Stephan Richter：有了奧巴馬，黑人為何比60年代更絕望-斯蒂芬·里克特
【遭受多方質疑，美國國務院發言人瑪麗·哈夫辯稱“這純屬內政問題”。The Globalist總編Stephan Richter賜稿觀察者網，論述非裔美國人的真實處境，以及奧巴馬象徵意義的崩解。觀察者網楊晗軼譯。】
本月早些時候，手無寸鐵的美國黑人青年邁克爾·布朗遭警官槍殺，案發地美國密蘇里州弗格森市的緊張氣氛至今仍在持續發酵。關於造成該槍擊案的原因是否是種族歧視，美國社會各界爭辯不休。非裔在當今美國社會中處境究竟如何？這起案件應當喚起我們的關注。
密蘇里州長下令調用國民警衞隊鎮壓騷亂弗格森騷亂
作為一名黑人，奧巴馬總統或許具有重要的象徵意義，但在現實中，非裔美國人的處境仍不容樂觀。2008年奧巴馬的當選，充其量可算作一項階段性成就，要撫平非裔族羣的歷史創傷，還有很長的路要走。
非裔美國人的真實處境，應是衡量這個歷史進程的核心指標。實際上，黑人目前的社會經濟地位，可謂“災難性”的低。
譬如，在失業率和青少年（中學階段）輟學率等方面，黑人均高出白人一倍有餘。
在美國，黑人遭到監禁的比例幾乎是白人的六倍。美國有色人種協進會的資料顯示，全美監獄關押的230萬名囚犯中，有大約100萬是黑人。
是的，單純從法律的角度講，非裔美國人現已正式享有與白人同樣的權利。毫無疑問，上世紀60年代留給美國的歷史污點已經淡去，非裔族羣曾遭遇的赤裸裸的種族仇恨與駭人聽聞的暴力已不復存在。
但是，針對黑人的歧視以更隱蔽的形式繼續存在着，它與我們生活的21世紀顯得那麼不協調。一直以來，美國許多州長、立法委員、法官不時拋出限制黑人投票權的挑釁言論——它提醒我們應正視美國社會的現實。今天，白人勢力曾犯下的暴力和罪行或許不會重現，但其他形式的歧視仍在大行其道。
上世紀60年代的紀錄片到今天仍有啓發意義。那是美國黑人民權運動風起雲湧的時代：雖然那時黑人遭受着大山一般沉重的壓迫，但那畢竟是個充滿希望的時代。你能在黑人青年的眼睛裏看到希望——對紮實教育、無憂生活、美好未來的希望。
今天，許多黑人已不再懷有這份希望。未經父母計劃便出生於破碎家庭的黑人兒童佔非裔人口總數的72.1%，白人兒童相應的比率僅為29.3%。對這些不幸的孩子來説，唯一的寬慰是自己的遭遇並不特殊。
任何有助於改善這些孩子處境的實質性社會改革，都遭到了共和黨的激烈反對。對此，我們已見怪不怪。
真正令人吃驚的是，當具有歷史意義的紀念日到來時，奧巴馬先生不温不火地致辭，竟白白浪費對全美國人民講兩句真話、實在話的大好機會。
去年8月，為紀念“向華盛頓進軍”50週年，奧巴馬在林肯紀念堂前的台階上發表了演説。那本是一個多麼難得的時機，他本可以呼籲全美國關注非裔美國人的處境，讓大家知道現狀並不令人滿意。
作為一名黑人，奧巴馬既當過憲法講師，又擔任着美國總統，還有誰能比他更適合為黑人權利大聲疾呼，為社會指出亟需克服的弊病？
然而奧巴馬先生完全沒有這樣做。他只是一味堆砌甜蜜的辭藻，以一句“那些認為改變還不徹底的人們”，便輕鬆地把帽子扣在了批評者的頭上。
他用優美的修辭粉飾太平：“美國黑人中不乏成功的例子，這在半個世紀前是不可想象的。”
美國人有個壞毛病，萬里長征剛走了一公里便開始慶祝，忘了原來的目標在哪裏。美國南北戰爭結束後，雖有了《解放奴隸宣言》和多條憲法修正案，但對黑人權利的保障往往流於空泛，直到1960年代美國才採取必要行動，落實黑人權利。
與黑人民權運動一樣，奧巴馬總統的當選也僅僅是個里程碑，遠不是非裔美國人爭取平等權利的最終勝利。
美國必須信守當初的承諾，在全國範圍內糾正各種違背民權的隱蔽錯誤；改善黑人族羣經濟地位失衡的現狀；醫治因白人歷史罪行造成的沉痾痼疾。
Stephan Richter是The Globalist總編和出版者，正在編寫文集《重思美國及世界》，版權歸The Globalist所有。
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After Ferguson: African Americans’ Plight Still Enormous, Despite Obama as President
Tension has been escalating in Ferguson since the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a police officer early this month. The shooting sparks controversy about whether it was because of racial discrimination. This warrants a broader look at the issue of how African-Americans are faring in U.S. society today.
On a symbolic level, having a black man as president may be important, but on a practical level, African Americans’ very real problems remain. At best, Barack Obama’s election in 2008 can only be considered an interim point in a healing process that must continue.
The core issue by which to measure progress is the actual situation of African Americans in the United States. The social and economic status of African Americans today actually is rather catastrophic.
For example, the unemployment rate for black Americans is more than twice the rate for whites. Black teenagers are more than twice as likely not to finish high school with their peers as white teens.
Black Americans are also incarcerated in jails and prisons at nearly six times the rate of white Americans. According to the NAACP, blacks account for about one million of the 2.3 million Americans currently imprisoned in the United States.
True, in a purely legal context, African Americans are now formally equipped with the same rights as whites. And without any doubt, the unvarnished racist hatred and unbelievable violence against them that marred America in the 1960s have been pushed out of view.
But there are many subtler forms of discrimination that can hardly be squared with living in the 21st century. The constant needling by the governors, legislatures and courts of many U.S. states to suppress the black vote is a reminder of one fact of American life. The level of violence and outright criminality in the white establishment may be gone, but the eagerness to discriminate in any other available form is not.
It is especially instructive to look at documentaries from the 1960s, the heyday of the struggle for civil rights. Despite all the unfathomable oppression that blacks experienced when they stood up for their rights, there was also a lot of hope, especially in young black people’s eyes. They were hoping for a better future, solid education and a solid lifestyle.
That hope has now vanished for many African Americans. The only thing that provides comfort about the 72.1% of young African American children born out of wedlock is that they are less alone in dealing with that challenge. The corresponding rate for white children now is 29.3%.
The Republican Party’s opposition to any real social reforms that would improve these children’s lot is fierce. That is no surprise.
What is a surprise are Mr. Obama’s tepid words, even when a historic date provides the opportunity to do some truth telling to the nation.
Consider the speech he gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 2013, at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Here was finally an opportunity to tell the nation that all is not well with African Americans.
Who other than a black man who had taught constitutional law and serves as President of the United States could have spelled out what urgently needs doing?
And yet, Mr. Obama did not do so at all. He limited himself to mellifluous words. And he dismissed any critics “who suggest … that little has changed.”
Instead, he offered such niceties, as “There have been examples of success within black America that would have been unimaginable a half century ago.”
Americans have a bad habit of celebrating at the mile marker, instead of finishing the marathon. It was necessary to take action in the 1960s to make full the hollow words of the Declaration and the Constitutional amendments adopted after the U.S. Civil War.
Likewise, the election of President Obama was a milestone, but not a crowning achievement in itself.
The United States must still meet the promise of that event and work to correct the insidious and less visible violations of civil rights — and the economic imbalances that are the legacy of past misdeeds — and that still persist across the country.
[Stephan Richter, the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Globalist, is working on a book “Rethinking America — and Thereby the World: 95 Theses.” Copyright The Globalist.]