女儿们告诉我：在这场全美抗议运动中，我们应该站在哪一边？

昨天晚上吃饭的时候，对于美国近期发生的黑人维权运动以及引发的暴乱，我和两个女儿聊了许久。

她们一开始以为我无法理解这个运动，拼命地跟我解释，我摆摆手说：“你们的妈妈当年做过的事秒杀这一切。”

有这样一个说法："年轻的时候，如果不左，你就没有心；长大了以后，如果不右，你就没有脑。“

她们两个，一个24，一个16，若论激进、热情、理想主义，尚不及我当年。吃完饭后，她俩每人给我写了一段文字，并同意我分享出去。

挺好，一代代的人都是这样走过的，即使有分歧，即使沟通有困难，至少我们可以彼此倾听。

大女儿Zi：

最近，一个名叫乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）的手无寸铁的黑人在明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯，被一名白人警察残酷地杀害了。他向警察乖乖投降后，被固定在地上，窒息而死，警察Derek Chauvin将膝盖跪在弗洛伊德的脖子上超过8分钟。弗洛伊德最后遗言的视频广为流传。他说：“我无法呼吸。”
 

他为自己的生命而哀求。某一刻，他提到想要他的妈妈，而她已经在两年前去世。观看视频的任何人都可以看到，他想要的只是空气。
 

发生的一切是严重的不公正。不幸的是，这类事件在美国经常发生。那就让我们讨论一下它以及它为什么发生。在美国，警察杀死黑人（尤其是黑人男性）的情况十分普遍。在乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）之前，今年三月，有一名26岁手无寸铁的黑人妇女布雷娜·泰勒（Breonna Taylor），警察以她涉嫌毒品为由进入她的房子搜查（警察并未表明自己的身份），她被警察开了8枪杀害。

二月份的时候，有一个25岁的黑人Ahmaud Arbery在他的社区跑步，当时两名白人男子以为他看上去像是在该地区入屋抢劫的窃贼，拦住他并开枪杀死了他。当然，Arbery是无辜的，而不是他们要找的强盗，但事实是，即使他是罪魁祸首，也不应该被处死。没有人有权利因“怀疑”杀死人。

还有佛罗里达州一个17岁的黑人男孩Trayvon Martin，他在2012年的时候被一名社区看守枪杀，认为他看上去“可疑”。

还有一个18岁的黑人迈克尔·布朗（Michael Brown）于2014年被一名白人警察开枪了6次杀害，因为有人看见他偷了一小盒香烟（什么时候偷一小盒香烟意味着你必须在被捕之前被暴力杀害？）。

埃里克·加纳（Eric Garner）是一名44岁的黑人，因在街上非法出售香烟而拒捕，被警察锁喉窒息而死（我再次要问：为什么这么小的罪行必须等于死亡？）

还有一个32岁的黑人Philando Castile，他和他的妻子和女儿一起开车时被一名警官拦住并开枪7次。

当然，这些只是美国历史上发生过的无数个例子的少数几个。

我之所以提到它们，是因为我想问你：“为什么犯微小的罪行等于死刑？”，“为什么受到怀疑等于死刑？”，以及“警察为什么要这样行事，尤其是针对某些特定人群采取这样的行动？”

还需要注意的是，在几乎所有这些情况下，警察通常都不受指控而逃脱法网。
 
你看，这就是为什么出现BlackLivesMatter运动的原因。这个运动的开始并不是因为白人或亚裔或西班牙裔的生命无关紧要，而是因为从历史的角度来看黑人的生命在美国并不重要。毕竟，当黑人的生命不重要时，你不能说“所有生命都重要”。现在，让我们谈谈警察。在美国，警察经过训练可以使用武力。他们受过训练来射击而不是使局势恶化。多年来，不同种族和性别的人都会因警察的暴力而被杀。但是，由于在美国针对非裔美国人的种族主义历史，大多数此类情况发生在黑人身上。
 
最初的非洲人是在1500年代作为奴隶被带到美洲的，直到1865年（在美国内战之后）获得自由。也就是说在300多年中，他们被迫服务于白人 - 被殴打，出售和像动物一样对待。甚至在废除奴隶制之后，直到1960年代的民权运动之前，黑人仍然被隔离并被视为二等公民。这又是有100年之久，他们被告知自己比白人低下。所以这个历史总共加起来超过400年。现在是2020年-民权运动仅仅发生在60年前。因此，当你看到那些统计数字时，比如，有多少黑人贫困潦倒，有多少黑人生活在犯罪多发的社区，或者在美国监狱系统中有多少黑人.....请注意，是种族歧视的制度，使他们限于这种困境数百年之久。

当前，很多人为发生的财产遭到破坏和四处抢夺的行为而担心。我希望我能为所有的问题提供一个简单的解决方案，但我没有。但是，我要问的是，请了解“为什么美国人目前对警察的暴行的气愤压过对建筑物被破坏的气愤”。请记住：建筑物可以被替换，但是人的生命不能被替换。

在过去的三个月中，有40％的美国人失去工作不得不呆在家里，而且美国总统竟然在推特上威胁要向抗议者开枪。目前的情形是美国有史以来最糟糕的。
 

如果您有兴趣提供帮助，可以在以下链接中捐款。

英文原文：

Recently, an unarmed Black man named George Floyd was brutally murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was pinned to the ground after peacefully surrendering to the cop and suffocated to death as the officer, Derek Chauvin, had his knee on Floyd’s neck for over 8 minutes. The video of Floyd’s last words went viral. “I can’t breathe,” he said. 
 
He was pleading for his life. At one point, he mentions wanting his mother, who had passed away 2 years ago. Anyone who watches the video can see that all he wanted was air.
 
What happened was a grave injustice. Unfortunately, these types of incidents happen way too often in the United States. Let's talk about this and why it happens.
 
Instances of Black people (and especially Black men), being killed by the police in the US is quite common. Before George Floyd, there was Breonna Taylor, a 26 year old unarmed Black woman who was shot in her house by police officers 8 times after they entered her house (without announcing themselves) on a suspected drug search in March. There was Ahmaud Arbery, a 25 year old Black man who was going around his neighborhood on a run in February when two white men who thought he looked like a burglar who had been robbing houses in the area stopped and shot him. Arbery was, of course, innocent, and not the robber they were looking for - but the truth is that even if he was the culprit, that shouldn’t have mattered. No one should ever have the right to kill people on a “suspicion.”
 
There was Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old Black boy in Florida who was shot by a neighborhood watchman who thought he looked “suspicious” in 2012. There was Michael Brown, an 18 year old Black man who was shot 6 times by a white cop after being seen stealing a small box of cigarettes in 2014 (when does stealing a small box of cigarettes mean you have to be violently murdered before you’re even arrested?). There was Eric Garner, a 44 year old Black man who was put in a chokehold by officers after resisting arrest for illegally selling cigarettes on the street (again - why does such a small crime have to equal death)? There was Philando Castile, a 32 year old Black man who was stopped and shot 7 times by an officer while in his car with his wife and daughter.
 
Of course, these are only a few of countless instances where this has happened in US history. I mention them because I want you to ask, “why does committing a small crime equal a death sentence?”, “why does being under suspicion equal a death sentence?”, and “why do the police act this way, especially towards this specific group of people?” It is also important to note that in almost all of these cases - the police officers usually get away with no charges under their belt. 
 
You see, this is why there is the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The movement started not because white lives or Asian or Hispanic lives don’t matter, but because there is a history of Black lives not mattering in the United States. After all, you cannot say “all lives matter” when Black lives currently don’t.

 
Now, let’s talk about the police. In the US, the police are trained to use force. They are trained to shoot instead of de-escalating a situation. And throughout the years, you see so many instances of people of all races and genders getting killed because of police brutality. However, because of the history of racism against African-Americans in the USA, most of these instances happen to Black people.
 
The first Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves in the 1500s until they gained their freedom in 1865 (after the American Civil War). That is over 300 years of being forced to serve white people - of being beaten, sold, and treated like animals. And even after slavery was abolished, Black people were still segregated and treated as second-class citizens until the civil rights movement in the 1960s. That is 100 more years of being told that they were not equal to white people - 400+ years in total. And here we are  in 2020 - only 60 years after the civil rights movement. So when you think about the statistics of how many Black people are poor or live in crime-ridden neighborhoods, or how many Black people are in the US prison system, understand that there is a racist system  that has kept them that way for hundreds of years.
 
A lot of people are currently worried about the destruction of property and the looting going around - I wish I had a simple solution to all of this, but I don’t. However, all I ask is that you understand why Americans are currently more angry about police brutality than they are about buildings being destroyed. Remember: buildings can be replaced, but people cannot be. And with 40% of Americans currently unemployed and stuck at home for the past three months, and with the president of the United States threatening to shoot protestors on Twitter, the situation is the worst it’s ever been.
 
If you are interested in helping the situation, here are a few links where you can donate: 

The family of George Floyd:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

National Bail Fund: 

https://bailproject.org

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People):

https://www.naacpldf.org/about-us

Health services:

https://northstarhealth.wordpress.com/about-us/

二女儿璐璐：

在中国，大多数人口是中国人。在中国很少见到非亚裔人士，更少见到黑人。但是，我请求您，从内心深处看到，他们也和我们一样。

他们是小男孩和女孩的父母，他们是致力于拯救世界上那些生命垂危患者的医生，他们是艺术家，音乐制作人和运动员，以及更多的角色，就像我们一样。

这就是我们看到他们被警察袭击和谋杀而感到愤怒的原因。为什么他们的皮肤颜色如此激怒他们（警察）？不仅男人被杀，女人和孩子也被杀。

如果您看了新闻，那么您就会知道最近的抗议活动是由于乔治·弗洛伊德（George Floyd）的死而爆发的。但是，他的死只是冰山一角。这些新的抗议活动是由于警察对非裔美国人的野蛮行径累积多年而爆发的。请理解，他们不仅仅是生气，他们累了，他们为生命感到恐惧。他们担心自己的父母会受到伤害，他们担心自己再也见不到孩子了。

我们作为一个社区，选择来美国是为了寻找新的机会，为了我们的孩子以及为了我们的未来。但是，非洲裔美国人是被从其母国绑架，运到美国，然后被迫成为白人的奴隶。我们认为美国是“自由与机会之国”，但非裔美国人从一开始就知道那句话并不适合所有人，不适合他们。

作为华人，我们非常清楚美国也经常有针对我们的种族主义。最近的冠状病毒证明了这一点。我们被指责，被骚扰。与白人不同，我们知道由于外表而受到攻击是什么感觉。我知道，正因为如此，华人社区才时时变得更加保守和封闭，希望以此使自己免受他人的嘲笑。我们把自己和家人放在首位。我们不希望过多地参与他人的事务。

但是，不管您是否喜欢，这个想法正在改变。如果您是父母，您可能会发现您的孩子对这个事情越来越勇于发声。这是因为我们在美国这里长大，周围是形形色色的种族和人群。我们知道黑人是关怀和乐于助人的人，因为他们是我们的老师；我们知道黑人是善良的，因为他们是我们的朋友和同学；我们知道黑人很聪明，很鼓舞人心，因为其中一个人成为了我们的总统。在美国，我们在对黑人音乐和文化的倾听和热爱中长大：“说唱”不仅席卷了美国，而且这种音乐形式现在在全世界都可以看到。

这就是为什么我们拒绝让更多黑人的生命被不公正地夺走。也许，对于您这一代人来说，您可以转过头看着别处。如果在中国，您之所以能够做到这一点，是因为您住在离开这里的数千英里之外。但是对于我们，这些在美国出生和成长的一代人，我们将保护那些与我们一起出生和成长的人。

我们抗议的原因，不是因为我们憎恨警察；我们抗议的原因，是因为我们也爱黑人的生命。正是警察使这些黑人生命处于危险之中。通常，媒体会扭曲我们对他人的看法。Facebook，微信，抖音等媒介充斥着矛盾和争斗。我希望的是，您从媒体提供的内容中退后一步，并听听其他人的声音，而不仅仅是白人的声音，不仅仅是中国人的声音，听听黑人的声音。我向您保证，通过选择开放您的胸怀，您将了解为什么我们会如此努力地保护黑人社区。

谢谢您，请考虑一下我的话。

英文原文：

Hello.

In China, most of the population is comprised of chinese people. It’s rare to see a non-asian person in the country, even more rare to see someone who is black. But I ask that you, from the bottom of your hearts, see that they’re just like us too.

They are mothers and fathers to little boys and girls, they are doctors working to save the endangered lives of the world, they are artists and music producers and athletes and so so much more, just like us.

That’s why it angers us to see that they are being attacked and murdered by the police force. Why does the color of their skin anger them so much? It’s not only men being killed, it’s women and children, too.

If you have seen the news, the recent protests have erupted due to George Floyd’s death. However, his death is only the tip of the iceberg. These new protests have erupted due to years and years of police brutality against african-americans. Please understand that they are not just angry: they are tired, they are scared for their lives. They are scared that their parents will be hurt, they are afraid that they will never be able to see their children again.

We, as a community, chose to come to America for new opportunities, for our children, and for our future. However, African Americans were kidnapped from their home countries, shipped to the United States, and then forced to become slaves to the white man. We believed that America was a “land of freedom and opportunity,” but African Americans knew from the very beginning that that phrase wasn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for them.

As chinese people, we know all too well that America is oftentimes racist against us as well. The recent coronavirus proves this. We’ve been called names, harassed. Unlike white people, we know what it feels like to be attacked because of how we look. And I know that because of this, the chinese community is more reserved and gated, shielding itself from ridicule from others. We prioritize ourselves and our families. We don’t like to get too involved with the matters of others.

However, whether you like it or not, that idea is changing. If you are parents, you may see that your children are becoming more vocal about this matter. And it’s because that we’ve grown up here in America surrounded by races of all kind. We know that black people are caring and helpful, because they are our teachers. We know that black people are kind, because they are our friends and classmates. We know that black people are smart and inspiring, because one became our president. In America, we have grown up listening and loving black music and culture: “rap” has taken not only the U.S. by storm, but this form of music is now seen all over the world.

That’s why we refuse to have any more Black lives unrighteously taken away. Maybe, for your generation, you can turn your head and look away. In China, you were able to do this because you lived thousands of miles from here. But for us, the generation that was born and is being brought up in America, we are going to protect those who were born and raised alongside us.

We are not protesting because we hate the police, we are protesting because we love black lives.  It is the police that is putting those black lives in danger. Oftentimes, the media warps our perceptions of others. Apps like Facebook,, WeChat, Douyin (tiktok) and others thrive off of controversy and fighting. All I ask is that you take a step back from what the media feeds you and listen to the voices of others, not just white people, or chinese people. Listen to black voices. I promise you that by choosing to open your mind up, you’ll understand why we are working so hard to protect the black community. 

Thank you, and please consider my words. 

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