双语|《科学美国人》(Scientific American)第202104期

In 2015 a white supremacist with a handgun walked into a historic African-American church in Charleston, S.C., and murdered nine worshippers. In 2019 a gunman went on a rampage in El Paso, Tex., and has been charged with 23 murders, as well as hate crimes for targeting Mexicans and immigrants. In June 2020 a man whom prosecutors described as a Ku Klux Klan leader drove his vehicle into a crowd of peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters in Virginia, injuring several.

2015年，一名白人至上主义者持枪闯入南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的一座历史悠久的非裔美国人教堂，杀害了9名礼拜者。2019年，一名持枪歹徒在德克萨斯州的埃尔帕索为非作歹。他被控23起谋杀，以及针对墨西哥人和移民的仇恨犯罪。2020年6月，一名被检察官称为三k党(Ku Klux Klan)领导人的男子驾驶汽车撞向弗吉尼亚州一群和平的“黑人的命也是命”(Black Lives Matter)抗议者，造成数人受伤。

That fall the U.S. Department of Homeland Security drafted warnings saying white supremacist extremists will remain “the most persistent and lethal threat” to the country. Then, on January 6, as Congress met to certify the presidential election, a deadly mob stormed the U.S. Capitol with clothing mocking Nazi death camps; flags celebrating the Confederacy and Donald Trump; and insignia of white supremacist groups such as the Proud Boys and militia groups such as the Oath Keepers.

同年秋天，美国国土安全部发布了警告，称白人至上主义极端分子仍将是美国“最持久、最致命的威胁”。然后，在1月6日，当国会开会认证总统选举时，一群致命的暴徒冲进了美国国会大厦，他们穿着嘲弄纳粹死亡营的衣服，悬挂着庆祝南部邦联和唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的旗帜，还配戴着白人至上主义团体(如骄傲男孩)和民兵组织(如誓言守护者)的徽章。

The number of assaults by white supremacists has been climbing in recent years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has cited new highs in hate crimes: more than 7,000 in 2019, and that is likely an undercount. The Center for Strategic and International Studies notes in a report that “right-wing extremists perpetrated two thirds of the attacks and plots in the United States in 2019 and over 90 percent between January 1 and May 8, 2020.”

近年来，白人至上主义者的袭击事件数量一直在攀升。美国联邦调查局(Federal Bureau of Investigation，简称FBI)举例证实了了仇恨犯罪创下新高：2019年已发生超过7000起案件，而且很可能实际案件数量远高于此。战略与国际研究中心(Center For Strategic And International Studies)在一份报告中指出，“右翼极端分子实行谋划了2019年美国三分之二的袭击和阴谋，2020年1月1日至5月8日期间，超过90%的袭击和阴谋由右翼极端分子所为。”

Yet most law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. have remained focused on foreign-based “jihadi” terrorism, say experts in national security. Now is the time for the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress to take on the homegrown horror, with several effective initial steps.

然而，国家安全专家表示，美国大多数执法机构仍将工作重心放在外国的“圣战”恐怖主义上。现在是时候该拜登政府和美国国会采取几项初步有效措施来对付本土恐怖主义了。

Domestic terrorism, as defined by federal law, consists of criminal acts on U.S. soil that are dangerous to human life and are intended to coerce and intimidate a civilian population. We do not know many details about the groups and individuals who take such actions or about their white supremacist connections.

根据联邦法律的定义，国内恐怖主义是指在美国领土上危害人类生命的犯罪行为，目的是胁迫和恐吓平民。目前采取这种行动的团体和个人的许多细节，以及他们与白人至上主义者的联系暂时未知。

Last December, at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations, three former heads of Homeland Security—Frances Townsend, Janet Napolitano and former acting secretary Kevin McAleenan—agreed that security agencies have not made such identification a priority. “There has not been the same focus” on U.S. communities as there was on Muslim extremists after the 9/11 attacks, said Townsend, who ran the agency from 2004 to 2008.

去年12月，在美国外交关系委员会(Council On Foreign Relations)的一次会议上，三位前国土安全部负责人——弗朗西斯·汤森德(Frances Townsend)、珍妮特·纳波利塔诺(Janet Napolitano)和前代理部长凯文·麦卡利南(Kevin McAleenan)——一致认为，安全机构没有将这种认知作为优先事项。2004年至2008年负责该机构的汤森说，现在对美国社区的不像9/11袭击后对穆斯林极端分子的那样多。

A bill now in Congress, the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, would remedy this omission. It authorizes the creation of offices in three agencies—Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the FBI—to monitor, investigate and prosecute cases of domestic terrorism. The bill also requires these offices to give Congress twice-yearly reports on domestic terror groups, with specific focus on white supremacists. This kind of data collection and reporting is a key step against the threats, according to the Center for American Progress. Federal agencies should also trace connections between domestic groups and foreign white power movements.

目前国会正在审议的一项法案--《国内恐怖主义预防法案》--将弥补这一疏漏。它授权在三个机构——国土安全部、司法部和联邦调查局——设立办公室，以监测、调查和起诉国内恐怖主义案件。该法案还要求这些办公室每年向国会提交两次关于国内恐怖组织的报告，特别白人至上主义者。根据美国进步中心(Center For American Progress)的说法，这种数据收集和报告是应对威胁的关键一步。联邦机构还应该追踪国内团体和外国白人权力运动之间的联系。

Congress should also enact an antilynching law. Lynching is an act of terror used by white supremacists, but it has never been a federal crime. Congress considered such a law last year with a bill aimed at conspiracies by two or more people to cause bodily harm in connection with a hate crime. Its passage would have empowered federal law enforcement to investigate and prosecute such plots.

国会还应该制定一项反私刑法律。私刑是白人至上主义者使用的一种恐怖行为，但它从来不算作联邦犯罪。国会去年审议了这样一项法律，通过了一项法案，旨在打击两个或两个以上个人以造成与仇恨犯罪有关的身体伤害为目的的共谋行为。该法案的通过将授权联邦执法部门调查和起诉此类阴谋。

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky stalled a vote on the bill with the meritless contention that it allowed extreme penalties against people who simply slapped their victims. The bill actually permits penalty ranges that vary with offense severity, and it should be reintroduced and passed.

肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗(Rand Paul) 拖延了对该法案的投票，而理由是他可耻地认为该法案允许对仅仅扇受害者耳光的人施以极端惩罚。该法案实际上允许惩罚的范围因犯罪的严重程度而异，应该重新提出并通过。

There is also an urgent need to root out extremism in law enforcement and the armed forces. Among the first 150 people arrested and charged with federal crimes after the attack on the Capitol, 21 were current or former members of the U.S. military, according to CNN. Some were affiliated with the Proud Boys. Last year police officers in North Carolina were fired after posting racist videos, and an FBI threat-assessment report dating back to 2006 expressed alarm about supremacist infiltration of law-enforcement ranks.

此外，铲除执法和军队中的极端主义迫在眉睫。据美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)报道，在国会大厦遇袭后被捕并被控犯有联邦罪行的第一批150人中，有21人是现任或前任美军成员。有些人隶属于“骄傲男孩”。去年，北卡罗来纳州的警察在发布种族主义视频后被解雇，一份可以追溯到2006年的联邦调查局威胁评估报告对至上主义者渗透执法队伍表示震惊。

Most officers and service members are not extremists, of course. But little has been done to deal with those who are, according to a 2020 report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Codes of military and police conduct need to be strengthened and breaches officially reported and pursued.

当然，大多数军官和军人都不是极端分子。但根据纽约大学布伦南司法中心(Brennan Center For Justice At New York University)2020年的一份报告，在应对军队和执法人员内的极端分子方面几乎没有什么措施。军事和警察行为准则需要加强，违规行为需要被正式报告，进行追查。

Building on these steps, we can make it clear that homegrown terror and bigotry are real crimes. With real punishments.

这些措施的建立能够很清楚地表明，本土的恐怖和偏执是真正的犯罪。这些犯罪行为理应受到真正的惩罚。

（英文资料来源于网络，郭梓纯翻译整理，薛晶囡审校）

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