四、社會持續(xù)動蕩威脅公眾安全
IV. Continuous Social Unrest Threatens Public Safety

政府維護治安不力，原本就高發(fā)的槍擊事件和暴力犯罪在疫情期間迭創(chuàng)新高，民眾恐慌難安。警察毫無節(jié)制地暴力執(zhí)法，引發(fā)一次又一次席卷全國的抗議浪潮。警方濫用武力鎮(zhèn)壓抗議民眾，大規(guī)模攻擊和逮捕新聞記者，致使民怨進一步沸騰高漲，引發(fā)持續(xù)的社會動蕩。
The government failed to maintain proper law and order, and shootings and violent crimes, which were already high in incidence, recorded new highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing panic among members of the public. The police’s unrestrained use of violence in law enforcement triggered waves of protests that swept across the country. The police had abused their force to suppress protesters, and attacked and arrested journalists on a large scale, further fueling public anger and continuous social unrest.

疫情期間犯罪率持續(xù)增長。新冠肺炎疫情大流行期間，盡管各種防疫措施導致戶外活動大幅減少，但大城市的犯罪率卻持續(xù)增長。根據(jù)聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局2020年9月發(fā)布的《初步統(tǒng)一犯罪報告》，2020年上半年，美國的謀殺案比2019年同期增長14.8%，其中25萬至50萬人口城市的謀殺案增長26%；縱火案上升19%，其中人口超過100萬城市的縱火案上升52%；芝加哥的謀殺案激增37%，縱火案激增52.9%；紐約和洛杉磯的謀殺案分別增長了23%和14%。
Crime rates were on the rise amid the pandemic. While outdoor activities were down drastically as a result of various epidemic response measures, the crime rates were up in large cities amid the pandemic. According to the FBI’s Preliminary Uniform Crime Report released in September 2020, in the first half of 2020, the number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased 14.8 percent year on year, with cities with populations of 250,000 to 500,000 reporting an increase of 26 percent. During the same period, the number of arson offenses increased 19 percent year on year, while such offenses rose 52 percent in cities with populations of 1 million and over. Murders in Chicago spiked by 37 percent, while arson in the city was up 52.9 percent. New York City recorded an increase of 23 percent in homicides, while Los Angeles saw murders rise by 14 percent.

暴力犯罪數(shù)量居高不下。聯(lián)邦調(diào)查局2020年發(fā)布的報告顯示，2019年美國共發(fā)生暴力犯罪案件120多萬起，其中謀殺案16425起、強奸案139815起、搶劫案267988起、重傷案821182起。這意味著每10萬居民中分別發(fā)生5起謀殺案、40余起強奸案、80余起搶劫案和250余起重傷案。
The number of violent crimes remained high. According to FBI reports released in 2020, more than 1.2 million violent crimes occurred in the United States in 2019, including 16,425 murders, 139,815 rapes, 267,988 robberies, and 821,182 aggravated assaults, translating to five murders, over 40 rapes, 80 robberies and 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants.

槍支交易和槍擊事件再創(chuàng)歷史新高。加州大學戴維斯分校的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國疫情失控導致人們對社會穩(wěn)定失去信心，許多曾經(jīng)反對擁槍的人士也開始購槍，導致疫情期間的槍支購買量飆升。（注14）《華盛頓郵報》網(wǎng)站2021年1月19日報道，在疫情失控、種族抗議和選舉沖突交織影響下，2020年美國的槍支銷量高達2300萬支，比2019年激增64%。根據(jù)美國全國射擊運動基金會的數(shù)據(jù)，2020年美國首次購買槍支的人數(shù)超過800萬人。《今日美國報》網(wǎng)站2020年12月18日報道，美國的持槍殺人率是其他發(fā)達國家的25倍。“槍支暴力檔案室”發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2020年美國共有超過41500人死于槍擊，平均每天達110多人，創(chuàng)下歷史最高紀錄；全國共發(fā)生592起大規(guī)模槍擊事件，平均每天超過1.6起。北卡羅來納州查塔姆郡槍擊案、加利福尼亞州河濱郡槍擊案、阿拉巴馬州摩根郡槍擊案均造成7人死亡。芝加哥僅5月底的一個周末就有85人被槍擊，其中24人死亡。2021年1月9日下午，32歲的槍手杰森·南丁格爾在芝加哥沿街瘋狂濫殺民眾，導致3人死亡、4人重傷。
Gun sales and shootings hit record high. A study from the University of California, Davis found a significant increase in firearm violence in the United States associated with the coronavirus-related surge in firearm purchasing. A new destabilizing sense as virus fears spread had been motivating even people who had considered themselves anti-gun to buy weapons for the first time. The Washington Post reported on its website on Jan. 19, 2021 that, COVID-19 lockdowns, anti-racism protests and election strife had led to record gun sales of about 23 million in 2020, a 64 percent increase over 2019 sales. The 2020 numbers include purchases by more than 8 million first-time buyers, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. USA Today reported on its website on Dec. 18, 2020 that, with regard to gun homicides, the United States has historically reported a rate about 25 times higher than other wealthy nations. According to data from Gun Violence Archive, more than 41,500 people died by gun violence in 2020 nationwide, an average of more than 110 a day, which is a record. There had been 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day. Shootings in Chatham County of North Carolina, Riverside County of California, and Morgan County of Alabama each claimed seven lives. A deadly weekend in Chicago came at the end of May, when 85 people were shot, 24 fatally. In the afternoon of Jan. 9, 2021, 32-year-old Jason Nightengale went on a random shooting rampage in Chicago, leaving three people killed and four others wounded.

弗洛伊德被警察當街跪殺引發(fā)騷亂。2020年5月25日晚，46歲的非洲裔男子喬治·弗洛伊德因涉嫌使用假鈔購買香煙，被白人警察殘忍跪壓8分鐘之久致死。明尼阿波利斯市市長雅各布·弗雷悲憤地說道：“我所看到的是徹徹底底的錯誤。作為黑人在美國不應等同于被判了死刑?！甭蓭煴尽た死菲瞻l(fā)表聲明指出：“弗洛伊德受到的僅是一項非暴力指控，卻因警察過度和不人道地濫用武力而喪生。”美國法治民權律師委員會會長克里斯汀·克拉克指出：“對這個國家的黑人來說，現(xiàn)在的絕望深不見底。毫無節(jié)制的警察暴行日積月累，醞釀了一場巨大風暴?！保ㄗ?5）警察暴行引燃社會怒火，“黑人的命也是命”抗議浪潮席卷全美，并波及多個國家。美國各地騷亂連連升級，抗議人群堵塞道路、構筑街壘與警察對峙，大量警察局和公共機構、商場商店被洗劫。英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站2020年6月8日報道，喬治·弗洛伊德遭警察當街跪殺之后，美國50個州的大約140個城市都發(fā)生了針對這起謀殺的抗議和示威。
George Floyd’s death from police brutality sparked unrest. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man from Minnesota, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest for forgery. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said what he saw was “wrong on every level,” noting, “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.” Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement, “This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a non-violent charge.” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said, “The depths of despair are enormous right now for black people in this country. You pile on unchecked police violence and it makes for a perfect storm.” The police brutality sparked visceral outrage, leading to protests in support of Black Lives Matter throughout the United States, as well as in other countries. The unrest escalated across the nation, with protesters blocking the streets and building barricades to confront the police. A large number of police stations, public institutions and shopping malls were looted. The Guardian reported on its website on June 8, 2020 that, since George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, about 140 cities in all 50 states throughout the United States have seen protests and demonstrations in response to the killing.

示威民眾遭武力鎮(zhèn)壓。面對沸騰的民怨，時任美國政府領導人火上澆油，調(diào)集大批國民警衛(wèi)隊奔赴各地，號召開槍射擊，現(xiàn)場橡皮子彈橫飛，催淚瓦斯彌漫，民眾驚恐不已，社會陷入一片混亂。政府派遣的聯(lián)邦探員在各地隨意抓捕抗議者，1萬多人被逮捕，其中包含大量無辜民眾。2020年，非洲裔女子布倫娜·泰勒被警察槍殺公之于眾后，再次引爆“黑人的命也是命”抗議浪潮，僅在路易斯維爾的抗議活動中就有435人被逮捕。（注16）英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站2020年10月29日報道，2020年5月以來的反種族主義抗議中，美國至少發(fā)生了950起警察針對普通民眾和記者的施暴事件。警方對抗議者使用了橡皮子彈、催淚瓦斯和“非法的致命性武力”。
The demonstrators were suppressed by force. In the face of visceral public grievances, the then U.S. administration leader added fuel to the fire by deploying a large number of National Guard soldiers across the country and calling for shooting. Targeted with flying rubber bullets and tear gas on site, the public were horrified and the society fell into chaos. U.S. federal agents had been grabbing protesters seemingly without cause. More than 10,000 individuals had been arrested, including many innocent people. The disclosure of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, an African-American woman, during a police raid fueled a renewed wave of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, with the city of Louisville alone reporting arrests of 435 individuals during the movement. The Guardian reported on its website on Oct. 29, 2020 that, at least 950 instances of police brutality against civilians and journalists during anti-racism protests had occurred since May 2020. The police had used rubber bullets, tear gas and “unlawful lethal force” against protesters.

新聞記者遭到執(zhí)法部門前所未有的攻擊。2020年美國至少有117名記者在報道反種族主義抗議等活動中被逮捕或拘留，比2019年暴增12倍。英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站2020年6月5日報道，“記者被警察毆打、噴胡椒噴霧和逮捕的數(shù)量在美國前所未有地增加”。在弗洛伊德事件發(fā)生后的一周內(nèi)，美國便發(fā)生了148起逮捕或襲擊記者事件，遭逮捕的記者人數(shù)超過了前三年的總和?！氨Ｗo記者委員會”2020年12月14日發(fā)表聲明稱，美國記者在2020年遭遇了前所未有的攻擊，其中大多數(shù)是被執(zhí)法部門襲擊的。
Journalists had been subject to unparalleled attacks by law enforcement. There were at least 117 cases of journalists being arrested or detained while on the job covering anti-racism protests in the United States in 2020, a 1,200-percent increase from the figure in 2019. The Guardian reported on its website on June 5, 2020 that, reporters were beaten, pepper-sprayed and arrested by police in numbers never before documented in the United States. There were 148 arrests or attacks on journalists in the country within one week after the George Floyd incident, which was more than what was recorded during the previous three years combined. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement on Dec. 14, 2020 that, U.S. journalists faced unprecedented attacks in 2020, the majority by law enforcement.

五、貧富日益分化加劇社會不公
V. Growing Polarization Between Rich and Poor Aggravates Social Inequality

新冠肺炎疫情使美國社會深陷第二次世界大戰(zhàn)以來最嚴重的經(jīng)濟衰退，企業(yè)大批倒閉，勞動者失去工作，貧富差距進一步擴大，底層民眾生活苦不堪言。
The COVID-19 epidemic plunged the United States into the worst economic downturn since World War II. A large number of businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs, the gap between rich and poor widened, and the lives of the people at the bottom of society were miserable.

貧富差距加速擴大。彭博網(wǎng)站2020年10月8日報道，美國最富有的50人與最貧窮的1.65億人擁有的財富相等，1%最富有的人擁有的凈資產(chǎn)是50%最貧困人口的16.4倍。疫情進一步加劇了財富不平等狀況。福布斯網(wǎng)站2020年12月11日報道，美國614位億萬富翁的集體凈資產(chǎn)在疫情期間增加了9310億美元。芝加哥大學和圣母大學的研究顯示，美國的貧困率從2020年6月份的9.3%快速上升到11月份的11.7%。（注17）
The rich-poor divide further widened. The website of Bloomberg reported on Oct. 8, 2020 that the 50 richest Americans now hold almost as much wealth as the poorest 165 million people in the country. The richest 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth that is 16.4 times that of the poorest 50 percent. The epidemic has aggravated wealth inequality. The website of Forbes reported on Dec. 11, 2020 that over the past months of the pandemic, the collective net worth of America’s 614 billionaires has increased by 931 billion U.S. dollars. America’s poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November 2020, up from 9.3 percent in June, according to researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Notre Dame.

疫情失控引發(fā)大規(guī)模失業(yè)。《華盛頓郵報》網(wǎng)站2020年5月9日報道，美國企業(yè)倒閉和失業(yè)潮的速度及規(guī)模超乎想象，2050萬人在短期內(nèi)失去工作，幾乎是2007年至2009年整個金融危機期間的2倍。高中以下教育程度人口的失業(yè)率2020年4月飆升至21.2%，創(chuàng)“大衰退”以來歷史最高水平?！督袢彰绹鴪蟆肪W(wǎng)站2020年8月8日報道，2020年6月，33個都會區(qū)失業(yè)率超過15%。2020年2月至5月，1150萬美國女性失去工作。（注18）
Out-of-control epidemic led to mass unemployment. The speed and magnitude of business closures and job losses defied comparison, according to a report on the website of The Washington Post on May 9, 2020. Some 20.5 million people abruptly lost their jobs, which was roughly double what the nation experienced during the entire financial crisis from 2007 to 2009. In April 2020, the unemployment rate soared to 21.2 percent for people with less than a high school degree, surpassing the previous all-time high set in the aftermath of the Great Recession. The website of USA Today reported on Aug. 8, 2020 that 33 U.S. metro areas had a jobless rate of over 15 percent in June 2020. About 11.5 million American women lost their jobs between February and May 2020.

數(shù)千萬人在疫情中陷入食物危機?！拔桂B(yǎng)美國”網(wǎng)站2020年10月更新的分析報告顯示，超過5000萬人陷入食物無保障狀況，這意味著六分之一美國人、四分之一美國兒童面臨饑餓威脅。英國《衛(wèi)報》網(wǎng)站2020年11月25日報道，美國食物救助需求比疫情流行前高出60%。2020年感恩節(jié)期間，高達數(shù)百萬美國人不得不依靠慈善機構的救助才能避免挨餓。
Tens of millions of people were in food crisis in the epidemic. More than 50 million people -- one in six Americans, including one in four children -- could experience food insecurity in 2020, according to an analysis report updated in October 2020 by Feeding America. The website of the Guardian reported on Nov. 25, 2020 that nationwide, demand for food aid has plateaued at about 60 percent higher than pre-pandemic times. Millions of Americans must rely on charity to put Thanksgiving dinner on the table in 2020.

醫(yī)療保險覆蓋人群銳減。美國因政治極化一直未能實現(xiàn)全民醫(yī)保，享有醫(yī)保的人群又因疫情急劇縮減。2020年3月至5月，估計約2700萬美國人由于疫情失去醫(yī)療保險。得克薩斯州未參加醫(yī)療保險的人數(shù)從430萬人暴增至490萬人，使得該州無醫(yī)保人口比例升至30%。（注19）
Health insurance coverage plummeted. America has no universal health insurance because of political polarization and the number of people enjoying health insurance has shrunk sharply due to the epidemic. From March to May 2020, an estimated 27 million Americans have lost health insurance coverage in the pandemic. In Texas alone, the number of uninsured jumped from about 4.3 million to nearly 4.9 million, which means that three out of every 10 Texans are uninsured.

數(shù)字鴻溝加劇教育不平等。一份基于普查數(shù)據(jù)的分析報告指出，2018年，約1700萬美國兒童生活在沒有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的家庭中，700萬兒童所在的家庭沒有計算機。（注20）《政治家》網(wǎng)站2020年9月23日報道，距美國國會大廈僅一小時車程的巴爾的摩市在校兒童中就有三分之一的人沒有電腦；三分之一的非洲裔、拉美裔和印第安人家庭沒有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。在疫情期間遠程教育成為主流教育模式的背景下，與較富裕的同齡人相比，低收入和少數(shù)族裔孩子的家庭背景使得他們難以擁有進行獨立學習的技術條件和環(huán)境，因而在遠程學習方面處于劣勢地位，進一步加劇了由貧困和種族不平等造成的教育差距。
The digital divide aggravated educational inequality. In 2018, nearly 17 million children lived in homes without internet connection, and more than 7 million did not have computers at home, according to a report that analyzed census data for that year. The website of Politico reported on Sept. 23, 2020 that one in three students in Baltimore city, which is only an hour’s drive from the U.S. Capitol, has no computers. One in three African American, Latino or American Indian families do not have home internet. Virtual learning became a mainstream education pattern during the epidemic. Compared with their wealthier peers, low-income and minority children are less likely to have appropriate technology and home environments for independent study because of their family backgrounds and therefore are at a disadvantage in e-learning, further aggravating the educational divide caused by poverty and racial inequality.