分类目录归档:文章

19岁华裔青年Christian Hall 无辜被杀

 编者按:

来自网络,请大家帮忙转贴,一定要为无辜击毙的19岁华裔青年Christian Hall申冤签下面的请愿书

https://act.bencrump.com/a/christian-hall

这发生在去年十二月,居然没有人抗议?宾州警察太荒唐了!我一直觉得如果我们不站出来对包括我们在内的有色人种大声疾呼,我们的孩子终有一天会像那样

19岁的克里斯蒂娜·霍尔(Christian Hall)之死需要公义审判,12/30/2020 他经历了精神健康危机,有人打电话给宾州警察要求提供帮助。警察不但没有帮忙还连射数枪打死了举着手的克里斯蒂安(Christian)。这不应该是警察处理心理健康危机的方法!

在先前的公开声明中,警察认为没有目击者看到杀害,所以警察就公开撒谎说克里斯蒂安(Christian)手里拿着枪。后来,有目击者在远方车上秘密地拍摄了一段录像带,证明了一名手无寸铁双臂高举的中国人在高速公路大桥上的几张照片。

陈志波(Chen Zhi Bo)于2001年10月31日出生于中国上海。他于2002年10月23日正式成为克里斯蒂安·约瑟夫·霍尔(Christian Joseph Hall),他是Gareth和Fe Hall的挚爱儿子。

https://mobile.twitter.com/attorneycrump/status/1356784689491623936?s=21

陈建生案昭雪!华人从中可以学到很多

作者:志愿者 原载:陌上美国 (微信公众号)

700多天过去了。

亲戚或余悲,他人亦已歌。

今天,震动华人社区的陈建生案,总算获得了一个公正的判决。

2017年1月26日,弗吉尼亚州的切萨皮克市,刚过60岁生日不久的福建籍华人老伯陈建生,在自家小区被射杀!

NBC News

起因是,为了拉近跟孙辈的距离,陈建生玩起了那几年大火的手机游戏——基于GPS移动定位的宠物小精灵。那日夜里,陈老伯按照游戏引导,开车到家1英里远的小区活动室附近,“抓宠物精灵”。驱车回家时,被自家小区保安拦截,连中数枪,当场去世!

NBC新闻及当地媒体报道了案情及今天的判决。

23岁的小区保安Johnathan Cromwell,于2017年1月26日被以一级谋杀罪起诉。经过长达两年的等待,包括多次延期开庭,今天凶手Johnathan Cromwell终于被当地法庭判二级谋杀及滥用枪支武器。

来自NBC News

如果Cromwell及所属保安公司”全市保护服务(Citywide Protection Services)”不提出上述,法官将于下周一做出量刑宣判。根据检方联邦律师南希·帕尔(Nancy Parr)的说法,Cromwell最多可能获得40年的监禁。

2年多前,当地华人组织首先就陈案发起了维权行动。全国华人则通过微信,与当地取得联系。由于案件的特殊性,此案很快从地方性热点,扩展成全国华人关注的焦点。

案发两周之内,微信上就建起了4个陈案维权大群。华人志愿者发起了网络请愿,当地华人也快速组织了与州及国会议员见面交谈的努力。

维权的紧张日日夜夜,笔者目睹了整个陈案维权过程并参与其中。危难发生后,谁大公无私甘当人梯,谁借着社区不幸突出自我,人性百态一目了然。

此案本身,给人的启迪也是多角度的。

首先,再多的语言也无法表述逝者家庭所承受的伤痛。

福建籍陈建生老伯,早年独自来美打拼。经过了几十年摸爬滚打,从餐馆打工到后来有能力自己开餐馆,个中凄苦自知。到了晚年,才终于安顿好家庭可以有时间享点清福。

孰料,竟然会在自家小区——一个以治安好出名的高档住宅区,被小区雇佣的保安给枪杀殒命!

并不是每一个奋斗的人生都能得到善终,人间悲剧。叹!

当地华人组织纪念陈建生老伯

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Jiansheng_Chen

其次,我们看到美国法律还是相对公正的。正义获得伸张,凶手罪有应得。

此案发生当地华人很少,陪审团12人中,除了一名非裔,其他都是白人。根据到庭审现场的华人朋友的反馈,最后几天审理,从陪审团表情观察,推测陪审团意见并不一致。当时现场的朋友还有担忧最后判决可能不利于陈伯。

今天结果出来,总算松了一口气。

试想,如果美国还是曾经种族隔离、歧视语言常态的社会环境,这种几乎一边倒白人的陪审团,华人可能有沉冤昭雪的机会吗?这也说明,多年的教育、宣传和法制约束,还是让平等平权的思想根深蒂固地植入了绝大多数美国国民的思维里。

再则,歧视、仇恨仍然存在,任何家庭都可能遭受飞来横祸。

虽然从法理上要证明此案涉及种族因素有难度,但是,明眼人都不难看到,因为华人身份加上语言不够流利,导致陈老伯成了任人宰割的羔羊。此前该保安就有几次在小区刻意刁难陈老伯,终酿成悲剧!

另一方面的隐形歧视就是,该案虽然涉及白人保安杀人,自家小区被害,老人出于亲情娱乐却导致殒命这些一个个的大新闻元素,却并没有得到媒体的广泛关注和报道。原因恐怕只有一个,那就是死者是华人,这个政治实力薄弱的“哑裔中的哑裔”群体。

这说明,华人在美国地位向上突破,成为一支备受社会关注的人群和力量,还有漫漫长路要走。

还有,很重要的一点,此案让人看到了微信华人,尤其陈老伯所属的福建老乡,社区凝聚的力量和重要性。

今天的正义,从开始并非理所当然地清晰。此案发生后,最早凶手并没有被立刻拘捕,媒体的关注度也几乎没有。是华人的关注和齐心协力的参与,起到了扭转局势和举足轻重的作用。

除了大小多次的现场集会纪念、法庭前文明抗议、组织约见议员等政要,华人还自发发动网上签名请愿,写信给当地警察局和检方,请求严查案情。此案检方提供的联邦律师Nancy Parr,是个志愿者们熟悉的名字。笔者邮箱里还躺着当年与她就此案的邮件联系。而像笔者这样写过邮件、打过电话的华人,数以百计。

回首看,当地警方检方确实兑现了“彻底的刑事调查”的承诺。

整个维权过程事务繁重,也让人看到了福建同乡会的实力。他们每次都能快速地拉出几十上百人,或参加举牌抗议,或是穿戴正式地出庭给陈老伯家人精神支持。包括后来的葬礼,让人易发惊叹整个福建人在全国的动员力和联系力度。

谢天谢地,在到处充满各种内斗的华人社区,毕竟还有没有被恶习沾染的保留地,还有许多亲情友情在填补着决裂的大缝隙。

最关心此案的仍然是华人,对于我们这个在美国人口不足2%的社区来说,任何分裂是华人不可承受之重。

最后,笔者再补充一点个人的感受。当时建陈案维权群的时候,恰逢2016年大选过去不足3月,华人社区因为挺川反川撕裂最严重的阶段。

笔者本在大选后清空了微信朋友圈所有政见不同的熟人朋友,为了建维权群,又硬着头皮把一个个政见不同的人加微信拉进去。当时要还按立场站队,真是没多少人能帮忙了……那次维权中还见识了不少华人枪支器械玩家的专业分析。有些就一直保留在朋友圈,成为抬头不见低头见的网友了。

如果没有左中右放下政见分歧,以案情维权为先,是不可能有最开始的快速推动。

华人社区的行动是成百上千志愿者的点滴付出才得以成功的,任何一件事最后归功于少数个人都是对其他参与者的不公平。但是,笔者还是要实名深深感谢这几位默默无闻奉献的人,他们在主流和中文媒体上的曝光度与他们做的贡献比,都远远不够。

当地的华人热心人,从案发开始就一直陪伴陈建生一家左右、个人时间投入最多、也第一时间慷慨给陈家送去大额捐款的,胡进先生。

在当地忙前忙后,协调左中右不同声音的张大水教授,还有Shen Yuzhong教授。

整个案情发展过程漫长,很多早期关注者比如笔者到后来花的时间就很少了。但是当地中文学校校长,陈念红却是始终如一坚持做跟踪报道和各种后续工作。

没有这种实干精神,华人社区更加四分五裂。

陈伯走了,而此案唯一稍微安慰人心的,是留下了一个不乏可圈可点之处的华人维权范例。愿更多华人从中获得启迪,为我们实力仍就孱弱的社区,做更多添砖加瓦、功在长远的义事。

参考:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/security-guard-convicted-killing-pokemon-go-playing-grandfather-n978351

没有勤奋与贡献,无以谈政治正确

费城/抱香书生

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没有勤奋与贡献,无以谈政治正确

中国有句老话:富不过三。说的是第一代辛苦打拼创造财富,第二代至少还见证了父母辈的创业辛苦,懂得珍惜。到了第三代则对于财富来自勤奋毫无概念,往往在游手好闲纨绔人生中让祖辈辛苦积累的财富悄悄溜走。

美国的繁荣,不仅仅因为有深具远见的建国精神与进步的价值观,不仅仅因为有更文明进步的政治体制管理结构,也因为人民的勤奋与努力。远的不说了,经历过经济大萧条时代的美国人靠着坚强与勤奋挺了过去。肯尼迪总统的“不要问国家能给你什么,问一问你能给国家什么”凝聚激励了整整一代美国青年。做为新一代移民,我们很多人为了追求更好的未来漂洋过海,从零开始发奋学习,努力工作,终于用自己的勤奋与贡献,自豪地被这个伟大国家接纳认可。我们知道,美好未来始于勤奋与贡献。

但是今天,面临自身发展的瓶颈,面临全球化的竞争与挑战,美国人民将以什么心态与做为面对美国的明天?
美国人民有没有看到美国持续美好的根本动力所在?美国人民,包括年轻人,下一代有没有感觉到责任与压力,有没有勇气继承勤劳的精神,用贡献创造未来?

这个问题不分族裔背景。白人,非裔,亚裔。做为一个国家,应该在保障弱势群体基本权利权益与尊严的基础上明确地奖勤罚懒!习惯了向社会向政府(其实就是向辛勤劳动守法交税的纳税人)要福利与照顾的人不应该得到鼓励。有能力有条件却不愿意合法劳动为国家做贡献的人需要得到警告!不遵纪守法危害社会的人需要得到惩罚!天下没有免费的午餐。所有的福利都来自每一位勤奋努力的纳税人。期望分享福利而不愿做出自己努力的人,尤其是不珍惜因为他人辛苦努力创造财富而提供的社会各种福利包括合法发声的权利,必须意识到,大家同坐一艘船,而且是在与很多国家竞争的公海上。如果没有足够多的人努力,不仅仅会落后,还可能 沉没。承受后果的也必然是所有人,尤其是没有一技之长又不愿意努力的人。

八年前人们满怀期待地要求改变。今天,我们更期待改变。不过这个改变,是回归传统的,也是普世的精神与价值观:勤奋与贡献!不愿为此付出的,无以谈“政治正确”。

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梦里依稀身是客,原来参与是主人



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费城/抱香书生

梦里依稀身是客,原来参与是主人
— 八年前的“改变”与今天的“改变”

八年前,我坚定地投票给奥巴马,抱着一个强烈的“改变”的信念。美国诞生了历史上第一个少数族裔总统,同时收敛了咄咄逼人的强硬外交路线。

今天,我重又有了要求“改变”的激情,不仅会参与最后的大选投票,而且头一次参加了初选投票。然而今年,我渴求改变的冲动,不仅仅是关乎国家的正义,经济,安全与未来,更想改变的是华人的利益与未来。比之八年前,我更清醒地意识到我的一票,不仅仅是一个美国公民的态度,选择与呼声,更是一个少数民族,一个亚裔,一个华裔的态度,选择与呼声。也许或者即使,我的一票对谁最后当选的影响微不足道,但这是最有效展示华人对美国政治和政策对华人权益的影响的关心与维护的一种和平手段。我希望我的投票发出一种声音,做为美国华人,我希望看到的改变符合或维护包括华裔在内的美国人民和国家利益。

今年,我还希望看到另一种改变,就是来自华人自身的改变。华人权益,需要华人集体的声音和力量去争取去维护。寄托于一个完美的政策制度尤其还总能照顾到少数公民权益,在任何国家都是不现实的。然而有幸的是,这个国家毕竟提供了公民合法争取公平公正的各种渠道,其中最重要的就是投票权和参与权。八年前的我,虽然已然是公民,虽然也在大选中投票参与要求改变,但在参与社会的心理层面上依然是“梦里依稀身是客”。而今年,我希望改变。我们是这个国家的主人之一,而最能反映这种主人翁心态与身份的,就是更多地参与社会互动,社区建设,政治与决策的行动。学校活动与学区政策我们参与了没有?市镇财政预算与支出我们了解并同意吗?在各级政治结构和行政机构的选举中,谁更能代表我们利益与价值观?我们对本地以及更高级地方或国家政策与事物,尤其是涉及或影响到华人的,有没有通过正常合法渠道反映个人或集体的声音,或者采取个人或集体合法的行动?

通过自己的勤恳努力,在赢得属于我们的美好未来的同时为这个国家的未来做贡献,我们不是客人。选举国家总统,我们不是客人。参与社区与国家政治建设,我们也不应该是客人。也许当我们放弃自己人中间的抱怨,用声音,用身影,用参与,用对社区建设的贡献,用自己平等的政治权利参与各个角落各个级别的讨论与决策,用自己的投票权去影响政治人物时,我们的心态就会幡然变为“原来参与是主人”。

这是我在八年之后再投票的感慨与期许:改变,也从自己开始。做一个主人该做的事。

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Minority Students at Grade Schools

Today during casual conversations my 9 year old son and his best friend told me this event. Two weeks ago another friend (white, let’s call him Fred) made a rap song and shared with those boys in his  small circle (2 out of 5 are minorities but no blacks). The song went like this: “black people suck, they suck less than a buck, they suck, suck, suck….” The rap shocked those boys and they scolded Fred for racism and made him stop. This incident touched a sensitive nerve of mine, so that I probed my son and his friend for more intelligence. I know Fred pretty well. He is nice to his friends and respectful to adults. Fred has some anger issues so that he took out from certain kids including his younger brother. In the same week the only black boy at 3rd grade was suspended for two weeks as a result of repeated kicking of another  boy on his private part. Therefore Fred made the rap to bash the blacks in general. Apparently he made himself a fool and received scolding from his friends.

I immediately thought of the Peter Liang case. The black boy made a mistake and had been penalized with suspension. He should not be further penalized by receiving the outrageous rap. The black boy was spared from undue penalty by his friends which were properly taught by the school system. The difference in Liang’s case is he was not as lucky due to a corrupt system, the NYC government. The different treatments the black boy and Liang received amplify the importance of good systems. Bad systems make much harder to prevent damages to the societies and the people in them. Many schools are good but not flawless and people are not perfect. We may all be Fred or victimized by Fred once in a while. In those less than desirable situations minorities are usually more vulnerable. We all want our kids to have fun and prosper at school. I summarized the following ideas for young minority students and their parents to consider.

1. Assimilation is a powerful tool. Usually kids don’t have English issues. They may need to become culturally closer to the mainstream. Team sports or other group  activities  are effective means to help them blend into the environments different from their families. Kids are usually keen on what they need to do to be included. Immigrant parents lack of school experience at USA may need to pay extra attention to their kids behaviors and requests. Listen to your kids.
2. Make efforts to influence the systems.  Decent US schools have high standards of fair play rules and little tolerance on bully.  At school kids need to learn and practice how to raise attention and work with the authorities such as the teachers to seek protection or fairness.
3. Create alliances with other minority students.  Recognize other Chinese, Indians or blacks  can be your allies on certain issues.  If seeing unfairness to other minorities, you should help them. That is good for you as well.  My son’s grade there are less than 10% non-white students. I asked him to try to become acquainted with those minority students. At times they may need to unite for larger impact.
4. Make friends in general.  Friends make each other happy and help each other out. The fact you have friends shields you from being picked on by bullies.
5. Know your status as a minority,.  Know your strengths and weaknesses, and find your unique paths to your goals. Not every Chinese kids like to stay quiet and like only math and science.  The Chinese kids are just as diverse as other races.
Lastly I think we should teach our young kids how to live happy and fulfilling lives. Everybody just gets to live once, and this is one of the few things that are absolutely fair regardless of race, gender or the family you are born into.

Response to Misintepretation of 220 Rallies in Clara Wang’s Opinions on USA TODAY

Clara Wang’s USA TODAY Article
Clara-


As one of the organizers of the Peter Liang rally in Philadelphia, I have to say I strongly disagree with your overall opinions on those rallies in 43 cities across the nation. As a Chinese American, I hate to tell you I am disappointed that you, a top university educated Asian descendent, unfortunately misconstrued the rallies and our pledges. Furthermore, your article is spreading the wrong messages and bringing more misinterpretation to the general public. I ask you to stop, listen to me, and think again for yourself.

You wrote “both black and white activists misconstrue Asian activists as protesting Liang’s conviction. What they are really protesting is the fact that so many white cops before Liang got away with the same crime scot-free.” You may believe you have possessed the insider’s viewpoints on these protests as an Asian descendent. Unfortunately I have to tell you, you can’t be more wrong! The black and white activists are correct. We are protesting Liang’s conviction. We are protesting the NYPD’s bureaucracy which has created two victims, Gurley and Liang. We intend to stop this bureaucracy further victimizing Liang by over-penalizing him with a conviction disproportional to his misconduct. Based on your article I had to guess you really knew little about the depths and magnitude of these rallies and our pledges. Please spare yourself five minutes to watch some YouTube videos on those rallies. I doubt you would find substances to support your claims. Could you possibly have misjudged your fellow Asian protesters?

You stated people went on protests “wasn’t because the verdict was unjust. They were angry because so many white police officers involved in fatal shootings before him were let off. Liang,” Again, you are wrong! We are protesting because the conviction was unjust! We don’t believe Liang’s conviction of 2nd degree manslaughter fits the facts of a misfired bullet bouncing off a wall and accidentally hitting Mr. Gurley in the dark. More evidences have surfaced with regards to the accidental and tragic nature of Mr Gurley ‘s death, and the political undercurrent of the subsequent conviction. Those new findings have cast serious doubt on various aspects of this conviction including mishandled court hearings. Questions for you, in your idealist mindset, have you ever wondered why a then 26-year old, only several years senior of you, who may not be as privileged to enter a top university, got convicted for reckless 2nd degree manslaughter from a gun accident in NYC, where NO police officers have been convicted in line-of-duty shooting deaths for over a decade? Have you ever wondered why the NY Police Union did not spare him a top attorney, as the Union had previously done in similar incidents, as many other police unions in the country may have done? Have you ever wondered what life and death really meant to two rookie cops while patrolling at night in NYC house projects which at times can be war-zone like, and near where two police officers were killed in execution style in 2014? Have you ever wondered why NYPD had two rookie officers without adequate training patrolling in those highly dangerous areas? Aren’t you suspiciouu?  Had you thought through those facts, I doubt you would have stated “Liang is facing up to 15 years in prison, and rightfully so…for a police officer in a tense situation — especially in New York City — there is no room for panic”.

I trust you would do more research on this tragedy, rethink your opinions, and take corrective actions. If you need info, please contact me at fishswimsallday@gmail.com. I appreciate you have properly acknowledged a few good things of those protests such as breaking away from being the silent minority. Thank you.

The city as an arena for civic action

I recently dug up this 2014 TED talk by Asian American author, civic educator and politics commentator Eric Liu.  In this talk, Mr. Liu put forth the simple but often overlooked idea that the power of individual citizens are best realized at the local level, in the arena of the city.  Mr. Liu was President Clinton’s speechwriter so of course his own talk is very engaging.   I was reminded of Mr. Liu’s work by Wen’s recent essay urging Asian Americans to engage in local public service and politics.

A few days ago, a group of community volunteers started the Philadelphia Tri-State Chinese American Association. The mission of this nonprofit organization is to encourage and support Chinese Americans in local public service and politics. I think this is a wonderful and timely act.

Also by the way, here is a whimsical quiz written by Eric Liu to see how much political power YOU have:

(Not to be taken too seriously.)

Jason Shen: What is life like for the Asian American man in 2015?

I didn’t really think much about how my own race/ethnicity affected my life until 2011, when I read the ludicriously long piece in New York Magazine. It was called Paper Tigers, with the subtitle: “What happens to all the Asian-American overachievers when the test-taking ends?” and it covered issues I had discussed occasionally with friends but rarely saw elsewhere.

Questions like how come Asians are rarely in leadership positions despite being “so smart”? Or is it possible to maintain traditional Asian values like being humble in a loud, show-off-to-get-ahead world? Or why the hell was dating so damn hard?

I thought Wesley Yang’s article was going to lead to a national conversation about these issues, given that Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom by Amy Chua had been all over the media for months. But it didn’t happen. It’s understandable in some respects because he admits that he is “in most respects devoid of Asian characteristics”. While born to Korean parents, he does not: speak Korean, believe in Asian values, date Korean women or have any Korean friends. Maybe this was all he wanted to say about being an Asian man.

And yet, there’s more to our story.

Asians are the fastest growing minority group in America, while in sheer number are far fewer than blacks or latinos. a far smaller minority group compared with blacks and latinos, but are also growing faster than either. We often get lumped into the same category as whites in tech diversity reports, but when it comes it executive leadership, Asians are 2.5x less likely to be in an executive role compared to whites.

I was having some conversations with an old friend of mine, who’s Chinese, and who has been grappling with these issues both at work (he’s a resident at a hospital in NYC) and in his dating life (where he’s single again after a 3 year relationship). He encouraged me to write more about this topic, and I decided that if I were to do that, I’d need a lot more than a few stories from my own life and from my friends.

So I’m collecting some data via a side project called The Asian American Man Survey.

Already, over 100 East, South, and Southeast Asian men living in the United States have taken the study, sharing their perspectives on how they’re treated compared to whites, and non-Asian minorities, how they feel their race affects their opportunities at work, and how it plays a role in who they date and who they settle down with.

If you’re are an Asian man living in America or you know some who might be interested in this, I’d love if you could share this study with them.

I’ll be closing results on November 30th and sharing results sometime in December.

Source: http://www.jasonshen.com/2015/what-is-life-like-asian-american-man-in-2015/

AsianCivilRights.org 就梁彼得事件对CAAAV声明的回应

张若楠 (nrzhang@gmail.com), 费城220游行发言人
: 武玮

2016年2月20日,愈十万人的大游行燃遍全美四十余城市,对前纽约警员梁彼得所遭遇的不公审判表达了力度空前的抗议,以及对司法公正的呼唤。回顾整个事件,我们对CAAAV无视事实、不负责任的言论感到非常失望。CAAAV为包括非裔在内的弱势群体服务的宗旨令人敬重,但是在这次事件的处理上,该组织已严重背离了追求平等和公正的初心。

CAAAV的声明中,对案件的基本事实有多处描述错误。梁彼得的无意误射被他们描述为“警察系统故意针对非裔族群的行为”。然而,梁彼得在一片漆黑中受惊而误射,开枪后十分钟左右才发现了被子弹击中的格雷;试问,梁在没看见遇害人的情况下又如何针对其族群?CAAAV还在声明中将这起事故描述为“每天都在上演的执法系统的制度化不公”。梁彼得误射一枚子弹,经墙壁反弹后不幸击中遇害者,与CAAAV所反对的故意暴力执法有着本质的不同。分析这起悲剧的深层原因确实有助于包括CAAAV在内的所有人更深刻地了解执法系统的缺陷,然而简单将梁作为针对的目标却过于不负责任。

如前所言,梁彼得和格雷的这场悲剧确实反映了执法和司法系统的许多深层问题。其一,梁以及其同伴在危险环境中的惊慌及过失,反映出纽约警署没有对年轻警官给予充分培训和指导、就将他们派上了危险的岗位。其二,纽约警署将两个缺乏经验的年轻警员配对、派到全市最危险的社区巡逻,指向了其部署警力方面的制度缺陷。其三,事故发生地为市政府管辖的补贴房,其缺乏足够的照明和安全措施的状态是导致悲剧的重要因素,也说明了市政管理上的失责。如果单纯把矛头指向梁彼得,既是对梁的不公平,也是对真正的暴力执法行为的受害者的不公平。这种避重就轻的做法,将大众的不满情绪和注意力完全转移到惩罚梁一人,却不去追究把他置于此情境、从而酿成悲剧的真正责任部门。