值班过程被记录下来，警察射击嫌犯的概率将降低，反之亦然。同时，假如戴伦·威尔逊警官在八月九日执勤时配戴相机，民众就能直观了解景观开枪射击了一位18岁的黑人青年迈克尔·布朗，布朗当时手无寸铁。关于此事，两个截然不同的说法无法证实，警方的说法是布朗袭击了威尔逊警官，并试图抢夺他的枪。威尔逊警官由于生命受到威胁，开枪打死了这位黑人青年布朗。与布朗先生同在案发现场的朋友提供了一个完全不同的说法：警察抓住了布朗先生的脖子，后来布朗想自首的时候被开枪杀死了。早期的尸检结果表明，布朗身中至少六发的子弹，但这未能成为事件有力的证据。
His death sparked protests that soon turned violent. Looters smashed up shops and picked them clean. The police responded with a staggering display of force, rolling military-style armoured cars onto the streets, pointing rifles at the protesters, dispersing crowds with tear gas and detaining not only rioters but also peaceful demonstrators and journalists.
他的死引发了暴力性的抗议活动。暴徒砸毁抢光了店铺，警方对此做出强有力的回应，将军用装甲车开上街道，用实枪荷弹震慑，用催泪瓦斯驱散人群，并逮捕暴徒，甚至和平示威者和记者。
There is a racial gulf in how these events are perceived. Some 65% of black Americans think the police went too far in responding to the protests; only 33% of whites agree. Many blacks in Ferguson disbelieve anything the police say. Mr Brown's family describe him as a gentle giant. The Ferguson police beg to differ:they released a video purportedly showing him violently robbing a liquor store minutes before he met Officer Wilson. Some locals dismissed this as a smear. The liquor store was promptly looted.
有一个种族隔阂的说法能说明这些事件是如何发生的。大约65%的黑人认为警察对抗议活动的反应过于激烈，只有33%的白人同意警方的做法。在弗格森许多黑人不相信任何警察的话。布朗先生的家人将他描述为一个温和的巨人。弗格森警方不敢苟同：他们发布了一个视频，据称是他遇到警官威尔逊之前几分钟暴力抢劫酒类商店。一些当地人否认了视频内容。该酒类商店经常被抢劫。
Rioting will do nothing to resolve Ferguson's problems. On the contrary, it will make businesses flee, leaving locals with fewer jobs and shops. So the immediate priority is to restore order. Next, the investigations of the shooting already under way must be pursued vigorously and transparently. In the longer term, America should ponder three things.
暴乱无益于解决弗格森的问题。相反，它将使商铺离开弗格森，造成一部分人失业。所以当务之急是维持秩序。下一步，正在进行的案件调查应该更加仔细和彻底。从长远来看，美国人应该思考三个问题。
To protect and serve
保护民众，服务民众
First, as Barack Obama noted on August 18th, “there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred.” In fact, those lines have already been blurred, as the armoured cars on the streets of Ferguson attest. In 2012, according to the FBI, American police officers shot and killed 409 people. Their British counterparts shot and killed no one. The German police, who unlike the Brits are routinely armed, shot and killed eight people; the Japanese have killed one in the past six years. In their defence, American cops face greater risks than those in other rich countries. The civilians they meet are often armed; small wonder they are jumpy when they cannot see your hands.
首先，正如奥巴马总统八月十八日所说，“这是我们的军事和当地执法部门之间行事原则上的差异，我们不想要部门之间的界线模糊。“事实上，这些界线已经模糊，在弗格森的街道行驶装甲车就是证明。根据美国联邦调查局的统计，首先，正如巴拉克奥巴马指出，八月十八日，“这是我们的军事和当地执法部门之间的大的差异，我们不想要那些线模糊。“事实上，这些线路已经模糊，在弗格森的街道的装甲车的证明。2012，美国警察开枪打死409人。他们的英国同行未打死一个嫌犯。德国警方，他们不像英国人，配备常规武器，开枪打死八人；日本在过去六年中已经杀死了一人。在他们的正当防卫的范围内，美国警察面对比其他发达国家更大的危险。他们面对持枪的平民，也难怪他们看不到嫌犯双手时，心情多么紧张。
Yet this is a reason for cops to work harder to improve relations with the communities they serve. Many police forces in America are good at this, but some have developed a warrior culture that stresses brute force over pounding the beat. A Pentagon programme that gives surplus military hardware to local law-enforcement agencies can make them seem like occupying armies rather than public servants. That is both costly and counterproductive—the public are more likely to volunteer information to officers they trust than to those they fear.
然而，这也正是警察努力改善与所服务的社区关系的原因。许多美国警察部队懂得如何与社区打成一片，但也有一些警察崇尚强权镇压的方针。有一个国防部的项目将冗余的军事装备给予地方执法机构，这使他们看起来像是占领军而不是公务员。这是花钱起到反作用的项目，因为对于执法者来说，公众的信任比畏惧更加可贵。
Second, unlike plumbers or accountants, it matters what colour police officers are. Ferguson's population has shifted from 75% white in 1990 to 67% black in 2010, but the police force is still 95% white. This is partly due to bureaucratic inertia. Public servants have rock-solid job security and generous pensions, so the workforce turns over slowly. A fast-food joint in a town that becomes Hispanic will quickly hire Spanish-speaking cashiers. The police are much slower to hire officers with a feel for a changing community. This is not to say that Ferguson should have sacked the white officers and replaced them with blacks; that would be illegal. But it ought to be easier to shift officers between towns, bring in fresh faces and retrain the old hands to be more racially sensitive.
第二，不像管道工和会计师，警官的肤色似乎也影响到办案过程。弗格森的黑人人口已从1990年的75%变为2010年到67%，但警察中仍然是95%的白人。一是因为官僚主义的传统，公务员失业风险低，待遇相对较好，工作节奏相对较慢。而其他岗位不如公务员稳定，比如快餐店的收银员就可以随时雇佣母语为西班牙语的雇员。社区警察却很难让不同背景警员适应社区治安工作。这虽然不是说弗格森应该用黑人警官代替白人警官，这也不合法，但这样的做法应该能更加方便开展社区工作，也能减少因为种族问题带来的不便。
Third, policing would be a lot easier, and race relations a little more cordial, if America legalised drugs. One reason why so many African-Americans distrust the police is that so many young black men are sent to prison for non-violent drug offences. If drugs were legal, no one would be patted down for pills or jailed for possessing them. Illicit drug gangs would go out of business. And the police would be able to concentrate on tracking down thieves and rapists, making everyone safer. Legalising marijuana would be a good first step, following the examples of Colorado and Washington state.
第三，假如美国让民间药品流通合法，警察会轻松很多，种族问题也能得到缓和。如此多的非洲裔美国人之所以不信任警察是因为许多年轻的黑人男性由于违禁药品犯罪入狱。如果药物是合法的，没有人会因为药物而入狱。非法贩卖药物团伙自然会消失。和警察能够专注于追捕小偷，强奸犯，使社区更加安全。在科罗拉多州和华盛顿州，大麻合法化将是一个很好的尝试。
The ills of shrinking rust-belt towns with tetchy race relations cannot be fixed quickly. But the broken windows of Ferguson should remind America's leaders that they have to try.
有种族矛盾问题缠身的城镇不能迅速解决。但弗格森的惨剧应该提醒美国领导人，他们必须解决类似的问题。
