乔治·弗洛伊德之死：为什么抗议会演变成暴力？（PART-1）

George Floyd death: Why do some protests turn violent?

By Helier Cheung

BBC News, Washington DC

Curfews have been imposed in multiple cities in the US, after unrest and protests have spread across the country over the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody.

Curfews： /ˈkɜːfjuː/  宵禁   imposed in：强加在···impose 有强加，征税等意思   Custody：/ˈkʌstədi/ 拘留

spread across：扩散

Most of the protests began peacefully - and several stayed peaceful. But in a large number of cases, demonstrators clashed with police, set police cars on fire, vandalised property or looted shops. The National Guard has been activated 5,000 of its personnel across 15 states and Washington DC.

demonstrators ：游行示威者   clashed with：与··冲突  set···on fire 点火   Vandalise：/'vændəlaiz/ 破坏

Loot：V抢劫，洗劫 N 战利品  Personnel：全体人员；人事部门

Experts have also drawn parallels with the 2011 England riots - when a peaceful protest over a man who was shot dead by police turned into four days of riots, with widespread looting and buildings set alight.

Incidents like Mr Floyd's death can "become a trigger moment because it symbolises a broader experience, amongst much larger numbers of people, about the relationship between police and the black community", says Prof Clifford Stott, an expert in crowd behaviour and public order policing at Keele University.

drawn parallels with：横向对比，与··比较  Riots：暴动，骚乱   widespread looting：大范围打砸抢

 set alight：点火 上文中使用的是 set···on fire

 a trigger moment： trigger手枪的扳机，动词 触发；moment是时刻的意思 这里指黑人弗洛伊德的死就像是撬动扳机的时候，会带来一系列问题。可以翻译为‘引爆点’

crowd behaviour：群体行为   public order policing：公众秩序监管

Confrontations are particularly likely when there are structural inequalities, he adds.

Confrontation /ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃn/  ~ (with sb)~ (between A and B) 

a situation in which there is an angry disagreement between people or groups who have different opinions 对抗；对峙；冲突

structural inequalities：结构性不平等 社会学范畴的学术名词 （注释1）

指的是“那些看上去中立、不关注个人的制度性不作为、已经确立的结构和社会政治规范”，这些政治规范尽管看上去是理性的，但综合考虑却“制造和强化了种族隔离和不平等”。 参考：http://www.aisixiang.com/data/79180-3.html

Prof Stott studied the 2011 England riots extensively, and found that the riots there spread because protesters in different cities identified with each other - either because of their ethnicity, or because they shared a dislike of the police.

This meant that, when the police appeared to be overwhelmed, rioters in different districts felt empowered to mobilise.

Overwhelmed /,əʊvə'welmd/ V-T If a group of people overwhelm a place or another group, they gain complete control or victory over them. 彻底制服; 击败

Empower:  to give sb the power or authority to do sth 授权；给（某人）…的权力

Mobilise: to work together in order to achieve a particular aim; to organize a group of people to do this 组织；鼓动；动员

Violent protests are less likely when police have a good relationship with the local community - but how they react to demonstrations on the day also matters, experts say.

"Riots are a product of interactions - largely to do with the nature of the way police treats crowds," says Prof Stott.

Riots are a product of interactions: 暴乱产生于互动--很大部分取决于警察对待民众的态度

For example, he says, in a large crowd of protesters, tensions may begin with just a few people confronting the police.

Confronting：confront-confrontation 对抗    Tensions：紧张局面

However, "police often react towards the crowd as a whole" - and if people feel that the police use of force against them is unjustified, this increases their "us versus them" mentality.

as a whole：当成整体    "us versus them" mentality ：二元对立的敌我心态

This "can change the way people feel about violence and confrontation - for example, they may start feeling that violence is legitimate given the circumstances."

violence is legitimate given the circumstances：特定场合暴力合法化

Legitimate： /lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət/

1，for which there is a fair and acceptable reason 正当合理的；合情合理的

a legitimate grievance 合乎情理的抱怨,

2，allowed and acceptable according to the law 合法的；法律认可的；法定的

the legitimate government of the country 这个国家的合法政府

Darnell Hunt, dean of social sciences at UCLA, believes police in the US "ramped up their aggressiveness" over the weekend.

dean：A dean is an important official at a university or college. (大学的) 学院院长; 系主任

Rampe up ：to increase or cause to increase     ramped up their aggressiveness ：暴力升级

"Deploying the national guard, using rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray - these are a range of police tactics that can exacerbate an already-tense situation."

Deploy： /dɪˈplɔɪ/  To deploy troops or military resources means to organize or position them so that they are ready to be used. 部署

rubber bullets：橡胶子弹   tear gas：催泪弹    pepper spray：喷洒胡椒粉

tactic /ˈtæktɪk/： the particular method you use to achieve sth 针对性策略；手段；招数

exacerbate /ɪɡˈzæsəbeɪt/：to make sth worse, especially a disease or problem 使恶化；使加剧；使加重

Experts highlight a series of police tactics that were seen as heavy-handed - including the firing of large amounts of tear gas at young protesters - as moves that galvanised protesters and made them more confrontational.

Galvanised  galvanise-galvanlize/ˈɡælvənaɪz

~ sb (into sth/into doing sth) to make sb take action by shocking them or by making them excited 使震惊；使振奋；激励；刺激

The urgency of his voice galvanized them into action . 他急迫的声音激励他们行动起来。

( technical 术语 ) to cover metal with zinc in order to protect it from rust 电镀；给（金属）镀锌