Black Lives Matter!

As protests spring up across the country and around the world in response to the video of George Floyd’s murder, there seems to be some confusion about why this moment, this death at the hands of police, has sparked so much outrage. And if it were an isolated incident, that would make sense. But Black death at the hands of the state is unfortunately at least as American as apple pie.

乔治·弗洛伊德被谋杀的视频在全国乃至世界各地激起抗议，很多人似乎很困惑，为什么偏偏在现在的时刻，警察执法致死会引起如此大的愤怒。如果这是一个单独的事件，那人们的疑惑在情理之中。但是不幸的是，美国警察暴力执法致黑人死亡的事件就和苹果派一样常见。

Throughout our lives, Black Americans are dehumanized, treated as unequal, deemed less valuable by the systems that purport to be for all people. Black life is so utterly disregarded that many Americans seem to have normalized the idea that someone deserves to die for possibly using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Or being asleep in their own home, as Breonna Taylor was when police killed her in March. Or coming from an impoverished community. Or not having the resources financially or physically to survive a natural disaster or a pandemic.

在我们的一生中，美国黑人被非人化，被不平等对待，被声称对所有人都有利的制度贬低了价值。黑人的生命完全被漠视，以至于许多美国人似乎对这样的观念习以为常：即黑人因可能使用伪造的20美元假钞购买香烟就该死。或者是因为在自己的家中睡着了而被杀害，就像三月份被警察杀害的布罗娜·泰勒那样。或来自贫困社区。或者没有足够的财力或物力来度过自然灾害或者大流行病。

Today, we’re talking about America failing to keep its promises to itself about being the land of the free by examining once again this awful legacy of racism and brutality in policing. Sadly, this is just one example of America failing its own people.

今天，我们通过再次审视种族主义和警察的残暴行为，发现美国并没能兑现其成为自由之地的诺言。可悲的是，这只是美国辜负人民的其中一个例子而已。

Black Americans are more likely to be unemployed, and those who do have jobs earn less than their white peers and are more likely to work in jobs only now deemed “essential” that expose them to serious health risks. Black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates, but even before the pandemic hit, our health outcomes were not good: we have the highest maternal mortality rates and are more likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure. We also have a poverty rate more than double that of white Americans.

美国黑人更有可能失业，而那些有工作的黑人收入都比白人同事要低，而且他们更有可能去做那些被视为“必需”的工作，那些工作会让他们面临严重的健康风险。死于新冠的美国黑人和美国白人是不成比例的，但即使在疫情之前，我们的健康状况也很不好：我们的孕产妇死亡率最高，而且更有可能患上糖尿病和高血压。我们的贫困率也比美国白人高出一倍以上。

None of this is coincidence. Despite claims that Black people in America are not trying hard enough, a lack of individual effort is not the issue. Instead, structural barriers, coupled with racism and indifference, continue to hold Black people back. Black lives matter–even those lives that do not fit into a narrow mold of respectability–but many people don’t believe that they do, at least not as much as other lives.

这些都不是巧合。尽管有人说这是因为美国黑人不够努力，但缺乏个人努力不是根本问题。相反，结构性障碍，加上种族主义和人们的冷漠，一直在阻止黑人进步。黑人的命也是命，即使是那些没有受到尊敬的生命，但许多人并不觉得他们的生命有意义，至少不如其他人的生命那样重要。

If we are to change things, communities that lack basic resources must have their needs met rather than being told that wanting an equal playing field is asking for a handout. Police reform must go beyond implicit bias training and into demilitarization and defunding. The criminal-justice system must cease to be Big Business, relying on private policing and private jails.

如果我们要改变现状，那么缺乏基本资源的社区必须满足他们的需求，而不是被告知想要一个平等的竞争环境是一种施舍。警察也需要改革，隐性的偏见训练是不够的，而且必须实现非军事化并减少资金。刑事司法系统必须不能再是“大生意”——依靠私人警务和私人监狱。

We have created systems of oppression, and then we object whenthe targets of that oppression dare to say they have a right to exist, to be safe, to not be killed on a whim.

我们创建了这样的压迫体系，而且我们还不允许被压迫者敢于说他们有生存，安全和不被一时冲动杀死的权利。

At some point, America will stop lying to itself, not just about the history of oppression inside and outside our borders, but also about current events. Sometimes, hate wears a white hood. Sometimes, it is in a police uniform.

从某种程度上来说，美国得停止自欺欺人，不仅是关于我们境内外的压迫历史，而且还有时事。有时，仇恨戴着白色面罩。有时，仇恨穿着警察制服。

American exceptionalism will not save us from the impact of fascism, and despite every victim-blaming narrative that positions the protests now as being excessive, the reality is that there is no right way to fight for your life and the lives of those you love. If Blackness, Black people and Black culture were erased, not only would the world be poorer for it, but no one left would be any safer.They would just be the next target.

美国的排外并不能使我们免受法西斯主义的影响，尽管每一个受害着都指责现在的抗议活动太过了，但实际上，在为自己和所爱之人的生命而战时，并没有所谓正确的方法。如果消除黑色，黑人和黑人文化，这个世界不仅会因此变得更加贫穷，而且没有人能更安全。因为他们将会成为下一个目标。