(前言：所有“老美看美国”系列文章，都是老美罗杰对美国社会有自己的观点，不代表译者观点，译者只是忠实翻译，以飨读者）

老美看美国： 一个人的生命价值

------死刑，种族不平等，司法

作者/老美罗杰， 翻译/ 丹奇

我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等。这是由其造物主赋予的不可剥夺的权利，这其中就有生命、 自由和追求幸福的权利。

我想有些人只是“比其他人更平等”

我相信大多数读者会衡量他们亲人的生命是无价的、 不可替代。但是，我们如何衡量那些我们不认识的人的生命呢？我们如何衡量罪犯的生命？或者那些被罪犯杀害的生命？

统计是数学的世俗应用，但某些统计数字可以揭示一个社会如何衡量汽车、 房子、 股票和一个人的生命等的价值。

虽然这是一篇很浅的研究，但我希望这篇文章能激起你的兴趣去追问为什么以下统计信息会是这样，并让你思考我们的社会，司法和种族问题。

自从1976 年美国重新恢复死刑以来，有 1325名囚犯被执行死刑。这些被执行死刑的囚犯里有453 名黑人和 746 名白人，其余部分是西裔 (102) 或其他族裔 (24)。令人感兴趣的是黑人占死刑犯里的35%, 虽然他们只是人口总数的约12%

更有趣的是,  257宗黑人被执行死刑的案子里黑人是被告，白人是受害者，而白人被告和黑人受害者的案件仅19例。显而易见，如果你是白人，杀了一名黑人，执行死刑的可能性是非常小的— — 平均每 2 年仅 一例。但是，如果你是一个黑人，杀死一个白人，执行死刑的可能性却呈指数级增长。自 1976年以来，我们平均每年有七起死刑 ！这就是 百分之一千四百的差别 ！

当你研究黑人杀死黑人的情况时，你会发现，这个数字跟白人对白人的犯罪几乎是相等的。

这里的问题是黑人被执行死刑的比例要大大高出正常执法所应该有的数字。统计数据证明了司法制度的不平等和种族主义。我们似乎每个人都认识到这些数字所代表的意义，却无动于衷。

我们的司法制度和那些在我们刑法制度中的惩治方式是大幅度地和有系统地针对那些有色人种 — — 主要是美国黑人的。我们的司法制度，通过统计，说出了"白人的生命“比"黑人的生命"更有价值的事实。否则，统计数字应该是接近或者应该是平等的 — — 如果司法夫人确实"蒙着眼睛"高举司法的天平。

无论你的政治理念如何，如果我们确实意识到我们所有人都生而平等，那么，在给予最严重的司法形式 — — 剥夺其生命、 自由和追求幸福时，我们必须认识到并改变这种总体的不平等司法。 否则，在寻求司法公正和平等的人耳朵里这些词语和他们的含义都是空洞的 。

当你看到不平等，就采取行动。站在历史正确方。不要辜负那220多年前写下的"人人生而平等"词语— — 而且，如果他们必须受到惩罚那么惩罚应该一律平等。

"在82%的研究中，发现受害者的种族是更多可能会被判一级谋杀或被判死刑的原因。即，那些杀害白人的黑人比杀害黑人的黑人更可能被判处死刑"。

资料来源：

- United States General Accounting Office, Death Penalty Sentencing, February 1990

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/race-death-row-inmates-executed-1976

英文原稿：

THE VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE

THE DEATH PENALTY, RACIAL INEQUALITY & JUSTICE

By John Milton

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I guess some people are just “more equal than others”.

I’m sure most readers would value the lives of their loved ones as priceless, irreplaceable. But, how do we value the lives of those we don’t know? How do we value the lives of criminals? Or the lives of those a criminal has killed?

Statistics is a mundane exercise of mathematics but what some statistics reveal is how we as a society value things such as cars, houses, stocks, and a life.

Although this is a light study I hope this article piques your interest as to why the following statistics are what they are and make you think about our society and justice and racial perceptions.

Since 1976 when the death penalty was re-instituted in the U.S. there have been 1325 inmated executed. Of those executed 453 were black and 746 were white, the remainder were hispanic (102 ) and other or mixed race ( 24 ). What’s interesting here is that blacks makes up 35% of the total executed while they are only about 12% of the population.

What’s more interesting is that 257 of the cases of a black being executed involved a black defendant and a white victim and where there is a white defendant and a black victim there are only 19 cases.  It’s very clear statistically that if you’re white person  and kill a black person the likelihood of being executed is very small – averaging only 1 executiion every 2 years. However, if you’re a black person and kill a white person the likelihood of being executed increases exponentially. Since 1976 we average  7 executions a year! That’s a 1400% difference !

When you study the incidence of a black person being executed for killing a black person then the numbers look more like white on white crime.

The problem here is that blacks are executed at a statistically significant higher number than would otherwise be normal if justice was truly being carried out. The statistics bear out the inequality and racism inherent in our judicial system everybody seems to recognize these numbers but yet we still do nothing about it.

Our judicial system and the manner in which we punish those in our penal system is drastically and systematically against those of color – predominantly black americans. Our judicial system, via the statistics, says a “white life” is more valuable than a “black life”. If it weren’t so then the statistics would be much closer and should be equal – if lady justice was indeed “blind” holding the scales of justice.

Regardless of your political ideology if we are to truly realize the words of our Constitution that all men are created equal then we must recognize and change this gross inequality in handing out the most severe form of justice – depriving someone of their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Until we can do this those words and their meaning will ring hollow in the ears of those seeking true justice and equality in how we disperse justice in our judicial system.

Take action when you see inequality. Be on the right side of history. Live up to those words so eloquently written over 220 years ago “that all men are created equal” – and if they must be punished then the punishment should be equal as well.

"In 82% of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."
- United States General Accounting Office, Death Penalty Sentencing, February 1990

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/race-death-row-inmates-executed-1976