MADELEINE BRAND, host:

Back now with DAY TO DAY.

Here are a few recent news items. A pair of nooses was discovered hanging in a garage of New York State's highway department.

ALEX COHEN, host:

A professor at Columbia University says she found a noose hanging from her door. Another noose appeared outside a Cultural Center for Black Students at the University of Maryland.

BRAND: A Georgia Family was picketed last week for their Halloween display that had a couple of dummies hanging from nooses, and the Department of Justice is investigating nooses found in five states. That doesn't even include the incident involving the so-called Jena Six in Louisiana. What is going on with all these nooses?

Joining us to talk about this and other hot button in issues is our Frangela, our comedic translators of current events. And welcome, Frances Callier.

Ms. FRANCES CALLIER (Member, Frangela Duo): Hi.

BRAND: And Angela Shelton.

Ms. ANGELA SHELTON (Member, Frangela Duo): Hello.

BRAND: Hi. Okay, so you're usually our comedic translator.

Ms. SHELTON: Right, of current events.

Ms. CALLIER: Uh-huh.

BRAND: And, you know, on the face it, there's not a lot of funny in nooses.

Ms. SHELTON: Can I just say - without showing any disrespect for the terrorism of that act - can we get some newer acts of racism?

Ms. CALLIER: Really. I need some creativity (unintelligible)

Ms. SHELTON: Hello, it's the new millennium.

Ms. CALLIER: Really.

Ms. SHELTON: Can we get something digital? Computer-generated holographs.

Ms. CALLIER: Holographs.

Ms. SHELTON: Can we get some holographic racist incidents?

Ms. CALLIER: We need a holographic. Yes, really.

Ms. SHELTON: I mean, most of the people that I know, black people in particular that I know, are just like are you kidding me?

Ms. CALLIER: I know.

Ms. SHELTON: Like, what's going on?

Ms. CALLIER: I can tell you. White people aren't scared no more. That's what the problem.

BRAND: That's the problem?

COHEN: Scared of you, you mean?

Ms. CALLIER: Yes, white people were not…

Ms. SHELTON: Not just specifically Frangela.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. CALLIER: I'm scared of you but I...

Ms. SHELTON: But you're in the studio with us, so they have the reason to be.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. CALLIER: You know…

Ms. SHELTON: But…

Ms. CALLIER: …there was a time in this country.

Ms. SHELTON: There was a time.

Ms. CALLIER: There was a time, girl.

Ms. SHELTON: Reach it.

Ms. CALLIER: When, you know, we had Afros and (unintelligible) and picks, and it was frightening. But now, I will walk out the street and there will be a white kid who is harder than me.

Ms. SHELTON: What has happened?

BRAND: So, you're saying it's like a role reversal?

Ms. CALLIER: And white people coming gangster style and black folks these days, with the nooses.

BRAND: So, the noose is for you, it's not - it doesn't seem like its working, if it's meant to intimidate, scare, whatever it's meant to do.

Ms. SHELTON: To me, I see this is a top down problem. When it's considered diplomacy for our president to say bring it on. You know, the environment has become one in which we do don't have debates. We don't have discussions. People just name-call, and I just think the environment has gotten way too out of control. People are doing things that 20 years ago, they would've been afraid to do.

Ms. CALLIER: That's because people aren't scared anymore.

BRAND: So how are you going to scare them?

Ms. SHELTON: I'm going to tell you something. We got to march.

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: Do I have to - I know nobody feels like it.

Ms. CALLIER: I know. I'm tired. You know what?

Ms. SHELTON: Nobody feels like it, but we have left those Seattle kids doing it alone for too many of years.

Ms. CALLIER: Yes, we have.

Ms. SHELTON: And nobody is really afraid of them.

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: They look kind of silly with their hemp clothes.

Ms. CALLIER: Right.

Ms. SHELTON: We have got to get out there. And we're going to have - I told you, I said it, Frances.

Ms. CALLIER: She did say it.

Ms. SHELTON: That's the last time we let Bush get the presidency. Didn't I say we should burned something down?

Ms. CALLIER: Did she say we should've burn some down? But I…

Ms. SHELTON: That we should've in the street.

Ms. CALLIER: We all stayed home.

Ms. SHELTON: I was on the corner alone…

Ms. CALLIER: You were.

Ms. SHELTON: …screaming no.

Ms. CALLIER: And I told her that I would meet her at the corner, and I didn't. I did.

Ms. SHELTON: You didn't show up. She' like I have to go to on a store and then I forgot. By myself.

BRAND: Maybe if you were wearing any hemp.

Ms. CALLIER: I know, I know.

Ms. SHELTON: I need some help of some, like, Birkenstock.

Ms. SHELTON: There you go.

Ms. CALLIER: I got those. I got the Berks. I go the Berks.

Ms. SHELTON: We need to movement. There's no cultural social real movement in our lifetimes, really.

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: And that's - in the absence of that, you know, people feel like they can hang a noose.

BRAND: Do you have any suggestions? You know, improving this style, like, that you say is fractured, improving race relations.

Ms. CALLIER: Right, you know…

Ms. SHELTON: I think money always helps.

Ms. CALLIER: It does, it does.

Ms. SHELTON: Never underestimate the power of just handing black people month.

Ms. CALLIER: Exactly.

Ms. SHELTON: And in all seriousness, I think that we do have people willing to talk about slavery and reparations.

Ms. CALLIER: Yes.

Ms. SHELTON: But I know that most white people understand how important this issue of slavery is for black people. I don't know who my great, great grandfather was.

Ms. CALLIER: You know, one of the things we talked about was that, you know, we going to drive down to the South, and we're going to find us racist.

Ms. SHELTON: You know what? Let's be fair. He could be right here in Orange County.

Ms. CALLIER: Right. You're right, you're right. Yeah, yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: We don't have to go down South.

Ms. CALLIER: We're going to find us a good racist, right? And somebody who's like, yeah I'm racist. I don't like anybody.

Ms. SHELTON: I thought about it. Right

Ms. CALLIER: And then what we're going to do is we going to get somebody like (unintelligible).

Ms. SHELTON: Yeah, like get a bunch of like a Jewish people to mow his lawn one week.

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: Or get a bunch of Latinos to like do his laundry, or get a bunch of Asians, like, paint his house.

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: And then ask him, well, do you feel any better…

Ms. CALLIER: Yeah.

Ms. SHELTON: …about that group of people, now that they did this really nice thing for you? And just see if it does anything.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. CALLIER: But I hear he hired a few.

Ms. SHELTON: You know, the reality is there's going to be individuals out there who are racist freaks, who do a little freakish awful things, but its not going to flow our roll.

Ms. CALLIER: No, it's not.

Ms. SHELTON: Its really not.

Ms. CALLIER: Because we're not afraid of you. Not anymore.

BRAND: Frances Callier, Angela Shelton, Frangela, thank you.

Ms. SHELTON: Thank you.

Ms. CALLIER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.