美國種族矛盾問題依然難解

Not so long ago, the US believed it had cracked the violent crime epidemic. “Zero tolerance” and “three strikes and you’re out” were the mantras of the 1990s. Declining homicide rates were its product. Today, as the riots intensify in Baltimore following the death of yet another unarmed black man in police custody, such verities no longer hold.

不久之前，美國曾相信自己已經攻克了暴力犯罪這種流行病。“零容忍”和“三振出局”是美國社會上世紀90年代反覆重申的信條，其結果是兇殺率下降。如今，信條已失效。在巴爾的摩，又一名手無寸鐵的黑人男性在被警察局拘留期間死亡，之後爆發的騷亂正愈演愈烈。

With 2.3m people behind bars, zero tolerance has delivered the largest incarcerated population in the world. US prisons are fuller than those of autocratic China, which has a population more than four times as big. It has also unpicked some of the gains of the 1960s civil rights era. Tens of thousands of black men are in jail for offences that merit little more than a slap on the wrist for their white counterparts. It is little use pointing to the fact that the US has elected its first black president. A generation believes it has been stigmatised and their complaints ignored. As Martin Luther King said before he was assassinated in 1968: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”

美國有230萬人在監獄，“零容忍”政策產生了全世界最大的囚犯人口。美國的監獄比威權制度下的中國還要滿，而中國人口是美國的4倍多。這一政策還讓上世紀60年代民權運動時代取得的部分進步付之東流。數萬名黑人男性因爲微小的過錯坐牢，而犯同樣過錯的白人男性受到的責罰不會比打手心重多少。美國選出了首位黑人總統也說明不了什麼。一代黑人認爲自己揹負着烙印，他們的不滿無人理會。如馬丁•路德•金(Martin Luther King) 1968年遇刺前所說：“暴動是不被傾聽者的語言(A riot is the language of the unheard)。”

Yet amid the gloom, there are signs that US politics is coming to terms with the scale of the challenge. Bill Clinton, who as president was the chief author of the 1990s penal reforms, recently admitted they had “overstepped the mark”. In his day, no politician could afford to be seen as “soft on crime”. Today, both parties accept the need to reduce the US jail population and give those with criminal records a fairer chance at starting over.

然而黑暗中的一抹亮色是，有跡象顯示，美國政界已開始應對這個巨大的難題。比爾•克林頓(Bill Clinton)擔任總統時曾是上世紀90年代刑罰改革的主要推動者。最近他承認，當時的做法“過頭了”。在他擔任總統的那個年代，任何一位政界人士如被視爲“對犯罪心慈手軟”，都難以承擔這帶來的政治後果。如今，兩黨都認同需要減少美國囚犯人數、給那些有過犯罪記錄的人更公平的重新做人的機會。

This is a positive change. Not only has the creeping militarisation of US police forces failed to sustain the fall in the homicide rate. It has created a culture of impunity that has led to several hundred shootings of unarmed civilians every year. Only a fraction involved are held to account. Little wonder that so many communities — from Ferguson, Missouri to Baltimore, Maryland — feel alienated from those who are meant to protect them. Little wonder, too, that many black men feel shut off from the opportunities that society gives to others. The question is: what to do about it?

這是一個積極的變化。美國警方的悄然軍事化不僅未能讓兇殺率持續下降，反而製造了一種逍遙法外的文化，導致每年有數百名手無寸鐵的平民被槍殺。只有一小部分涉事者被要求承擔責任。難怪，從密蘇里州的弗格森到馬里蘭州的巴爾的摩，很多地方的人們與本應保護他們的警察產生隔閡。難怪，許多黑人男性覺得自己被排除在社會給予其他人的機會之外。問題是：該怎麼辦？

The most important step is to grasp the complexity of the challenge. Following the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old in Ferguson last summer, Barack Obama set up a task force on 21st-century policing. Its recommendations were laudable but abstract. The report focused on the need to rebuild trust between the police and their communities. Other groups believe it should be mandatory for police on patrol to wear body cameras.

最重要的是承認挑戰的複雜性。繼去年夏天18歲、手無寸鐵的邁克爾•布朗(Michael Brown)在弗格森遭槍殺後，巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)成立了“21世紀警務工作特別小組”(Task Force on 21st Century Policing)。這個小組的建議值得稱讚，但缺乏實際價值。它的報告聚焦於如何重建警察和社區之間的信任。一些其他團體則認爲應強制警察巡邏時佩戴隨身攝像機。

More encouraging are proposals to overhaul the penal system. US drugs laws are counterproductive. In some parts of America young whites can now legally smoke marijuana. In others, black men face life in jail for possessing it. So too is the three strikes rule adopted by half of US states. The statistics on mandatory sentencing are clear. It is racially biased and must be ended. Non-violent offenders should also be able to purge their records. Here too, there are hopeful signs. The ultraconservative Koch brothers recently joined the “ban the box” movement where employers refrain from asking about an applicant’s criminal record until later in the interview process.

更令人鼓舞的是全面改革美國刑罰制度的建議。美國的毒品法實際上起了反作用。在美國的部分地區，白人青年現在可以合法吸食大麻，而在其他地區，黑人青年僅僅擁有大麻就會面臨終身監禁。美國半數州所採取的“三振出局法”也是如此。有關強制判決的一些數據清楚顯示它存在種族偏見，因此必須終結。非暴力罪犯也應能清除他們的犯罪記錄。好在這裏也有希望的曙光。極端保守的科赫(Koch)兄弟最近加入了“禁止查問”(ban the box)運動，該運動倡導僱主不詢問求職者的犯罪記錄，直到進入後期的面試程序。

Then there is the question of leadership. For understandable reasons Mr Obama has been reticent about the scale of young black alienation in the US. Now he has little to lose. In the 1950s and 1960s, a potentially radical generation was channelled towards constructive protest by inspirational leaders. Mr Obama is the only figure who can do the same today. Of all presidents, this one cannot afford to leave a legacy of simmering racial tension.

再就是領導人的問題。出於可理解的原因，奧巴馬對美國黑人青年的異化程度一直保持沉默。但現在他已經沒什麼好損失的。20世紀50年代和60年代，美國富有感召力的領導人將一代可能會走向激進主義的年輕人引向更具建設性的抗議。現在能辦到這一點的人只有奧巴馬。在歷任美國總統中，他最不該留下讓種族衝突繼續發酵的政治遺產。