VOA常速英语2014--弗格森枪击案后种族和治安问题再度引发关注

 

After Ferguson, New Focus on Race and Policing 弗格森枪击案后种族和治安问题再度引发关注

NEW YORK—

The fatal police shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson, Missouri, has brought new attention to other allegations of excessive force and bias¹ against racial minorities and poor communities.

Days after the Ferguson shooting, police in nearby St. Louis shot and killed Kajieme Powell, a mentally-disturbed man who was holding a knife. 

A largely black crowd of New Yorkers demonstrated recently to protest the July death of Eric Garner².

一大群纽约黑人因为最近7月发生的埃里克·加纳死亡事件举行示威抗议。

He died after police put him in a chokehold while trying to arrest him for a misdemeanor.

埃里克·加纳的死亡是由于警察试图以品行不端将其逮捕掐住他的脖子所致。

Jumaane Williams is a member of the New York City Council. In 2011, he and a friend, another black man, were shoved around and mistakenly arrested at a West Indian Day parade.

尤玛娜·威廉姆斯是纽约市议会的一员。早在2011年他和另一位黑人朋友在西印度群岛日游行时就曾被轻蔑对待并且遭到误捕。

种族和治安问题.jpg

“We both ended up in cuffs³. And I firmly believe, and said then that if we were of a different hue⁴, it wouldn't have happened the way that it happened."

“我们被上了铐子。之后我坚信并且表示如果我们是不同的肤色,根本就不会发生这种事情。”

Williams says that while most police serve honorably, some are biased—and express it with over-policing or using excessive force against people of color or the poor.

威廉姆斯表示虽然大多数警察都是尽忠职守,但有些人还是心存偏见,他们通常执法过度或过分使用武力对付有色人种或穷人。

“It's something we have to look into, and what bothers me about not addressing race and class being policed differently, you're invalidating whole communities and the experiences they've had."

“我们必须将这些因素考虑在内,而且困扰我的不是人种及阶级被区别对待的问题得到解决，你颠覆的是整个社区,还有他们所受的悲惨经历。”

The New York Police Department has announced plans for retraining officers in the use of force and community relations.

纽约警局已宣布在使用武力及构建社区关系方面对警务人员重新进行培训。

Effective anti-racism training is also necessary—says former police officer Eugene O'Donnell. But he says errors and abuse in policing are not the primary problem.

前任警官尤金·奥德奈尔表示切实可行的反种族主义培训也是非常必要。但是他称警界中的错误和虐待并不是主要问题。

“Not that there's not issues in the police world, but the larger questions of why do we have more laws with every passing year, why is the authority of the police so broad, why is it almost impossible to convict police who are on duty of crimes? Those are legislative⁵ and often assisted by judicial⁶ and prosecutorial⁷ decisions."

“并非是说警界中不存在问题,但更大的问题为什么年复一年,我们的法律更多，为什么警察的权威如此广泛,为什么几乎无法为当值犯下罪行的警官定罪?这就是立法并且司法和检察官的决定通常在背后推波助澜。”

O'Donnell says that focusing on police ignores the real issue: the many laws, arrest warrants and sentencing guidelines that funnel⁸ people in poor communities, especially minorities, into prison.

奥德奈尔表示专注于警察只会忽视真正的问题:如此多法律的条条框框,逮捕令还有量刑指南限制着贫困社区的人们,尤其是被关进监狱的少数民族。

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

3 cuffs   

n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• a collar and cuffs of white lace 带白色蕾丝花边的衣领和袖口
• The cuffs of his shirt were fraying. 他衬衣的袖口磨破了。

4 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

7 prosecutorial   

公诉人的，原告的； 起诉的

参考例句：

• If prosecutorial misconduct results in a mistrial, a later prosecution may be barred. 如果检察官的不轨行为导致审判无效，再行起诉可能会被除数禁止。 来自口语例句
• Prosecutorial supervision is required according to public power attribution of civil litigation. 民事诉讼的个性和检察监督是对立统一的关系，并不排斥检察监督。

8 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。