九百万人上街：美国怎么了？

On March twenty-eighth, America may have seen its biggest protest ever.

About nine million people took to the streets.

There were more than three thousand protest locations across the country.

This number is really shocking.

This event is called No Kings, which means no king.

This was already the third time.

The first time was last June, about five million people.

The second time was last October, about seven million people.

This time is the most, nine million.

Every time there are more people than the last.

What does this trend tell us?

It tells us more and more Americans are feeling dissatisfied.

And this dissatisfaction is getting stronger and stronger.

It's not growing slowly, it's getting faster and faster.

From five million to seven million to nine million.

The growth shows no signs of stopping.

What are they protesting about?

The most direct reason is immigration enforcement.

The American immigration bureau has been arresting people on a large scale recently.

And during enforcement, people have died.

Three people's names are remembered by everyone.

Renee Good, Keith Porter, and Alex Pretti.

They died while being arrested by enforcement officers.

This made many people extremely angry.

They feel this went way too far.

Whether those people were illegal immigrants or not.

They still shouldn't be treated with violence.

And they definitely shouldn't die.

Another reason is the government shutdown.

The American federal government has been shut down for several weeks.

What does shutdown mean?

Simply put, the government doesn't have money to operate.

Many government workers can't get their wages.

Like the security workers at airports.

They're called TSA.

They haven't been paid for several weeks.

But they still have to go to work every day.

Think about it.

You wake up every morning.

Take a bus to the airport.

Work for eight hours.

Check luggage, check passengers.

Then go home.

But your bank card hasn't received a single cent.

This has been going on for several weeks.

If it were you, could you accept it?

This makes many people feel it's extremely unfair.

There is also a deeper reason.

Many people feel the president acts more and more like a king.

He doesn't really listen to Congress's opinions.

Congress is those politicians who represent the people.

He doesn't really respect court rulings.

Court rulings should be the final decision.

But the president sometimes ignores them.

He uses executive orders to do many things.

Executive orders are rules the president makes by himself.

Without needing anyone else to agree.

Many people feel this is not right.

The president's power should have limits.

So the protest is called No Kings.

What it means is.

America doesn't need someone who decides everything alone.

The president should discuss with everyone.

Listen to different voices.

Instead of one person making all the decisions.

There is an interesting detail.

About two-thirds of these protests were in small cities and small towns.

It's not just big city people protesting.

Places that don't usually care much about politics.

Places that maybe used to support the president.

This time people came out too.

This shows the dissatisfaction has become very widespread.

Not just New York and Los Angeles.

Small towns in the Midwest also have unhappy people.

Communities in the South also had people come out.

This change is very important.

When protests spread from big cities to small places.

It shows the problem is no longer just a party issue.

Many ordinary people are feeling it too.

In Los Angeles, highway entrances were closed early.

Because there were just too many people.

The roads were full of people, cars couldn't drive at all.

These protests were all peaceful.

People walked, held signs, shouted slogans.

No violence.

Organizers kept emphasizing to be peaceful.

No matter how angry, you can't use violence.

The group organizing this event is called Indivisible.

They've been organizing since Trump's second term started.

Nine million people took to the streets together.

What does this number mean?

It means about one out of every thirty-six Americans.

Came out to protest.

One in thirty-six people.

This ratio is quite high.

No matter how you look at this.

No matter if you agree with them or disagree with them.

This many people expressing the same idea at the same time.

In any country this is a very big deal.

The whole world is watching.

Many countries' news are reporting on this.

Because America is one of the biggest countries in the world.

What happens in America affects many places.

People in other countries are also thinking.

What does nine million people in the streets mean?

Does America have a very big problem?

Some people support the protesters.

Others don't support them.

But everyone agrees on one thing.

This is a very big deal.

There have never been this many people coming out together before.

This shows American society now has a very big divide.

A divide means people have different ideas.

Some people support the president.

Some people oppose the president.

Both sides think they are right.

When will this situation be resolved?

To be honest, nobody knows.

But one thing is certain.

When this many people come out to speak.

The people in charge can't pretend nothing happened.

These voices will eventually need to be answered.

One more interesting thing to mention.

Someone did a calculation.

Nine million people.

If you line them up in a row.

They could go from New York to Los Angeles.

And from Los Angeles back to New York.

And there would still be people left over.

That's the power of nine million people.

No matter which side you're on.

This number itself is worth thinking about.