VOA双语新闻:14、对奥巴马来说 种族暴力亦是个人问题(在线收听

 

对奥巴马来说 种族暴力亦是个人问题

The racial violence in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson is presenting President Barack Obama with an issue to which he has a deep personal connection. To many Americans, Obama's election as America's first black president marked a turning point in race relations in the United States, and Obama has made ending the violence a policy priority. On Monday he issued a new call for calm and understanding.

对美国总统奥巴马来说,发生在圣路易斯郊区小镇弗格森的种族暴力事件,是一个深深触动他个人的问题。在许多美国人看来,奥巴马当选美国第一任黑人总统标志着美国种族关系的一个转折点,而奥巴马也把结束种族暴力当作一个施政重点。星期一,他再一次号召大家保持冷静和理解。

The time for healing for which President Barack Obama hopes has yet to arrive in Ferguson.

在弗格森,奥巴马总统所期望的治愈伤口的时刻还没有到来。

Interrupting a vacation, the president returned to the White House Monday and met with Attorney General Eric Holder, the man spearheading the administration's efforts to independently investigate the shooting of a young unarmed black man by a white police officer.

总统星期一中断休假回到白宫,会晤了司法部长埃里克·霍尔德。霍尔德正率领联邦部门对一名白人警察枪杀一名手无寸铁的黑人青年的事件进行独立调查。

At a briefing, the president called for understanding.

在新闻发布会上,奥巴马总统呼吁理解。

“To a community in Ferguson that is rightly hurting and looking for answers, let me call once again for us to seek some understanding rather than to simply holler at each other. Let's seek to heal rather than to wound each other. As Americans we've got to use this moment to seek our shared humanity that's been laid bare by this moment,” said Obama.

他说:“对于当然感到受伤并寻求真相的弗格森,让我再次呼吁大家寻求理解而不是简单地互相怒喊。让我们寻求治愈伤口而不是相互伤害。做为美国人,我们必须利用这一时刻,找到我们被这一时刻揭示出来的共同人性。”

In a bid to find the truth, the family of the 18-year-old victim requested a preliminary autopsy.

18岁的受害者迈克尔·布朗的家属要求进行初步验尸,以寻求真相。

And another autopsy, by a federal medical examiner, has been ordered by Attorney General Holder as part of an administration effort to shed light on the truth and restore calm.

同时,司法部长霍尔德已下令联邦法医进行尸检,以查明真相并帮助小镇恢复平静。

For Obama, it's a personal issue. Following the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, another unarmed black teenager shot in a racially charged incident, the president spoke of how he sees race relations in his country.

对于奥巴马来说,这也是一个触及个人的问题。2012年,另一个手无寸铁的黑人少年特雷沃恩·马丁在一起充满种族矛盾的事件中被枪杀。当时,奥巴马谈到了他如何看待美国的种族关系。

“There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping at a department store. That includes me. There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happened to me, at least before I was a senator,” said Obama.

他说:“非洲裔美国男子几乎都有过在百货商店购物时被跟踪的经历,包括我在内。非洲裔美国男子几乎都有过在过马路时听到车门上锁的经历,这曾在我身上发生过,至少是在我成为参议员以前。”

With infant mortality and incarceration rates higher, and income and education levels lower, than non-blacks, Professor Greg Carr, head of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, said there hasn't been any real fundamental change in race relations in the U.S.

和美国其他族群相比,非洲裔美国人的婴儿死亡率较高,坐牢的比例也高,而收入和教育水平却相对较低。霍华德大学的非裔美国人研究主任格雷格·卡尔教授说,美国在种族关系上还没有任何实质性的改变。

“Regardless of the color of the occupant of the Oval Office - certainly with President Obama in office and Attorney General Eric Holder, there perhaps is an expectation that there may be more swift action taken to resolve some of these issues or to at least deal with some of the issues in real time. However, that expectation is tenuous because we understand that Barack Obama is not the president of black America as he frequently reminds us, he’s the president of the United States of America,” said Carr.

“不管白宫椭圆形办公室里的人是什么肤色,包括奥巴马总统和司法部长埃里克·霍尔德,”卡尔说:“也许有人期待,会有更快的行动来解决其中一些问题,或者至少及时处理一些问题。然而,这种期待是经不起考验的。因为我们知道,就像巴拉克·奥巴马经常提醒我们的,他不是美国黑人的总统,他是美利坚合众国总统。”

President Obama announced he's sending the attorney general to Ferguson to meet with investigators who are carrying out the independent federal probe that's under way.

奥巴马总统宣布派遣司法部长前往弗格森,与正在开展独立联邦调查的人员会面。

The president says he hopes the truth will be what eventually brings peace to Ferguson and allows the country to move beyond this bout of racial tensions.

 

奥巴马说,他希望真相能最终给弗格森带来和平,让美国走出最新一轮的种族矛盾。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/voabn/2014/08/272971.html