VOA慢速英語:Racial Protests, Possible Civil Rights Charges in Zimmerman Case

From VOA Learning English, this is "In The News."
這里是美國之音慢速英語新聞報道。

Americans continue to react to the decision in the murder trial of George Zimmerman. Last week, a jury in the southern state of Florida found that he was not guilty in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
美國人繼續(xù)對喬治·齊默爾曼（George Zimmerman）謀殺案的判決做出反應(yīng)。上周，南部佛羅里達(dá)州的一個陪審團(tuán)認(rèn)為他槍殺17歲的特雷文·馬?。═rayvon Martin）無罪。

The unarmed teenager was killed last year in a struggle with the defendant. At the time, George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer in his community in Florida. Trayvon Martin, an African American, was walking to the home of his father's girlfriend at the time of the killing.
這名手無寸鐵的少年去年在和被告的爭斗中打死。當(dāng)時，齊默爾曼在他位于佛羅里達(dá)州的社區(qū)中擔(dān)任鄰里志愿守望員。馬丁是非裔美國人，被殺時正往他父親的女友家走。

George Zimmerman is a white Hispanic man. He called police to report Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person in the neighborhood. He followed the teenager, although police told him not to. The two fought. Mr. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense after he was attacked by the young man.
齊默爾曼是一名西班牙裔男子。他打電話給警方稱馬丁是附近的可疑人物。他跟蹤這名少年，雖然警方告訴他不要這樣做。這兩人打了起來，齊默爾曼說，他是在遭到馬丁攻擊后進(jìn)行自衛(wèi)。

Under Florida law, people can use deadly force to fight back if they feel their lives are in danger.
根據(jù)佛羅里達(dá)州的法律，當(dāng)人們覺得自己的生命處于危險之中時，可以使用致命武力來反擊。

Soon after the six woman jury reached its decision on Saturday, people used social media and public protests to express their opinion about the verdict.
在6名女陪審員于周六達(dá)成一致后不久，人們使用社交媒體和公開抗議表達(dá)他們對法院判決的意見。

"No justice. No peace. Trayvon! Justice for Trayvon!"
“沒有正義就沒有和平。為特雷文尋求正義！”

Many protests have been held across the United States since the trial. Hundreds of people demonstrated in Chicago, Illinois. They expressed opposition to what activist Dickey Gaines says was a predetermined verdict -- one reached before the trial.
自審判以來，美國各地已經(jīng)舉行了多次抗議。數(shù)百人在伊利諾伊州芝加哥市游行示威。他們對活動人士迪基·蓋恩斯（Dickey Gaines）所說的這是一次審判前就達(dá)成的預(yù)定判決表示反對。

"Because there was a lot of people across this country that was in favor of George Zimmerman being acquitted by virtue of them donating money to his defense, so that was a clear indication early on people was in support of him being acquitted in this case." 
“因為全國有很多人支持齊默爾曼無罪，捐錢為他進(jìn)行辯護(hù)。所以這是一個明確的早期跡象，人們認(rèn)為他在這起案件中無罪。”

Casey David Cole Senior was one such supporter. He spoke to reporters near the Sanford, Florida courthouse, where the trial took place.
Casey David Cole Senior是其中一名這樣的支持者。他在審判地佛羅里達(dá)州桑德蘭法院附近對記者表示。

"I'm here to express my opinion. I believe that George Zimmerman is an innocent man."
“我在這里表達(dá)我的意見，我相信齊默爾曼是無辜的。”

For Chicago protester Bryan Burroughs, the case is clear in his mind.
對芝加哥示威者布賴恩·巴勒斯（Bryan Burroughs）來說，這起案子在他腦海中很清晰。

"Trayvon Martin was guilty of nothing but being black in a mostly white neighborhood."
“馬丁沒任何罪，除了作為一個黑人出現(xiàn)在多數(shù)是白人的街區(qū)。”

Activist Dickey Gaines says the ruling has not changed his belief that George Zimmerman targeted the teenager because he was black.
活動人士蓋恩斯表示，判決并未改變他的信念，那就是齊默爾曼因為馬丁是黑人而針對他。

"He focused on Trayvon because of Trayvon's skin color."
他說，“他盯住特雷文只是因為特雷文是黑人。”

Hans von Spakovsky works for the Heritage Foundation research group here in Washington. He says the legal action against Mr. Zimmerman should end now.
Hans von Spakovsky就職于研究機(jī)構(gòu)華盛頓傳統(tǒng)基金會。他表示，針對齊默爾曼的法律行動現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該結(jié)束了。

"If the Justice Department continues to pursue this case when, one, he's been found innocent and, two, we know there's no racial animus which is necessary for a civil rights violation, that once again makes it look like politics is driving the prosecution, not justice."
他說，“首先，他被認(rèn)為無辜。其次，我們知道這起案件沒有侵犯公民權(quán)利所必需的種族故意，如果司法部繼續(xù)追究這起案子，就會再次使得它看上去是政治驅(qū)動訴訟，而不是正義來驅(qū)動。”
Racial inequality in the United States goes back centuries. The issue of slavery was a major reason for the nation's civil war in the 1860s. But discrimination continued after black slaves were freed. And racial tensions still exist.
美國的種族不平等可以追溯到幾個世紀(jì)前。奴隸制問題是19世紀(jì)60年代美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的一個重要原因。但在黑奴被釋放后，歧視仍然存在。種族緊張局勢依然存在。

Greg Carr is chairman of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, a historically black college here in Washington.
格雷格·卡爾（Greg Carr）是霍華德大學(xué)美國黑人研究機(jī)構(gòu)的主席，這是位于華盛頓的一家傳統(tǒng)黑人大學(xué)。

"One thing that's tangible that can come out of this verdict is a renewed commitment to addressing people, and not looking to the courts -- not looking to the law to somehow regulate or change people's hearts and minds."
“很明顯通過這起裁決提醒人們，不要期望法院和法律在某種程度上調(diào)節(jié)和改變?nèi)藗兊膬?nèi)心和思想。”

Mr. Carr warns that if a civil rights case were brought against George Zimmerman and lost, it would increase the distrust of many people. But if such a case were won, he says, Americans would look to the courts, not within themselves, for racial healing.
卡爾警告說，如果發(fā)起針對齊爾曼的人權(quán)案件并且輸了，就會增加許多人的不信任。但如果這樣一起案件贏了，美國人就會期望法庭而不是他們自己來彌合種族分裂。