【美国日记】21.05.05 令人发指：白人奴隶主虐待男性智障黑奴！_风闻

这就是美国！

NBC: 法院裁定，一名智障黑人男子在南卡罗来纳州一家餐馆被奴役五年后，应获得超过500,000美元的赔偿。

白人的鲍比·保罗·爱德华兹（Bobby Paul Edwards）在2018年6月对一项强迫劳动罪名供认不韪，罪名是使用“暴力和其他强制手段”使约翰·克里斯托弗·史密斯（John Christopher Smith）每周在其餐厅无薪工作100多个小时。

Bobby Paul Edwards, who is white, pleaded guilty in June 2018 to one count of forced labor for using “violence and other coercive means” to make John Christopher Smith work at his restaurant for more than 100 hours a week without pay.

作为认罪的一部分，爱德华兹被判处10年监禁，并被判向史密斯支付272,952.96美元的赔偿。但是，法院上月裁定，赔偿金额应增加一倍，史密斯应收到超过545,000美元。

这种虐待始于2009年，当时爱德华兹（Edwards）是默特尔比奇（Myrtle Beach）西北约15英里处康威（Conway）的J＆J Cafeteria餐厅经理。

美国司法部说，只要史密斯没有足够快地工作或犯了一个错误，爱德华兹就会使史密斯遭受“身体和情感上的虐待”。当局说，爱德华兹会打史密斯，用皮带打他，用锅碗瓢盆打他。司法部说，有一次爱德华兹把金属钳浸入热油脂中，烫伤了史密斯的脖子。

The U.S. Department of Justice said that Edwards subjected Smith to “physical and emotional abuse” whenever Smith did not work fast enough or made a mistake. Authorities said Edwards would punch Smith, beat him with a belt and hit him with pots and pans. On one occasion Edwards dipped metal tongs into hot grease and burned Smith’s neck, the Justice Department said.

该机构说，爱德华兹还利用种族歧视来贬低他。

在相关居民于2014年与当局联系后，史密斯被从餐馆中移走，并受到该州的成人保护服务的照料。

根据NBC附属机构默特尔比奇的WMBF，史密斯的智力水平大大低于平均水平。

次年，他起诉爱德华兹（Edwards），强生餐厅（J＆J Cafeteria）和这家餐厅的共同所有人，指控其奴役，错误监禁以及种族和残障歧视。根据诉讼，爱德华兹和他的兄弟拥有这家餐厅。

史密斯在诉讼中说，他被迫从早上6点开始工作，直到餐厅关闭和打扫干净为止。有时他要等到凌晨1点30分才离开。

该诉讼称，有时候史密斯太累了，以至于他“必须被带回家并灌食水和食物”。爱德华兹告诉史密斯，他正在将补偿金存入银行帐户，但该帐户不存在。

史密斯在诉讼中说，殴打和身体虐待会在后台办公室或冰库中进行。

他没有举报虐待行为，因为他担心自己的生命。根据诉讼，爱德华兹威胁要重踏在他脖子上，如果史密斯报警就会殴打他"直到人们认不出他来"。

在他被奴役的那些年里，史密斯被迫住在爱德华兹拥有的公寓里。该诉讼称，该公寓满是蟑螂，生活条件“悲惨及对人体健康有害”。

There were times Smith was so tired that he “had to be carried home and physically fed drink and food,” the lawsuit states. Edwards told Smith that he was putting his compensation into a bank account but it did not exist.

The beatings and physical abuse would take place in a back office or freezer, Smith said in the suit.

He did not report the abuse because he feared for his life. According to the lawsuit, Edwards threatened to stomp on Smith’s neck if he went to the police and beat him “until people would not recognize him.”

During the years he was enslaved, Smith was forced to live at an apartment that Edwards owned. The suit states that the apartment was overrun with cockroaches and the living conditions were “deplorable and harmful to human health.”