PBS高端访谈:美国种族和治安之间的矛盾(在线收听

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As we reported earlier, Sacramento is just the latest flash point exposing deep divisions about race and policing in America. In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, Tetrina Blalock of Mississippi offers her personal take on losing a loved one at the hands of the police and her desire for respect.

QUESTION: Can you describe your firsthand experience with racism and prejudice?

TETRINA BLALOCK, Resident of Mississippi: In Mississippi? That's all the time.

TETRINA BLALOCK: I had an incident in the grocery store not far from here, where it was an older white lady, so I'm just going to give it up to she just didn't know no better. So we were getting ready to check out. And, yes, I had more items than her, but I was in a hurry. So, she said: You should let me in front of you. So I turned to her like this. And I said: Oh, OK. I said: Well, she probably can open up her line in a minute, and I kept proceeding on. So she said: You coloreds don't know your place. You never think your cousin going to be the one who going to get shot by the police. We went to the city council meeting. I said, we have questions that we need answers. I'm not saying my cousin was perfect, because he was in and out of jail. So you automatically assume he a thug. But what happened to my cousin was overkill. From my understanding, my cousin was like this when he got shot. So, the police officers who shot my cousin, guess what they said? I was in fear for my life. My cousin wasn't 120 pounds soaking wet with snow boots on, OK? He was shot in his arm. He was shot in his chest. He was shot in the back of his head. The moment you hit him, and he's falling back like this, the threat is gone. I'm trying to figure out how, you have two officers who shot my cousin, they weren't off from work three months, they're back on the job, but you want me to have trust in this system, that it's going to work in my favor. My personal experiences with the law, they have been good and bad. I went to jail for speeding. I think the speed limit's maybe 30, and I think I was going 34. And he said that they don't play that there. I have been taken to jail for something I had nothing to do with. I have been pulled over. I have had them tear my car up once before. I'm like Fannie Lou Hamer. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I have the same rights and privileges that you have. It's a respect thing. Tupac once said that you can only beat on the door so long before you're going to come and try to kick it down. And I done knocked on the door. I done rung the doorbell. I have asked. And I'm to the point now I'm ready to kick down doors and be like, hey, you're going to either give me my respect, or I'm going to get my respect. My name is Trina Blalock, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on respect.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You can watch all our Brief But Spectacular episodes at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

威廉·布兰汉姆:之前我们曾报道过,萨克拉门托是最新的爆发点,揭示出美国种族和治安方面深层次的分歧。今晚《简短而精彩》的主人公布莱洛克来自密西西比州,她将分享自己的爱人被警察杀死的经历以及她对彼此尊重的渴望。

问:您能描述一下您最初对种族主义和偏见的看法吗?

布莱洛克,密西西比居民:在密西西比州吗?这种情况很常见。

布莱洛克:有一次,我在离这儿不远的一家杂货店出了一个插曲。当时,一位年纪较大的白人女士,也不知道有什么其他更好的词汇来形容她,就姑且这样叫。当时我们都要结账。我的东西比她多,但我有急事儿。于是她说:你应该让我在前面。听了这话,我转向她。我说:哦,好啊。我说:不过,这位收银员应该马上就能开另一条通道了。于是我就继续付我的款。然后她说:你们黑人真是看不清自己的位置。我从来没想过我的堂哥会被警察射杀而亡。那一天,我们去市议会的时候,我说:我有一些问题需要解答。我并不是说我的堂哥有多完美,因为他经常犯事儿。所以别人可能会自然而然地认为他是个痞子,但纵然如此,他也不该被无辜射杀。我认为,我堂哥应该是冤死的。但射死我堂哥的警察,你猜他们怎么说?我是担心他要了我的命啊。我堂哥浑身上下也没120磅,也没穿着雪地靴,好吗?堂哥胳膊受伤了,胸膛也有枪伤,脑后也有枪伤。警察打他的时候,他是以这个姿势跌倒的,所以那时候堂哥已经不构成任何威胁了。我想弄明白为什么2个杀了我堂哥的警察为什么只受到了暂停3个月工作的处罚。在这种情况下,要想让我信任这个体制,信任这个体制是为黑人着想的,那是不可能的。我个人与法律有关的经历告诉我,法律时好时坏。我曾因为超速而蹲过监狱。我认为限速的上限可能是30,我当时的车速是34。他说他们这里不兴这套。而我就因为莫须有的罪名而进了监狱。有一次,我把车开到街边。他们就把我的车砸坏了。我感觉自己像哈迈尔一样。我累了,我厌倦了,但我本和白人拥有同样的权利。这是尊重的问题。图帕克曾说过,忍无可忍,无需再忍。我忍过了,我试过了,我抗争过了。现在我要说:我不再忍耐,我要跟白人们说——嘿,你们要么尊重我们,要么向我证明为什么要尊重你们。我是布莱洛克,这是我本期分享的有关尊重的《简短而精彩》。

威廉·布兰汉姆:想要观看其他期节目,可以登录PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief。

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/pbs/sh/501594.html