VOA常速英语2020--乔治·弗洛伊德之死给美国带来的改变

It has been months since demonstrations¹ across the US, prompted by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody². In a country with a decentralized law enforcement, some changes at the local-level have taken place, says Scott Roberts with Color of Change. “We've seen activists³ electing more reform-oriented prosecutors⁴ all around the country.” But support for the Black Lives Matter movement has cooled since June. A recent Pew Research Center survey finds 55 percent of American adults express some support for the movement, compared to 67 percent in June during the height of the protests, but the support among Asians and black Americans has remained largely unchanged. Some 87 percent of African Americans say they support the movement. “Priority for me and for Color of Change is reducing the size and scope of policing.” Roberts says police are being asked to do things that are not their role, such as answering mental health calls. “We're talking about any trained professionals people who are used to dealing⁵ with that.”

美国各地爆发的示威活动已经持续了数月，示威活动的起因是黑人乔治·弗洛伊德在警察拘押期间的死亡。“改变的颜色”民权组织的斯科特·罗伯茨表示，在美国这样一个执法权力下放的国家，地方层面已经发生了一些变化。“我们发现全国各地都有活动人士正在选举更多有改革倾向的检察官。”但自6月份以来，对“黑人的命也是命”运动的支持已经降温。皮尤研究中心最近的一项调查发现，55%的美国成年人对“黑人的命也是命”运动表示了一定的支持，而在抗议活动最激烈的6月份，这一比例为67%，但亚洲人和美国黑人对运动的支持率基本没有变化。大约87%的非裔美国人说他们支持这项运动。“对我和‘改变的颜色’民权组织来说，首要任务是缩小治安的规模和范围。”罗伯茨表示，警察被要求做一些不属于他们职责范围的事情，比如接听心理健康电话。“对于任何受过训练的专业人士而言，他们习惯于处理心理问题。”

But people who are mentally unstable⁶ can quickly turn violent, says Betsy Smith of the National Police Association. "If we sent in the uniform mental health workers first, you know they would probably get hurt." Smith says training mental health workers to deal with potentially violent situations would take funding. "I have been in the middle of budget cuts, just when things go bad in your own community, and you know what goes first is all the community policing programs, and you know what goes second all the ancillary⁷ training." In a Police Executive Research Forum⁸ survey of US Police Departments, close to half are expecting a decrease in department budgets, says the think tank's Chuck Wechsler. "Big places like New York would lose a billion dollars." The Los Angeles police lost 150 million of its budget, even with the push to defund the police, a Gallup poll finds 81 percent of black Americans in June and July wants the same or more police presence where they live. "You can't take funding away from your police department, and then expect to have a low crime." 

但是美国警察协会的贝特西·史密斯表示，精神不稳定的人很快就会变得暴力。“如果我们先派精神卫生工作者去处理，他们可能会受伤。”史密斯说，培训精神卫生工作者处理潜在的暴力事件需要资金。“就在你所在的社区情况恶化的同时，我一直在削减预算，首先要削减的是所有的社区警务项目，其次是所有的辅助培训。”智库的查克?韦克斯勒表示，在一项警察行政研究论坛针对美国警察部门的调查中，接近一半的人预计警察部门的预算会减少。“纽约这样的大城市将损失10亿美元。”洛杉矶警方损失了1.5亿美元的预算，即使强迫削减警察的预算，盖洛普民意调查发现，在6月和7月，81%的美国黑人希望在他们居住的地方的警察数量保持一致或有更多。“你不能既要从警察局撤资，然后又期望犯罪率低。”

"To me the answer is, you know, not defunding per se, but investing that can be what we talk about is the need to radically⁹ blow up training, and think about it differently." "Criminality is not race based. Black people are about 13 percent of the American population, and 52 percent of our homicides are committed by young black men." "For years we’ve seen high rates of violence and crime in certain communities. We've said more policing, more policing, more policing. I think instead we need to continue to say more, more resources should go into those communities, but a different type of resources." Roberts says ending violence starts with solving social issues by providing resources to communities in need. "Some of the things that we need to invest in are kind of those basic things, that help communities be more become more stable. Education, housing, health care, we need to provide for people's survival." The changes these protests can cause at the state-level will depend on what lawmakers decid

“对我来说，解决答案不是取消拨款本身，而是要进行投资，从根本上加强培训，并以不同的方式思考。”“犯罪不是以种族为基础的。黑人约占美国人口的13%，52%的凶杀案是由年轻的黑人犯下的。”“多年来，我们看到某些社区暴力事件频发，犯罪率很高。我们要求出动更多的警力。我认为我们需要继续要求加强警力，应该投入更多的资源到这些社区，投入不同类型的资源。”罗伯茨说，结束暴力首先要通过向有需要的社区提供资源来解决社会问题。“我们需要投入的是一些基本的东西，能够帮助社区变得更加稳定。我们需要为人们的生存提供教育、住房、医疗保障。”这些抗议活动能在州层面引起的变化将取决于立法者在明年重新开会时所做的决定。美国之音新闻，伊丽莎白·李洛杉矶报道。

1 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

2 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

7 ancillary   

adj.附属的，从属的

参考例句：

• The transport corps is ancillary to the infantry.运输队是步兵的辅助部队。
• This is just an ancillary business.这仅仅是一项辅助业务。

8 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

9 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。