Study Guide - Key Literary Elements

Setting

Brian Copeland's autobiography is set in San Leandro, California, USA. Spanning a period from 1972 to the present, the book is both a humorous account and a moving saga of what it was like to be a member of a black family living in the 99.9% lilywhite city of San Leandro. Brian spent his lonely childhood being chased by teenagers, frisked & handcuffed by cops, fighting other kids, and fighting eviction (plus so much more) simply because he was black. Filled with racism and torment, his childhood was something he kept trying to leave behind through his comedy.

However, one day while working as a radio personality at KGO Radio in San Francisco, Brian received a piece of hate mail that said, “As an African American, I am disgusted every time I hear your voice because YOU are not a genuine black man.” That letter prompted Brian to stop and evaluate his life, to look back on his painful childhood, and to come to terms with the phrase, “not a genuine black man.” In this memoir, Brian “confronts what it meant to grow up an outsider and shows how he found the resilience and courage to claim his place in San Leandro – and take back his own identity.” 

List of Characters

Major Characters

Brian Copeland

Brian is the hero of this story about his life, beginning when he moved with his family to San Leandro, CA when he was 8 years old. There he faced extreme racial discrimination. The book moves back and forth in time until we see Brian achieve extraordinary success as a stand up comedian and radio personality who now understands that he is indeed a “genuine black man.” See Brian’s bio: http://www.briancopeland.com/about.html

Carolyn Copeland - Brian's Mother

Brian’s mother is the strong, steady force behind the Copeland family. A former model, she does not want her children growing up in a black ghetto, especially the crime riddled areas of nearby Oakland, CA. Partly because she wants to move the children away from their abusive father, and partly, it seems, because she wants her children to grow up in a white world, to learn how to survive in the white world, she moves the family to San Leandro, CA, a community that is 99.9% white and exudes racism & prejudice. She doesn’t seem to realize how much the racism is present when they first move to San Leandro, but she soon learns and deals with it adroitly.

Mrs. Arbee - Brian’s Grandmother - aka “Seur”

Grandma is the one constant in Brian’s life. Even now at over eighty years old, she is still there for him. Throughout his young life, she guides him, protects him, and loves him unconditionally. She is a very strong woman who can stand up to the white people who refuse to leave her door, and yet she knows when to stay out of her daughter’s decisions and make the best of all the circumstances for the family. She is the driver in the family in more ways than one – she does drive the car where they need to go, but she also is a force to be reckoned with, guiding Brian and his sisters with love, warmth, and compassion. She is truly an amazing woman who knows how and when to be tough.

Sylvester Copeland, Brian’s father

A mostly absent father, Sylvester shows up occasionally and is abusive, cruel, and violent to Brian, his mother, and the rest of the family. After saying such things as, “Don’t cut your eyes at me,” he attempts to strangle young Brian, among many other violent acts. Brian tries to do just the opposite of Sylvester’s actions in the raising of his own children. In a way, Sylvester taught Brian what NOT to do in order to be a good father.

James Ware – Attorney for Brian’s mother in her discrimination suit.

Mr. Ware inspires Brian, for here is a successful black man who actually tells white people what he wants them to do for him. He tells Brian inspiring stories of his youth and why he wanted to become a lawyer. The kids fantasize about having Mr. Ware as their father so they could have a fine life in Palo Alto and be respected. However, 25 years later when Judge Ware was appointed by President Clinton to the 9th circuit court of Appeals, his stories about his youth were found to be lies, and he withdrew his name from consideration.

Other Characters

Mark – Brian’s “big brother” in high school

The good-looking white guy for whom Brian would keep “the other girl” busy on the “double dates.” Mark takes Brian out to celebrate his 35th birthday.

Mr. Johnson – Oakland Barber

Mr. Johnson tries to keep Lester from being so vulgar in front of young Brian, as Lester vividly demonstrates his anger against white men, including the US Presidents who appear on our currency. He gives Brian a fine hair cut after a day of trying and failing to find a barber in San Leandro who would cut Brian’s hair.

Lester – The man in the barbershop with the gold tooth.

He criticizes all white people, displaying a reverse sort of bigotry of which even Mr. Johnson, the barber, does not approve. However, most of what Lester says about the U.S. Presidents is true. Unknowingly, Lester’s diatribe contributes to Brian’s difficulty with understanding his own identity.

Mr. Wentworth – Apartment manager

He is the apartment manager in San Leandro where Brian & his family lived when he was a child. He’s always trying to evict the family on one trumped up reason or another. Brian describes him as a "nice racist."

Lisa Carrion – Brian’s first Catholic School teacher

She is young, and treats him like an adult, like a human being. She lets him help her grade papers, and he says of her, “Her kindness made life bearable” – almost. 
She and her father pay Brian’s tuition to high school after his mother’s death.

Josiah Wilkins – Brian’s white neighbor from Tennessee

Mr. Wilkins saves Brian from kids who are throwing rocks at him. For the first time, Brian meets a white man with a Southern accent who is actually kind to Brian and also is a fine carpenter. He makes many presents for Brian’s grandmother, and is always kind to Brian and his sisters.

Rev. Dorel Londagin - pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in San Leandro

He fought for Civil rights from his pulpit, but later became a San Leandro realtor fighting for equal rights in a different way – through real estate.

Sister Ermina - Principal of the Catholic School Brian attends as a child

She is a bigoted woman who hits Brian, and then lies to Brian’s mother about the incident. Along with the white policeman, she is another example of an authority figure in Brian’s life who should be an exemplary person, but instead is a racist out to protect only herself.

Jon Regan – the new white kid in Brian’s class at the Catholic School

He is bullied and mistreated by the other kids in the class the same way Brian is. After Jon’s birthday party, they become best friends. They are no longer alone. They remain close friends into adulthood.

• Tracie Copeland, Brian’s sister – two years younger than Brian
• Delisa Copeland, Brian’s sister – four years younger than Brian
• Tonya Copeland, Brian’s sister - six years younger than Brian
• Adam Copeland, Brian’s son – born on Brian’s 25th birthday
• Carolyn Copeland, Brian’s daughter – younger than Adam
  

Conflict

• Protagonist - The protagonist of this story is, of course, Brian himself. He is narrating the story of his life, taking us on the journey he made from his family’s settling in racist San Leandro, CA when he was a young boy to his current status as a successful comedian, actor and writer. The entire book travels back and forth throughout his memories, shows us his development into a self-actualized human being, and reveals to us his insightful, sometimes humorous, observations upon our society, both past and present. 

  • Antagonist -The antagonist in the book is not an individual but an entire system; the antagonist is a society which is unjust and racist. This memoir shows us Brian’s struggle with the society he is living in throughout his life and his efforts to find self worth as a black man in the United States today. 

  • Climax - Since the book consists of recollections from Brian’s past, there are several turning points, not just one climactic moment as one might find in a typical novel. From having his father almost strangle him, to his mother’s death, to his own attempt at suicide, there are many major turning points in this book, each of which has a crucial effect upon Brian’s life.

  • Denouement – or Outcome – This book ends with an Afterward, which sums up the progress and changes both our society and Brian have made in the past 30 years. San Leandro now boasts that it is a diverse and accepting community. Brian has found that he is resilient, and in accepting himself, he now is proud to say that he is a genuine black man. Near the end of the book, he states:

“It [his life] is the ’true’ black experience because it is my experience. I defy anyone to say that it isn’t as real, as joyous and as painful, as liberating and as confining, as frustrating and as exhilarating as that of any other similarly complected American.”

Synopsis/Plot/Structure

The book is a memoir examining how Brian Copeland’s childhood experiences while growing up in lilywhite San Leandro precipitated both his tremendous successes, as a comedian, radio & TV personality, and family man, as well as his depression and attempted suicide. Among innumerable other types of hate mail, he receives a letter accusing him of not being “a genuine black man.” This letter triggers his search for the answers to his persistent depression and his constant questioning of his identity – just what is a “genuine black man?” Brian’s story is both humorous and emotionally wrenching, a vivid and brutally honest picture of his life. We see him confronting the evils of prejudice and depression and ultimately winning.

Part One

Brian Copeland’s book contains 30 Chapters and is divided into Two Parts. Part One shows us young Brian’s black family moving to and living in San Leandro, CA, as well as experiences in Brian’s adulthood which often mirror, comment upon, or enlighten us about the events of his childhood. We are shown scenes from Brian’s childhood in a roughly chronological manner, while chapters showing us events in the recent past are most often thematically arranged and are interspersed between the chapters about his childhood.

Part One begins with Young Brian’s family moving to San Leandro to escape Brian’s abusive father and to find a better life for the family. It is here where 8 year old Brian experiences white man’s prejudice when both a cop and a nun lie to Brian’s mother in order to protect and hide their own prejudicial actions, the kids at school bully and pick fights with him, and adults refuse to cut his hair or teach him to fish simply because he is black. He is falsely accused of throwing a cat in a swimming pool, and his landlord tells his family that they are to be evicted simply because there are 6 of them in a 3 bedroom apartment. Brian’s depression begins in his childhood when he begins to believe that “black is bad” and that he is not a “normal boy.”

Part One also shows us Brian as an adult celebrating his 35th birthday, a successful comedian but still experiencing the same old prejudices and self doubts he had as a child. Now a father himself, Brian is extremely saddened and depressed when his own 4 year old son expresses the same feelings that “black is bad” that Brian experienced in his youth. In an effort to fight his depression, Brian takes up jogging, and turns in some black men who look suspicious sitting in a car in his neighborhood. He is angry at himself for racially profiling – something he experiences so often in his own life -- but he is also angry at the men of his race who commit crimes making life for him more difficult than it should be. Part One culminates with Brian attempting to asphyxiate himself with the carbon monoxide produced while sitting in his running car in his closed garage at home.

Although some of the chapters which describe Brian’s youth may contain sections where the Adult Brian comments upon the situation, the chapters in Part One frequently alternate between Young Brian and Adult Brian. The chapters in Part One which show us Brian as a child are: Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, & 12. The Chapters which focus on background information and the Adult Brian are: Chapters 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, & 13.

Part Two

Continuing the same structure in the second part of the book, Brian opens Part Two with Young Brian’s family fighting back against the eviction notice. Brian’s mom is going to sue for “housing discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Brian is not sure he wants to win the suit, because that would mean they would stay in San Leandro where he is so very unhappy, isolated, and lonely. The landlord illegally enters their apartment in an attempt to steal some of Carolyn’s evidence, but Brian catches him. Brian meets and is entranced by Mr. Ware, his mother’s black lawyer who later discredits himself when it comes out he has lied all his life about his motivation for becoming a lawyer. Brian now has a new goal for his life – to get his mom to marry Mr. Ware so that he would have a father and a stable family life. Then Brian would be able to realize his new dream – to become a civil rights lawyer. But Brian’s real father returns to the family, and Brian’s hopes and dreams are dashed to the ground. He receives many mixed messages, mostly negative. But one mixed message turned out to be a blessing. He meets Josiah Wilkins, a white man with a Southern Drawl who not only was not prejudiced, but he also saves Brian from a terrible stoning incident. Then Brian meets a young white boy named Jon Regan who was to become a life long friend. The “emotional distress” part of the court case is lost, and the family gets no money. However, the court does not evict them from the apartment.

A major turning point in the book occurs when Brian finally becomes the “man of the family.” One day, Brian comes home to find that his father is beating up his mother. In an effort to save his mother, Brian gets a butcher knife and cuts Sylvester’s hand and hits him in the crotch. Sylvester strangles Brian whose life is finally saved when the police come. After Brian’s mother becomes ill and passes away when he is only a young teenager, Seur raises the kids by herself, and Sylvester never comes back to the family. At the end of the book, Brian’s family has moved out of San Leandro, except for Brian who still lives there.

The Adult Brian keeps us in suspense until the third chapter in Part Two when we finally learn what happened to him after the suicide attempt. We see the Adult Brian lying on a gurney in the hospital after he was found because a neighbor had called the police. He, too, is beginning to fight back – not from being evicted, but rather from his depression. At the moment, though, all he was fighting for was to be released from the “prison” of psychiatric hospitals. Still the essential question of the book persists. Why are black men like Sylvester who beat Brian and abandon the family considered “genuine black men,” while those who are successful, educated, caring family men are criticized and called “Oreo” or “Al Jolsen?” When Brian’s friend and colleague commits suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge, Brian goes to the Golden Gate Bridge many times, contemplating jumping himself. Even with mood elevating medication, Brian’s depression deepens until one day when his Grandma calls. She uses tough love to help him get up off the couch, telling him to get his “black ass up.” It’s almost as if she said the magic words, for he does manage to pull himself up and play with his kids and continue his life’s work – making a change in our country’s attitudes toward race through the use of comedy and truth. Brian finally comes to the conclusion that he IS a genuine black man – that “no one person or group of individuals holds the monopoly on what in this society is the ‘true’ black experience.”

Like Part One, some of the chapters in Part Two which describe Brian’s youth may contain sections where the Adult Brian comments upon the situation, or alternates between Young Brian and Adult Brian situations. The chapters in Part Two which mainly show us Brian as a child are: Chapters 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, & 27. The Chapters which focus on background information and the Adult Brian are: Chapters 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 28, 29, 30, & the Afterward.

Themes

• What is a Genuine Black Man?

  Finding one’s identity in white America is difficult at best for many young black Americans. Just why are black men like Sylvester who beat Brian and abandon the family considered “genuine black men,” while those who are successful, educated, caring family men are criticized and called “Oreo” or “Al Jolsen?” The journey from depression towards acceptance of self is a major theme in the book.

• Racism in America

  The ugly face of racism which only black Americans can see every day is a major theme of the book. Only black Americans, who experience it right from their birth, can express what it feels like to be discriminated against in every sphere of life, only because of one’s color. Racism has many negative affects on its victims, not the least of which is the feeling that “brown is bad.”

• Civil Rights – a human rights issue

  With special emphasis on housing discrimination, the idea of civil rights being a human rights issue is clearly another theme in the book. After completing the book, we have a greater understanding of the need for laws which protect our civil and human rights, as well as the brave people it takes to see that the laws are carried out.

• “Man can be destroyed, but not defeated!” quoted from Ernest Hemingway’s
  The Old Man and the Sea.
  Many times throughout the book, Brian illustrates this theme of standing strong, of never giving in or showing one’s weakness to the oppressors. Brian’s Mama always told him, “If I lose control, they win.” And in the midst of being strangled by his own father, Brian did what he thought was right; he did not give in. ;
  

Moods

The mood of Brian Copeland’s memoir changes throughout the book. It varies from vividly dramatic scenes where the emotions of sadness, anger and fear prevail, to the humor of the comic laughing at himself so that he won’t cry. We are totally in his spell, and can’t help but laugh and cry along with him.

Style

The book is both a powerful and moving story and a humorous depiction of Brian Copeland’s journey to find his identity as a “genuine” black man. The force or power in the memoir lies, not just in the vivid description of the times in which the author lived, but also in his use of language. The language in the book is direct, forthright and conversational. There are many amusing sections that provide a “comic relief,” allowing the serious parts to become very moving in contrast. No reader can be unaffected or unmoved by the condition of blacks in America as depicted in the book through Brian’s own experiences in the microcosm of San Leandro, California.


Background information – Author’s bio

• A really fine biography of Brian is available on this web site at: http://www.briancopeland.com/about.html
Literary/Historical info

• Autobiography vs Memoir An AUTOBIOGRAPHY is a non-fictional account of a person's life--usually a celebrity, an important historical figure, or a writer--written by that actual person. 
  The word, MEMOIR, comes from the Latin, memoria "memory" via the French word, mémoire. A memoir is a memory, an autobiographical sketch, focusing on events the author has encountered or witnessed, events which often have led to major change or significant understanding for the author or for all of society. A memoir contrasts with a diary or journal because the memoir is not an informal daily record of events in a person's life. The author of a diary or journal generally does not want the work to be published. A memoir, however, is not necessarily written for personal pleasure, and the author of such memoir often has in mind the ultimate goal of publication.

• Links to articles and videos on the historical aspects of San Leandro

  View: The Suburban Wall, the 1971 documentary that put San Leandro on the national scene and The Invisible Wall, its 1981 follow up.

Listen & Read: Copeland's Corner: http://www.briancopeland.com/e-press.html

On this page, you'll find the text of the four part commentary Brian wrote about “The Suburban Wall” documentary. The page also includes links to some of Brian’s TV and radio commentaries as well as articles he’s written for various publications.

Commentary

The study of literature is not like the study of other disciplines such as math or science that are based mostly upon facts. Rather, the study of literature is based upon interpretation and analysis. Often there are no simple answers in literature. No two people see the same piece of literature in exactly the same way because each reader brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading. Even the interpretation of a memoir or autobiography can be a highly subjective task. 
In this study guide I have tried to give a factual, objective analysis of Brian’s memoir. In the end, however, it is my interpretation, one I believe that can be supported by the information that is presented in the guide and found in the book. Often a student’s task is to come up with his own analysis that he can logically defend. Hopefully, this study guide will help accomplish that goal.