アメリカ民主主義さんの おぼえた日記 - 2020年7月4日(土)

＜BBCニュース　7月4日＞
Mount Rushmore: Trump denounces 'cancel culture' at 4 July event
ラッシュモア山　トランプ大統領　独立記念日のイベントで文化撤回を公然と非難

◎要約
トランプ大統領は独立記念日のスピーチで、人種差別反対運動で南軍の英雄の記念碑を引き倒す人々を厳しく非難した。人種平等を唱えるデモ参加者は、我々の歴史を清算し、英雄に汚名を着せ、我々の価値を消し去り、これを子供たちに教え込むと非難した。
保健省の警告にもかかわらず、このイベントではマスクもソーシャルディスタンスも取られなかった。
また、開催場所のラッシュモア山も批判の的となった。ここはアメリカの原住民ラコタ・スー族の聖地であったが、アメリカ政府が1800年代に取り上げたものだからだ。この日も反対派が道路を封鎖したが、警察や州兵が排除した。

US President Donald Trump has railed against the "cancel culture" of those who toppled monuments during recent anti-racism protests, in a speech to mark 4 July at Mount Rushmore.
He condemned those who targeted statues of Confederate leaders as "angry mobs".
Mr Trump called the racial equality demonstrations "a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children".
"We will not be silenced," he said.
The president, who has been heavily criticised for his handling of the US coronavirus pandemic, made little reference to the disease that has now claimed almost 130,000 American lives.
The US recorded its largest single-day rise in coronavirus infections on Friday, bringing the total to more than 2.5 million - the most of any country.

Masks and social distancing were not mandatory at the Mount Rushmore event, despite warnings by health officials.
The location, too, was controversial. Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four US presidents, two of whom - George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - were slave-owners. It also stands on land that was taken from the indigenous Lakota Sioux by the US government in the 1800s.

What else did Trump say?
Addressing Mount Rushmore itself, the president said the South Dakota landmark would "stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom".
"This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced," he told a cheering crowd.

The president added that people who target "symbols of national heritage" will face "the fullest extent of the law". He said those who defaced statues could be sentenced to 10 years in jail, referring to a recent executive order he signed on protecting monuments.
A fireworks display set to music was then held at the pre-Independence Day event, watched by about 7,500 ticket-holders.
The fireworks were the first at the site in over a decade, after a ban was imposed over fears they could set off wildfires in the dry brush around the monument.
Welcoming people to the event, South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem echoed the president's tone, accusing demonstrators of "trying to wipe away the lessons of history".
"This is being done deliberately to discredit America's founding principles," she said.
Friday's gathering was the latest to be held by President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic, as he attempts to fire up his supporters ahead of November's presidential election.

What have Native Americans said about the event?
Native American groups have criticised Mr Trump's visit for posing a health risk, and for celebrating US independence in an area that is sacred to them.
Many Native Americans do not celebrate Independence Day because they associate it with the colonisation of their tribal homelands and the loss of their cultural freedoms.
The Mount Rushmore landmark was carved between 1927 and 1941, but the land it lies on - in the Black Hills of South Dakota - was taken from the Lakota Sioux during the previous century.

"The president is putting our tribal members at risk to stage a photo op at one of our most sacred sites," said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Ahead of the event, a group of mostly Native American protesters blocked a main road to the monument with white vans, leading to a tense stand-off with police.
They were eventually cleared from the road by police officers and National Guard soldiers, who used smoke bombs and pepper spray, local reports say.
The vans were towed away and several protesters were arrested after the police declared the road block an "unlawful assembly", local newspaper the Argus Leader reported.

★語句
denounce　（公然と）非難する
railed against　激しく非難する
topple　（ぐらつかせて）倒す
indoctrinate　無批判に教え込む
desecrate　神聖を汚す
stand-off　にらみ合い

◎私見
大統領選挙まであと4か月。これまで互角と見られてきたが、ここに来て、世論調査ではトランプ氏の劣勢がめだつ。
昨年までの彼の戦略は、岩盤支持層に加えて、経済好調と失業率低下で恩恵を受けた有色人種の一部の支持を取り込み、激戦州で勝利し、再選を果たすというものだった。しかし、コロナウイルスが彼の戦略を狂わせた。そこで、量的緩和で株式市場を活性化し、選挙集会で経済再開をアピールしながら、民主党を批判する戦略を取った。
ところが、黒人男性のフロイド氏の暴行死に対する、彼の言動がまたもや恰好の批判の対象となった。デモを拡大・劇化させ、これまでのトランプ支持者の一部が離れる事態にもなっている。
彼は、これからも岩盤支持層を喜ばせることを言い続けなければならない、しかし、共和党が州知事の州を中心にコロナウイルスの感染者が再拡大し、彼の対策失敗がクローズアップされるだろう。
このまま11月を迎えると、トランプ氏と共和党は歴史的な敗退の可能性があるのではないか。この局面を大きく転換する奇策はないように思えるが、神風が吹かないとも限らない。