时代周刊 总统议程最有力的执行者 杰夫·塞申斯(6)（在线收听）

(Law-enforcement statistics show white criminals also tend to target white victims.)

(执法部门的统计数据显示，白人罪犯也往往以白人为加害目标。)

His eyes gleamed as he sat back.

他靠在椅背上，两眼闪闪发光。

"We are protecting minority citizens," he concluded.

“我们是在保护我们的弱势群体，”他总结道。

"The fundamental question is, Who rules the streets? The government, or the outlaws?"

“根本的问题是，控制街头巷尾的到底是谁？是政府？还是亡命之徒？”

JEFFERSON BEAUREGARD SESSIONS III grew up in Hybart, a small town in rural southwestern Alabama, where his father owned a country store.

杰佛逊·博勒加德·塞申斯三世是在巴特长大的，这是位于阿拉巴马州西南部乡村的一个小镇，他的父亲在镇上开了一家乡村商店。

He was raised to follow the rules.

他从小就被教育要遵纪守法。

"I was always persnickety about integrity and all that," he said.

“我对正直之类的东西一直都是眼里容不得沙子的，”他说。

The troubled history of race in America runs through his family.

美国种族历史有多坎坷，他们家就是明证。

His grandfather, the original J.B. Sessions, was named after two icons of the Confederacy, Jeferson Davis and P.G.T.Beauregard,

他的祖父，初代J.B.塞申斯，是以南部邦联的两个标志性人物杰弗森·戴维斯和P.G.T.博勒加德的名字命名的，

and was 2 when his own father died at Antietam.

而且，他的父亲在安提塔姆内战期间离世时他才两岁。

Sessions' ancestors migrated south in the 1830s,

19世纪30年代，塞申斯的祖先移居南方，

when President Andrew Jackson forcibly removed Native Americans from the land that is now Alabama to accommodate the growing white population.

因为当时的安德鲁·杰克逊总统为了容纳不断增长的白人人口，强行将原住民从现在的阿拉巴马州的土地上赶走。

Like many white Southerners of long lineage, he is descended from numerous slave owners,

和南方许多有着悠久的家族历史的白人一样，塞申斯的祖上也有很多人都曾是奴隶主，

including his mother's great-grandfather Oliver Powe, who the 1860 Census records as having owned 25 slaves.

包括他母亲的曾祖父奥利弗·波伊， 1860年的人口普查记录显示，他拥有25名奴隶。

Sessions attended segregated schools and an all-white university.

塞申斯就读的是种族隔离学校和白人大学。

After earning his law degree from the University of Alabama, he joined the U.S. Attorney's office in Mobile,

拿到阿拉巴马大学法律学位以后，他去了莫比尔的美国联邦检察官办公室工作，

and in 1986, then President Reagan nominated him for a federal judgeship.

1986年，当时的总统里根任命他为联邦法官。

Sessions' confirmation turned contentious when the Senate Judiciary Committee confronted him with charges of racism.

当参议院司法委员会指控塞申斯有种族主义倾向时，塞申斯的证词变得有了争议。

A black assistant U.S. Attorney testified that Sessions had addressed him as "boy"

美国一名黑人助理律师作证说，塞申斯对他的称呼是“黑仔”，

and had said that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was all right until he found out they smoked pot.

还说他觉得三k党没什么问题，直到他发现了他们还抽大麻。

(Sessions said he was joking.)

(塞申斯说他是在开玩笑。)

Just as disturbing to liberals on the committee was a voter-fraud case Sessions had brought against a group of civil rights activists who were helping black voters cast their ballots.

同样让司法委员会中的自由派成员感到不安的，是塞申斯抛出的一起针对一群帮助黑人选民投票的民权活动人士的投票欺诈案。

(The activists were acquitted.)

(活动人士被判无罪。)

Sessions protested that he was not a racist, and had allowed civil rights cases to move through his office.

塞申斯抗议说自己不是种族主义者，自己还允许了民权案件接受他的办公室审理。

His nomination was rejected with a combination of Democratic and Republican votes.

他的提名被民主党和共和党投票联合否决了。

Elected to the Senate in 1996, Sessions became known as a dogmatic outlier.

1996年就当选为参议员的塞申斯素有“独断专行的局外人”之称。

As many Republicans called for increases in legal immigration and clemency for the undocumented, Sessions gave iery loor speeches denouncing those ideas.

许多共和党人都呼吁增加合法移民和对无证移民的宽大处理时，塞申斯发表了言辞激烈的演讲谴责这些想法。

He also jibed with Trump on trade, having come to view big global agreements as a raw deal for the American worker.

他还在贸易问题上与特朗普站到了一起，视重大的全球协议为对美国工人待遇不公的协议。