【美國日記】21.05.05 令人髮指：白人奴隸主虐待男性智障黑奴！_風聞

這就是美國！

NBC: 法院裁定，一名智障黑人男子在南卡羅來納州一家餐館被奴役五年後，應獲得超過500,000美元的賠償。

白人的鮑比·保羅·愛德華茲（Bobby Paul Edwards）在2018年6月對一項強迫勞動罪名供認不韙，罪名是使用“暴力和其他強制手段”使約翰·克里斯托弗·史密斯（John Christopher Smith）每週在其餐廳無薪工作100多個小時。

Bobby Paul Edwards, who is white, pleaded guilty in June 2018 to one count of forced labor for using “violence and other coercive means” to make John Christopher Smith work at his restaurant for more than 100 hours a week without pay.

作為認罪的一部分，愛德華茲被判處10年監禁，並被判向史密斯支付272,952.96美元的賠償。但是，法院上月裁定，賠償金額應增加一倍，史密斯應收到超過545,000美元。

這種虐待始於2009年，當時愛德華茲（Edwards）是默特爾比奇（Myrtle Beach）西北約15英里處康威（Conway）的J＆J Cafeteria餐廳經理。

美國司法部説，只要史密斯沒有足夠快地工作或犯了一個錯誤，愛德華茲就會使史密斯遭受“身體和情感上的虐待”。當局説，愛德華茲會打史密斯，用皮帶打他，用鍋碗瓢盆打他。司法部説，有一次愛德華茲把金屬鉗浸入熱油脂中，燙傷了史密斯的脖子。

The U.S. Department of Justice said that Edwards subjected Smith to “physical and emotional abuse” whenever Smith did not work fast enough or made a mistake. Authorities said Edwards would punch Smith, beat him with a belt and hit him with pots and pans. On one occasion Edwards dipped metal tongs into hot grease and burned Smith’s neck, the Justice Department said.

該機構説，愛德華茲還利用種族歧視來貶低他。

在相關居民於2014年與當局聯繫後，史密斯被從餐館中移走，並受到該州的成人保護服務的照料。

根據NBC附屬機構默特爾比奇的WMBF，史密斯的智力水平大大低於平均水平。

次年，他起訴愛德華茲（Edwards），強生餐廳（J＆J Cafeteria）和這家餐廳的共同所有人，指控其奴役，錯誤監禁以及種族和殘障歧視。根據訴訟，愛德華茲和他的兄弟擁有這家餐廳。

史密斯在訴訟中説，他被迫從早上6點開始工作，直到餐廳關閉和打掃乾淨為止。有時他要等到凌晨1點30分才離開。

該訴訟稱，有時候史密斯太累了，以至於他“必須被帶回家並灌食水和食物”。愛德華茲告訴史密斯，他正在將補償金存入銀行帳户，但該帳户不存在。

史密斯在訴訟中説，毆打和身體虐待會在後台辦公室或冰庫中進行。

他沒有舉報虐待行為，因為他擔心自己的生命。根據訴訟，愛德華茲威脅要重踏在他脖子上，如果史密斯報警就會毆打他"直到人們認不出他來"。

在他被奴役的那些年裏，史密斯被迫住在愛德華茲擁有的公寓裏。該訴訟稱，該公寓滿是蟑螂，生活條件“悲慘及對人體健康有害”。

There were times Smith was so tired that he “had to be carried home and physically fed drink and food,” the lawsuit states. Edwards told Smith that he was putting his compensation into a bank account but it did not exist.

The beatings and physical abuse would take place in a back office or freezer, Smith said in the suit.

He did not report the abuse because he feared for his life. According to the lawsuit, Edwards threatened to stomp on Smith’s neck if he went to the police and beat him “until people would not recognize him.”

During the years he was enslaved, Smith was forced to live at an apartment that Edwards owned. The suit states that the apartment was overrun with cockroaches and the living conditions were “deplorable and harmful to human health.”