每周杂谈│美国怎么了？——黑人的命贱还是警察的命贱？
Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/17hjI772vTay7o3_moeNFw Author: 第三小提琴
自今年5月底黑人乔治·弗洛伊德被杀以来，美国社会撕裂、政局动荡，在西雅图市、芝加哥市、亚特兰大市、俄勒冈州、威斯康星州、明尼苏达州等地发生了广泛持久的大规模骚乱，其他各地的社会治安也普遍恶化，传统的资产阶级民主制度出现了瓦解的迹象。
Since the death of black man George Floyd late May this year, American society has come apart and political chaos erupted. Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota and many more places have become enveloped in riots. Public security in a number of other places has also suffered, which heralds the disintegration of the capitalist democratic system. [Translator’s note: I choose to translate the same word “资产阶级” to either “capitalist”, or to “bourgeoisie”, depending on context.]
上图：“黑命贵”和“蓝命贵”两派冲突现场
[Image: Supporters of black lives matters and blue lives matters confront each other.]
怎样看待目前的美国政治和阶级斗争？骚乱爆发后，美国民主党和共和党建制派控制的主流媒体众口一词，认为黑人被杀，是美国“系统性种族主义”的见证，骚乱是对长期深刻的种族压迫的自然反应，是对特朗普政权煽动种族仇恨的抗议。美国小资产阶级各“进步”派别（包括各种边缘化的托派、“毛派”团体）也纷纷呼应。
How should we interpret the current conflict in American politics and class? Since the riots erupted, a single word has been on the tongues of the media channel controlled by the democratic and republican parties – “institutional racism”, the existence of which they claim is evident because of the killing of a black man. They also claim that the riots are a natural reaction to a long history of racial oppression, and a protest against the policies of Trump’s that incite racial hate. The “progressive” groups of the American small bourgeoisie (including all kinds of fringe Troskyists and “Maoists”) have all chimed in agreement.
国内社交媒体对美国目前事态的报道和评论，往往是照搬美国主流媒体的态度。至于像乌有之乡那样的进步网站，由于不了解美国的实际情况，在评论中常常想当然地认为，当前美国的群众运动就是上世纪六十年代及其以前的反对种族主义压迫斗争的继续。
The mainstream American view is often propagated in the reporting and discussion of the current situation in internal media. [Translator’s note: “internal” or “domestic” refers to Chinese.] There are even progressive websites with an Utopian outlook, which, because of their lack of understanding of the actual American situation, all kinds of comparisons between the current movement and the civil rights and anti-racism movement of the 1960’s can be found in the comment fields.
那么，美国的实际情况到底怎样呢？让我们先来看一些美国政治中的诡异迹象。自5月份以来，美国各地频频骚乱，不仅攻击各种政府建筑物，而且伴随着大范围的、盲目的打砸抢烧，不仅破坏大公司和奢侈品商业区的财产，而且烧毁了大量普通小业主和劳动者的商铺、生活设施，杀人案暴涨，数以百计的人死于无辜。
Well then, what is actually the situation in America, you might ask? Let’s first take a look at some weird aspects of American culture that might provide a clue. Since may, riots have erupted all around America. Not only have government structures been targeted, but there has been wanton looting and arson in the surrounding areas too. This includes not only the property of big businesses and luxury brands, but also small stores run by regular people and workers, in addition to public infrastructure. The number of murders has also grown, with around a 100 innocent casualties.
照理来说，所有这些行为都严重破坏了资本主义的正常经济和社会秩序，资产阶级应该强烈反对、坚决镇压才对？然而，奇怪的是，美国资产阶级控制的各个主流媒体对于遍布全国的骚乱，不仅不反对，而且不着急，而且还推波助澜，将骚乱美化为“大多数人还是和平的抗议”；当特朗普政府在骚乱初期考虑动用联邦军队时，从国防部长到军队各将领，都公开表态拒绝执行。难道骚乱直接威胁的不正是美国资产阶级的利益吗？美国资产阶级这样说、这样做，是因为他们愚蠢吗？是因为他们没有历史和政治经验吗？
This behaviour has severely damaged the economic activity and social order of the capitalist society, which, logically speaking, should mean that the bourgeoisie strongly oppose it, and wish to suppress it. Right? However, strangely enough, the mainstream American bourgeoisie media has had a very different opinion on the riots all over the country. They have not only not opposed them, nor expressed any urgency, but rather fanned the flames by saying that in the riots “a majority of participants are protesting peacefully”. During the beginning of the riots, when the Trump government deliberated on whether to send in the national guard, a number of officials and officers publicly said they would refuse to follow orders. Is it not the profits of the American bourgeoisie that the riots are threatening? Are the American bourgeoisie acting this way, and saying these things because they are stupid? Is it because they lack historical and economic experience?
更加奇怪的是，对于“黑人的命也是命”运动和其他抗议者、骚乱者提出的取消对警察拨款乃至废除警察的口号，民主党以及与其关系密切的主流媒体也态度暧昧，若干市长、州长甚至公开支持这一要求。似乎资产阶级及其政客不再关心自己的利益，而关心起黑人的命运来了！难道警察不是资产阶级国家机器最基本的组成部分吗？美国资产阶级的一部分心甘情愿地要消灭资产阶级的国家机器，是太阳从西边出来了？还是美国资本家都准备改行做共产党员了？
It gets even stranger! Members of the “black lives matter” movement and other protestors and rioters have demanded that the police should be defunded and even abolished. [Translator’s note: a literal translation would be “black peoples’ lives are also lives”.] The democratic party and its affiliated mainstream media have reacted positively to this demand, and several mayors and governors have even publicly stated their support for this demand. It’s as if the capitalists and politicians don’t care anymore about what’s in their self interest, but rather care about the black peoples’ movement! Is not the police one of the most basic components of the capitalist system? A part of the American bourgeoisie wish to willingly destroy the capitalist system. What’s next? Will the sun rise in the west? Or will all the American capitalists change career and become communist party members?
对于这些问题，笔者准备分几期、从几个不同的方面撰写若干篇短文，来介绍和评论当前美国政治中的一系列诡异现象。如果因此引起一些讨论，乃至于大批判、口诛笔伐，笔者也乐于奉陪。
When it comes to these problems, the author has prepared several articles, which will look at these weird phenomena in American politics from different perspectives. If this causes a discussion, a debate, or even an argument, the author will happily participate.
今天先说说，美国到底是不是存在着“系统性的种族主义”？如果有，到底表现在哪里？我们知道，历史上，黑人和其他少数族裔确实曾经长期受到种族主义的压迫。美国南方的奴隶制种植园一直维持到十九世纪中期。自那以后，在美国南方各州，还长期存在着种族隔离的制度。但是，经过美国各族裔人民的长期斗争特别是上世纪六十年代的民权斗争以后，今天可以说，在美国，无论在联邦还是在州及以下，无论在法律上还是在一般的就业市场上，公开的、制度性的种族歧视已经不存在了。不仅不存在，美国还有着各种各样的、世界上大多数资本主义国家目前不具备的对黑人和少数族裔、妇女、各种性取向乃至其他身份特征的法律的和政策的保护。
Today, we will begin by talking about whether “institutional racism” actually exists in America. If it does, where does it appear? We know that, historically, black people and other ethnic minorities have suffered racism and oppression. Slave farms existed in the American south until the middle of the 1800’s. After that, a system of racial segregation still survived for a long time in the southern American states. However, after a long struggle by all ethnicities in America, and in particular the civil rights movement of the 1960’s we can say that, today, whether on a federal or state level, whether in courts or the regular job market, public, structural racial prejudice does not exist in America. It not only does not exist, but on the contrary, America has enabled all kinds of legal and political protections that most other capitalist countries have not enabled for black people and other ethnicities, women and every kind of sexual orientation.
这当然不是说，美国的黑人和其他少数族裔特别是其中的劳动人民，就不受剥削和压迫了。凡是资本主义社会，劳动人民都必然受到剥削和压迫。但是，在现在的美国，到底有没有独立于阶级剥削和压迫以外的某种特殊的、单独存在的、抽象的“系统性种族主义”？如果确实存在，对黑人和其他少数族裔的危害到底有多大，是不是就值得人们无比愤怒以至于动不动就烧掉几条街？
Of course, this does not mean that black people and other ethnicities, and in particular the workers in these groups, are not oppressed and exploited in America. In all capitalist societies, workers are inevitably oppressed and exploited. However, in today’s America, can we say that some kind of special, unique and abstract “institutional racism” exists, independent of class? If it truly exists, how great is actually the harm done to black people and other ethnic minorities? Is it enough to fill people with unparallelled anger and put a few blocks on fire?
马克思主义的基本常识告诉我们，世界上没有无缘无故的爱，也没有无缘无故的恨。如果在今天的美国，确实存在着某种独立于阶级剥削和压迫以外的特别的“系统性种族主义”压迫，它在现实的经济生活中，总要有它特定的物质基础。认为白人劳动者一生下来，或者仅仅因为被白人教会洗脑（远比不上资本主义主流媒体和社交媒体“身份政治”的洗脑），就莫名其妙地要歧视、压迫黑人？这不是马克思主义，而是反动的唯心主义。
Common sense based in Marxism tells us that there is no such thing as love without reason, nor is there such a thing as hate without reason. If there exists an “institutional racism” which is independent of class exploitation in America today, then it must have a foundation in the realities of life and the economy. Would a white working class man all by himself, or because he has been brainwashed in a white church (which would fall way short of the brainwashing about “identity politics” performed by capitalist mainstream media and social media), spontaneously become prejudiced against black people and oppress them? This way of thinking is not Marxism, it is reactionary idealism.
那些认为今天的美国仍然存在着“系统性种族主义”的人，一个主要的论据，就是认为警察对黑人滥用暴力，是当前美国种族主义压迫的一个突出表现。在很多声情并茂的叙述中，似乎美国黑人从小到大都时时生活在警察压迫的阴影下，乃至于随时会被警察滥用私刑、丧失生命。这样的现象，肯定是存在的，但是不是美国黑人受压迫的一个主要的或者虽然不是主要的但仍然是相当重要的原因或表现形式呢？
A common argument used by those who believe that “institutional racism” still exists in America today, is that the police use excessive violence against black people, and that it is a remnant of the racial oppression of the past. There are many emotional stories out there about how black Americans live under the oppressive shadow of the police from an early age, and at any time can become the target of a police lynching and lose their lives. This certainly happens, but it can’t be the main, although a rather important, manifestation of the oppression that black people endure, right?
让我们就从“黑人的命也是命”这句口号说起，这是当前美国群众运动中标志性的并且一度赢得广泛同情的口号，也是感动了大批中国的小资进步知识分子和青年的口号。这句口号背后的含义就是，美国的警察不把黑人的命当命，并且这是黑人被压迫、恐惧、愤怒的一个主要的或者重要的原因。
Let’s start by taking a look at the slogan “black peoples’ lives are also lives”. This is an iconic phrase of the American mass movement, and it’s a slogan that has won widespread sympathy. It has also left an impression on many young, progressive small bourgeoisie in China. The meaning behind this slogan is that the American police don’t treat black peoples’ lives as actual lives, and that this is a main, or at least important, reason for the oppression, fear and hate that black people endure.
让我们先来看一些统计数据。据美国Statista网站关于“犯罪和执法”以及“警察暴行”的统计数据，2017年，美国警察在执法过程中打死了457名白人、223名黑人；2018年，美国警察打死了399名白人、209名黑人；2019年，美国警察打死了370名白人、235名黑人。大致来说，每年死于警察枪击的白人大约是死于警察枪击的黑人的两倍。
First, we will look at some statistics from the categories “crime and law” and “police violence” on the American website Statista. In 2017, American police killed 457 white people and 223 black people in the line of duty. In 2018, the numbers are 399 white people and 209 black people and in 2019 they were 370 white people and 235 black people. Roughly speaking, the number of white people shot by police is approximately twice the number of black people.
但是，美国白人的人口大约占美国总人口的70%，而黑人人口占美国总人口的12%，白人人口大约是黑人人口的六倍。所以，如果按照占人口比例来说，黑人死于警察枪击的概率要更高。据统计，从2015年至2020年7月（在累计五年半的时间里），每一百万黑人中有31人死于警察枪击，每一百万白人中有13人死于警察枪击。黑人被警察枪击死亡的比例是白人的两倍半。这是不是足以说明在美国警察执法和施用暴力的过程中，对黑人存在着明显的种族歧视并且不把黑人的命当命呢？
However, white people make up around 70% of the entire American population, while black people make up around 12%. There are around 6 times as many white people as black people. This means that a larger percentage of black people, than white people, are shot by the police. According to the statistics, 31 per million black people were shot by police between 2015 and July of 2020 (adding up over a period of five and a half years). The same number for white people was 13 per million. Black people were two and a half times as likely to be shot by police as white people. Is this not clear evidence of the fact that while in the line of duty, American police officers deliberately target black Americans due to racism and don’t treat black lives as lives?
根据美国全国的逮捕记录，2018年，美国警察因犯罪共逮捕了1031万人次，其中白人712万人次、黑人283万人次。白人犯罪总数大约是黑人犯罪总数的两倍半，与上面白人和黑人分别因警察枪击而死亡的比例大致相当。但是，如果我们单看最严重的杀人案（包括故意杀人和重度过失杀人），美国警察在2018年一共因杀人案逮捕了约12000人，其中白人约5300人、黑人约6400人。就是说，黑人是凶手的杀人案占了美国全国杀人案的半数以上。
According to national American arrest records, American police arrested a total of 10’310’000 criminals in 2018. Out of those, 7’120’000 were white people, and 2’830’000 were black people. White criminals are about two and a half times as many as the black criminals, which is approximately the same ratio as that of people who were shot by the police. However, if we only look at the most severe cases of killings (including murder with intent and manslaughter), the American police have arrested about 12’000 people in relation to murders since 2018. Of those, around 5300 were white people, and around 6400 were black people. This means that, in more than half of all murder cases in the US, the perpetrator was a black person.
这些统计数据，当然不是说黑人本性就特别凶残或者特别爱犯罪，而是说，黑人死于警察枪击的比例较高，完全可能有除了所谓“系统性种族主义”以外的原因。最可能的原因，就是资本主义的剥削和压迫必然造成相当一批劳动人民生活在贫困和痛苦之中；由于历史的原因，黑人在贫苦劳动人民中的比例较大，并且客观上造成黑人的犯罪率更高、恶性犯罪发生的可能性更大。
Obviously, these statistics don’t indicate that black people have a violent nature or are prone to violent crime. It only means that the reason so many black people are shot by police might entirely depend on some other reason than “institutional racism”. The most likely reason is that the exploitation and oppression of a capitalist society inevitably creates poverty and hardship for workers. Because of historical reasons, a larger percentage of black people belong to the poor working class, which as a matter of fact makes crime more common among black people, and increases the risk of violent crime.
据美国联邦调查局的数据，2016年，大约有2900名美国黑人死于杀人案，其中约2600人死于凶手是黑人的杀人案。前面说，在五年半的时间中，每一百万黑人中有31人死于警察枪击，就是说，平均每年，每一百万黑人中大约5人死于警察枪击。相比之下，每一百万黑人中每年大约有70人死于杀人案，其中65人死于黑人是凶手的杀人案；这个比例是死于警察枪击比例的十倍以上。
According to a federal investigation in America, around 2900 black people were murdered in 2016. Out of those, around 2600 were murdered by black people. Before, we learned that over the course of five and a half years, 31 in every million black people were shot by police. This means that 5 in every million black people are shot by the police each year, on average. Compare that to the numbers for white people, where 70 people per million were murdered each year, and in 65 out of those cases the perpetrator was a black person. This is more than times the number of white people who were shot by police.
如果我们真的认为黑人的命像所有其他人的命一样宝贵，那么现实生活中对美国黑人生命最大的威胁（就非自然死亡来说），绝不是警察暴力，而恰恰是黑人社区内部的犯罪！要解决这个问题，根本的方法当然是消灭资本主义剥削和压迫；近期的方法，除了加强（而不是削弱）警察执法以外，只能靠黑人群众自己努力清除自己社区中的犯罪团伙和其他败类。而号称黑命宝贵的美国各主流媒体以及各种小资产阶级伪左派团体恰恰在这个问题上不置一词，也没有任何有效的努力。
If we really believe that black peoples’ lives are just as valuable as everybody else’s lives, then the actual greatest threat to black peoples’ lives (except for natural causes) is definitely not police violence, but rather the crime within black communities! To solve this issue, the exploitation and oppression of the capitalist society must be destroyed. Apart from strengthening (rather than weakening) the police and law enforcement, the method available up until now has primarily been to rely on black communities to expel members of criminal gangs and other scum by themselves. However, the American mainstream media and all kinds of small bourgeoisie leftists, who all claim that black lives are valuable, have not spent any time at all on this problem, nor any effort.
有的读者可能要问，即使暂时解决不了黑人社区的犯罪问题，通过“黑人的命也是命”的运动，制止警察滥用暴力，减少警察在执法过程中对无辜生命的伤害，减少弗洛伊德那样的悲剧，难道不好吗？
Some readers might ask: “If we temporarily solve the issue of crime in black communities, and let the “black lives are also lives” movement stop police violence, reduce the number of innocents hurt by law enforcement and also reduce the number of “Floyd tragedies”, wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
关于这些问题，笔者会在接下来几篇随笔中继续阐述。这里，先给个结论。在美国资本主义制度没有根本改变的前提下，上述的良好愿望完全是既无生活经验也无政治经验的小资产阶级玻璃心的空想！
The author will now attempt to elaborate on these issues. Here, I will start with a conclusion. If the capitalist American society does not change, the wonderful dreams described above will never be anything more than the empty wishes of fragile small bourgeoisie without life experience and without political experience!
我们知道，在美国，私人是可以合法持有枪支的，这一项权利是美国宪法修正案的第二条，没有极大的政治动荡，是不可能改变的。
We know that, in America, individuals can legally carry firearms. This right is protected by the second amendment of the American constitution, and will never change without extreme political upheaval.
前面说，美国警察每年大约打死200多名黑人。这些被打死的黑人绝大多数是犯罪嫌疑犯，有的是正被通缉的罪犯。我们无法一一评估这里每一个案子中警察使用致命武力是否合理。但是，据美国《华盛顿邮报》报道的数据，在2015-2018年期间，因美国警察枪击而死的嫌疑犯中，92%在当时持有武器。所以，可以认为，在大约90%的情况下，被警察枪击致死的罪犯或嫌疑犯确实对警察或对公众构成了相当的威胁，或者至少警察可以有理由这样认为。
Before, we said that American police kill around 200 black people every year. The majority of the killed black people were suspected criminals, and some were wanted criminals. We have no way to, on an individual basis, evaluate whether officers used an appropriate level of lethal violence. However, according to statistics reported in the American newspaper Washington post, 92% percent of suspects who were killed by police between 2015 and 2018 carried firearms. This means that we have reason to believe that, in approximately 90% of cases, criminals or suspected criminals who were killed by the police actually posed a threat to the police officers and the public, or there was at least reason for the police to suspect so.
那么，罪犯对警察安全的威胁是不是夸大其词呢？在很多情况下，如果警察不要那么着急开枪，是不是就能多拯救一些无辜生命（或者虽然“有辜”但罪不至死的生命）呢？
Now, is it an exaggeration that criminals pose a threat to the safety of the police? In many situations, if the police weren’t so keen on the trigger, wouldn’t it be possible to save innocent lives (or while guilty, still undeserving to die)?
有这样设想的朋友，大概以为美国的罪犯在警察面前一个个都是十分温顺，如待宰的羔羊般等候警察决定自己的命运？
People who imagine things like this, probably also believe that American criminals remain docile in the presence of police officers, and wait for the police to decide their fate as if they were lambs led to the slaughter?
据美国执法官员纪念基金会的数据，2009-2018年期间，美国每年大约有160名警察因公死亡，其中53人是在执行公务中被枪击而死亡。
According to statistics produced by the American law enforcement memory fund, 160 police officers died in America each year between 2009 and 2018. Of those, 53 people were shot in the line of duty.
美国有多少警察呢？大约80万。就是说，美国警察平均每年因枪击而死亡的比例是每一百万警察中66人；这是平均每年每一百万黑人因为警察枪击而死亡比例的十几倍！
How many police officers are there in America? Approximately 800’000. This means that, around 66 in every million police officers die every year due to gun violence. This average is more than ten times higher than the average number of black people who were killed by police each year!
上图：支持警察的“蓝命也是命”的示威游行
[ Image: A protest organized by the “blue lives are also lives” organization, which supports the police ]
在美国，到底是黑人的命不值钱，还是警察的命不值钱？！到底是黑命贱，还是蓝命贱？！（美国警察穿灰蓝制服）如果按照“黑人的命也是命”的逻辑，可不可以说美国警察才是“系统性种族主义”的受害者？
In America, is it black peoples’ lives that are worthless, or is it the lives of police officers that are worthless?! Are black lives cheaper, or blue lives cheaper?! (American police officers wear grey and blue uniforms.) According to the logic of “black lives are also lives”, is it not the case that the police is the group that actually suffers from “institutional racism”?
那么，我们到底应该怎样看待美国当前的群众运动？美国阶级斗争的形势是怎样的？“黑人的命也是命”到底是什么性质的运动？怎样看待特朗普政权？美国此次大选对美国和世界将有怎样的影响？笔者将在以后的随笔中逐次讨论这些问题。
Now, what should we actually think about the American mass movement? How is the American class struggle developing? What is the nature of the “black lives are also lives” movement? What should we make of the policies of Trump? How will this year’s American elections affect America and the world? The author intends to discuss these issues in the future.