时代周刊 总统议程最有力的执行者 杰夫·塞申斯(5)（在线收听）

To critics, all these theories are no more than window dressing for a racist system

对批评者们而言，所有这些理论不过是种族主义制度的粉饰门面，

that intimidates, imprisons and kills black people indiscriminately in order to make white people feel safe.

为了让白人感到安全，他们不分青红皂白地恐吓、监禁和杀害黑人。

Since the 1960s, "law and order" has been a coded political slogan, a fear-based appeal to galvanize white voters.

20世纪60年代以来，“法律与秩序”就一直是一个暗藏的政治口号，一直是一种基于恐惧的诉求，为的是激励白人选民。

"There is a consensus that the war on drugs of the 1980s and '90s destroyed communities, disproportionately impacted people of color,

“人们一致认为，80年代和90年代的禁毒战争不仅摧毁了众多社区，给有色人种造成了严重的影响，

ballooned the criminal-justice system and the prisons, and exacerbated poverty and inequality in our country, "

让刑事司法系统和监狱变得人满为患，还加剧了我国的贫困问题和不平等问题。

says Todd Cox, director of policy for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

“全国有色人种协进会”法律辩护和教育基金政策主任托德·考克斯说到。

By turning the Justice Department away from civil rights and toward harsh enforcement, Sessions embodies what many see as the institutional racism of the Trump Administration.

将司法部的事务从民权转向严厉执法的塞申斯代表着许多人眼中特朗普政府的那种制度性种族主义。

He has taken the racially coded messages that served as dogwhistles during the campaign and operationalized them into policy.

他不仅接受了竞选期间充当狗哨（政治术语）的种族主义信息，还将它们纳入了实际的政策。

The conviction among his critics that Sessions is racist has sometimes led them to overreach.

批评人士中间那种坚信塞申斯是种族主义分子的信念有时也会导致这些人贪功致败。

In February, a Democratic Senator and the American Civil Liberties Union blasted him for referring to the "Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement" in a speech.

今年2月，一名民主党参议员和美国公民自由联盟因为塞申斯在一次演讲中提到了“英美执法传统”这一说法便对他进行了抨击。

It was a factual description, one Obama had used on many occasions.

然而，这一说法不过是种事实性描述，奥巴马也曾在多个场合下使用过这一说法。

But in explaining it to me, Sessions couldn't resist a detour into cultural stereotypes.

不过，在向我解释该问题的时候，塞申斯还是未能避免陷入文化成见。

"I believe the American legal system, which clearly developed out of England, is a wonder of the world,

“我相信，美国的司法体系，这一司法体系明显根植于英国的司法体系，称得上是世界的一大奇迹，

and it's based on the fact that lady justice is blindfolded," he said.

这一司法体系也是建立在正义女神被蒙住了眼睛这一事实基础之上的，”他说。

"When you go and travel like I have—to Kosovo, to Afghanistan, to Iraq--where we've invested huge amounts of money and effort to export our legal system to a culture that's totally unfamiliar with it,

当你和我一样，去过科索沃，阿富汗和伊拉克——我们为了往他们那种对司法体系完全陌生的文化输出我们的司法体系投入了大量的人力物力的地方，

it doesn't work.

你就知道，这一套行不通。

It's because it requires a degree of trust and respect, education and maybe even a cultural predisposition.

因为要对他们输入我们的司法体系，还需要一定程度的信任，尊重，教育，甚至是文化倾向性。

Sessions contends that the policies he champions help minority communities by cleaning up their neighborhoods.

塞申斯认为，他倡导的政策是有功于弱势群体社区的，因为他的政策让那些社区变得更加有序了。

"If you do the map of your city and you've got five times the murders in a minority neighborhood, do you just go away?"

“如果你画一张你所在城市的地图，结果发现弱势群体社区发生谋杀案的概率是其他地区的五倍，你是直接搬走呢？”

he asked me, eyes narrowed.

他眯着眼睛向我问到。

"Or do you prosecute the criminals who are committing the murders?

还是起诉那些犯下了谋杀罪的凶手呢？

That's the fundamental answer.

这才是最基本的答案。

And the other thing is, you think the mothers who've got children, the older people who are afraid to walk to the grocery store—

还有就是，你觉得，那些拖着孩子的母亲，那些连街都不敢上的老人，

shouldn't they be free just like they are in the elite part of town? "

他们难道不应该像精英社区那些人一样自由自在吗？”

Sessions leaned over the plastic airplane table.

塞申斯靠在飞机上的塑料桌上。

"Whose side are you on?" he asked.

“你会站在哪一边？”他问。

"I'm on the victims' side, and overwhelmingly the victims are minorities.

“反正我是站在受害人一边的，而我们绝大多数的受害者都是弱势群体。

The prosecution of certain minorities for murder, the victim is overwhelmingly another African American or Hispanic.

某些弱势群体被指控犯有谋杀罪的案件中，受害者也十有八九是他们的非裔或者拉丁裔同胞。

It occurs within their own communities."

那些谋杀案其实就发生在他们自己社区内部。”