In a survey last year 29% of Americans supported the idea that the government
在去年的一次调查中，29%的美国人支持政府
should make cash payments to black Americans who were descendants of slaves—twice the share that agreed in the early 2000s.
应该向身为奴隶后裔的美国黑人支付现金——这一比例是本世纪初的两倍。
As protests have rocked America in recent weeks, the idea of reparations to atone for the atrocity of slavery,
近几周的抗议活动撼动了美国，用赔款抵偿奴隶制的暴行
as well as to reduce the persistent gaps in income and wealth between people of different skin colours, has gained further prominence.
并减少不同肤色人群之间持续存在的收入和财富差距的这种想法更加显著。
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has said he wants to explore it.
有望成为民主党总统候选人的乔·拜登曾表示，他希望探索这一问题。
On June 11th California's state lawmakers passed a bill that establishes a task-force to study and propose recommendations for reparations.
6月11日，加利福尼亚州的立法者通过了一项法案，建立一支特别小组，对赔偿进行研究，并提出建议。
The chances of the federal government implementing such a policy seem remote. But how would such a scheme work?
联邦政府执行这项政策的机会似乎渺茫。但这样的计划如何运作呢？
As "From Here to Equality", a new book written by William Darity, a scholar on reparations at Duke University, and A. Kirsten Mullen,
杜克大学研究赔款的学者William Darity以及A. Kirsten Mullen写的一本新书《From Here to Equality》表明
shows, the practicalities tend to take a back seat to philosophical arguments over whether reparations are needed in the first place.
针对是否需要赔偿的问题，实践性往往让位于哲学论证。