Afro-Saxons, Frangela, Comedic Translators
If you have never heard Francis Callier and Angela Shelton, known as Frangela, the Comedic Translators, go to NPR, Day to Day radio interview, “Should Black Woman Support Hillary or Obama,” for a light-hearted laugh about politics. You may not agree with their thoughts on who should be our next President, but they present the topic of discussion in such a way that you can participate as a listener without taking offense, without contributing to the polarization paralyzing the country.
Francis and Angela refer to themselves as “Afro-Saxons,” in response to the interviewer asking them, “Is Obama black enough.” They give an example of an Afro-Saxon in Francis, who owns a brand new Jetta but can’t afford the car insurance.
In essence what they say between comedic sound bites is that it doesn’t matter how much “African” blood Obama has or they have. Their one example is one of economic empowerment.
The economic distinction is the elephant in the room of prejudice in America. We talk too much about the color of skin as the symbol of racism. Our national culture is deeply divided along economic lines. The unspoken caste system of America is largely defined by how much someone is worth.
In the deep south, I would imagine that many “Whites” are comfortable as long as the “Blacks” are so poor that they must live on the other side of the tracks. But as soon as a “Black” improves his economic situation to the point where he can purchase a home on the nice side of the tracks, then the “Whites” get bent out of shape.
This morning my wife and I shopped at the Beaverton Farmer’s Market, at Winco, and at New Seasons. With exceptions, there was a visible economic class present at each site. At new seasons there is a larger number of people who have spent weekly time resting in the glass coffins of their favorite tanning salon. Many of them don expensive yet small glasses most likely fitted with window pane glass. At Winco I saw a few mothers in flannel pajama bottoms, quite a few people in sweat suits purchased at Goodwill. Overall, the Winco shoppers were less physically fit and manicured. At the Beaverton Farmer’s market, there was a wider and eclectic group of people than at either grocery store.
Churches are most often divided by economic status. An all “White” church may actually be an upper middle class church. In Oregon, a statistically “While” state, there are a significant number of poorer “White” people. These people hide away in our communities rarely feeling comfortable in public forums and groups. They are likely to be the ones who would say, “Thank you for inviting me to your church but I didn’t feel comfortable there.”
Music and preaching styles are stronger cultural distinctions than the color of skin. But neither of these cultural distinctives are as potent as how much a person is worth. When someone says, “I don’t feel comfortable in your group,” he is usually referring to economic status.
Back to politics, there are two Oregonians, who have faithfully served our state, who are aware of this economic status problem. For years both of them have driven beaters around town, in part, to expose the elephant in the room. One is State Senator, Charles Starr, a Republican. For years he has driven a beat up pick-up truck. Late at night after most people attending a public forum had departed the community center, I saw Charles Starr in the parking lot with the hood of his truck open. I helped him recharge his battery and he was on his way!
The other man is U.S. Congressman, Peter Defazio, a Democrat. For years he has driven a small, worn car (I forget the make and model), but it is old and funky. In Oregon, there is a large community of well-educated and financially viable people who recoil from status symbols and grouping according to economic status. These two men appeal to this group.
Portland is one of the “whitest cities” in the U.S.A. Beaverton is actually more ethnically diverse than Portland, which isn’t saying much. But over the years, our neighborhoods have become home to a growing number of Eastern Indians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Mexicans, Romanians, and Ukranians. When I was a child, most of the Afro Americans lived in North Portland or Northeast Portland. Now, a growing number of Afro Americans live in Beaverton and other Southwest neighborhoods. The main reason for this “migration,” is the economic improvement among Afro Americans, who have worked hard and brilliantly. The result is healthy and beautiful for all of us!
So what do you think? Please tell me if my reasoning lacks at any point. Or perhaps you have a different yet helpful perspective on this topic. At least, enjoy Frangela.
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Also note how much easier it is for visitors or recent immigrants from Africa to find acceptance and respect within the dominant culture of the US. I had never noticed this until I heard it mentioned when I visited the African-American group at my place of work. I personally think the biggest divide here in the US is not the color of skin (’Black’ vs. ‘White’) nor the color on the election maps (’Red’ vs ‘Blue’) but rather the color of our collars (’White’ vs ‘Blue’).
I agree. One of the stories hitting Portland news last month was the polling of parents in the Portland School District. The journalist would ask parents one by one if he/she were in favor of segregation and the parents overwhelmingly opposed segregation. Then the journalist would ask the parents if they had enrolled their children in the local public school. Those parents who had chosen an alternative education for their children cited the low level of education in their public school and made statements like, “We don’t want our children to be held back by slower learners.” The journalist would then note the neighborhoods and in most cases these neighborhoods were ethnically diverse with a strong representation of Spanish speakers or an immigrant group. Finally, the journalist would ask each parent to identify his/her political philosophy. Among the many parents who chose to segregate their children educationally, there were as many parents from the left of the political spectrum as from the right.
Nathan, Interesting post. I think you meant to spell “white” instead of “while” in this sentance “In Oregon, a statistically “While” state, there are a….”
I do not like the term, Caucasian. I am not from the Caucas mountain region.
To my point: in 2006 I completed to police ride alongs, one in spring 2006 with Washington County, and one in Summer 2006 with Portland Poilce Bureau East Precinct. Then in 2007 I completed another in the east precinct. the main reason I did this was to explore and build upon my criminal justice theories class I took at PSU. I was also exploring whether I wan’t to be a police officer after I left the Coast Guard.
My reflections left me to decide that I did not want to be a police officer. My reasons were not that I could not do the job, but as of now I would have an exceptionally hard time dealing with the constant negative experiences. I would become overtly judgemental (more than I already am) and very suspicious of everyone.
Why do this relate to the article above??? Many of the calls taken when I was with Washington Coutny Sheriffs dept ended up at apartment buildings. I thought this was very wierd, but the officer pointed out that the Beaverton annexation made it this way. The city actively only annexed the portions of the county with lower service rates, i.e. single family homes compared to apartments. This showed a distinct economic difference between the urban county and the city of Beaverton.
In east portland, the two rides were with the same officer whom I know through a college friend. The first year we had one call where a Russian family’s son was accosted because of his family heritage. Apparently this was sort of common because of the Eastern Europeans moving into east portland. When we first arrived at the victims home, the house appeard to be a mid-1950s home common to east portland. It was on a busy street, but once inside the couple took great pride in coming to America and the progres they have made in improving the house. Of course, they were upset at the incident involving their son, ut took it in stride to work past the event.
Why write about this?? It appears that new immgrants coming to Portland are challenging the status quo of other minorites that have longer established ties to the area. Even in Compton, CA the traditional neighborhoods are signifcantly differenct then the early 1980’s because of the immigration from the southern border.
In a similar situation to Obama, a gentleman at my 101 membership to our church in California refered to himself as a banana. He is born Korean, but has lived in America since about 10 years old. He stated the term meant, “Yellow on the outside, white on the inside.” He attends the Korean affliated congregation of the church and feels caught between the old vs new.
So when we finally get universal healthcare, do you want it organized like our school system? You buy or rent into the local healthcare district and only can go to the district facilities. Or do you prefer an alternative school (healthcare) voucher program where the money follows the student (patient) to the service facilty?
Chad: I think that I would prefer to choose my service facility. As an American I prefer choice. One of my points above is that this preference of choice is stronger than most individual’s convictions about integration. The cover story in Willamette Week this week is “School Colors.” For those of my friends who have questioned the sources of my comments above regarding segregation in our schools supported by the choices of people across the political spectrum, I cite this article and recommend the reading of it.
Chad, thanks for taking the discussion beyond “Black and White.”
nathan.