President Obama says the United States needs to do some soul-searching a week after the acquittal of George Zimmerman who shot dead an unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Jurors decided he was acting in self-defence. The case has led to a nationwide discussion about race and self-defence laws in the US. At a news conference, Mr Obama said he himself could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago and there were good reasons why there was a lot of pain in the black community.
涉嫌杀死毫无反抗能力黑人少年马丁的乔治·齐默尔曼被判无罪一周之后,奥巴马总统称美国需要对此进行反思。审判团断定他是出于正当防卫,这起案件引发了全国关于种族和法律的热议。奥巴马在新闻发布会上声称自己在35年前也有可能像马丁一样,所以说黑人群体还存在着很多痛苦是完全合理的。
"I think it's important to recognise that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and history that doesn't go away.”
“我认为重要的是我们要意识到非裔美国社区能够通过众多经历和永不退色的历史来审视这个问题。”
Mr Obama also said it raised questions about racial profiling.
奥巴马称这引发关于种族定型的问题。
"If a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.”