國家地理:為了改變世界 我們必須進行抗議(4)

The young and aggrieved have always been the catalyst behind protest movements. So have powerful images. This moment is no different. The graphic video of Floyd gasping for air and pleading for his life under the knee of a police officer is understood across the entire human spectrum. Floyd's suffering inflicted by a cop who has the demeanor of a man on coffee break is what enrages, unites, and ultimately focuses those committed to change.

年輕人和受不平等對待的人一直是抗議運動的催化劑。同樣的還有強有力的圖像。這一刻沒有什么不同。弗洛伊德在警察膝蓋下痛苦喘息和求救的視頻，全人類都可以理解。弗洛伊德的痛苦和警察悠然如咖啡休息期間的神態(tài)，激怒、團結(jié)并凝結(jié)了所有致力于改革的人們。

That change is needed is beyond dispute. Despite the tremendous racial progress in America over the past few decades, the relationship between police and African Americans has remained mired in an impenetrable cycle of uneasiness, distrust, and, too often, lethal hostility. Nowhere is the nature of the relationship more clearly seen than in statistics that reveal that 1 in 1,000 black males die annually as a result of a police encounter that turns violent. No other American demographic comes close, although Hispanic-American males also have disturbingly frequent fatal interactions with police.

改革是毫無爭議的。盡管在過去幾十年，美國在種族問題上取得巨大的進步，但是美國警察和非裔美國人之間的關(guān)系仍然處于一個令人費解的不安、缺乏信任，甚至常常是致命的敵對狀態(tài)。這種關(guān)系的本質(zhì)最清晰的體現(xiàn)，就是每年有千分之一的黑人男性因遭遇警察暴力而喪生。沒有其他美國種族與之?dāng)?shù)字相近，雖然拉丁裔美國男性也經(jīng)常與警察發(fā)生致命沖突。

African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but are more than two and a half times as likely to be killed by police as white Americans. Most of these deaths happen to black males in their early 20s. By the time a black man reaches middle age, the chance of a fatal police encounter drops precipitously but remains disproportionately high.

非洲裔美國人占美國總?cè)丝诘?3%，但被警察殺死的可能性是美國白人的二點五倍。這些死亡大多數(shù)發(fā)生在20多歲的黑人男性身上。當(dāng)黑人男性到達(dá)中年時，與警察的致命碰撞的機會急劇下降，但比例仍然很高。

Floyd was 46. He had aged out of the well-documented danger zone experienced by younger black men involved in even minor police encounters. He should have been relatively safe. He wasn't.

弗洛伊德46歲，他的年齡已經(jīng)超過了數(shù)據(jù)中所指的年輕黑人男子的危險范圍，即使是與警察輕微沖突的情況。他應(yīng)該比較安全，但實際上并沒有。

Stopped on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, he was quickly exposed to a form of extrajudicial police punishment that resulted in death. America -- and nations around the world -- have taken notice. Why?

由于涉嫌使用20美元面額的偽鈔而被捕，他迅速受到了警察的法外處分，并最終導(dǎo)致其死亡。美國和世界其他國家都在關(guān)注。為什么？