Utilization of Race and Racism as the Subjects of The White Boy Shuffle and The Lonely Londoners - Essay Example

Admission Number Utilization of Race and Racism as the s of “The White Boy Shuffle” and “The Lonely Londoners” Both Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle aptly depict the tantalizing experiences that are associated with racial prejudice in the society. Whereas Selvon captures the experiences of her characters in the post World War II in London, and by West Indians who are newly arrived in London, Beatty’s characters are in the post-modern America and the main victims of rascism are the people of color, particularly the African American. In both novels the characters belonging to the less dominant race are unfortunate victims of racial discrimination, racial identity crisis and racial prejudice. Both the authors pass a stern message that racial prejudice, however subtle it may be, is very counter-productive, may lead to very adverse social , psychological and economic effects and must be fought at whatever cost; only then will a society worth living in be realized. Manifestation of Racism: Nature and Extent The racism in Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle is very intense as illustrated by the reactions of the characters in the text. To begin with, Gunnar and the sister are opposed to attending an all-black summer camp for the mere reason that they are different from the children who would be there. The intensity of the racial discrimination in this text is in fact so high that it arouses violence between the different races. When Ms. Kaufman and her family relocate to West Los Angeles where the community comprises largely of the black people, her son Gunnar is at one point beaten by one of the local gangs in the area called the Gun Totin' Hooligans". The violence against him was attracted by the fact that he had breached what is described as the proper hills etiquette. The narrator comments: “Gunner learns the hard way that social norms in Santa Monica were unforgivable breaches of proper Hillside etiquette and soon after arriving is beaten up by one of the area's local gangs, the ‘Gun Totin' Hooligans” (Beatty 52). The so called social Hillside social norms that allows violent perpetration of racism are widely known and accepted in this society. When, Gunnar is enrolled in a local junior high, the school administrator knows straight away that he (Gunnar), being unfamiliar with the hill’s social norms, would be a very easy target of harassment. Gunnar soon make friend with Scoby, a very talented basketball player when they happened to pair up during a class reading session. It is after they had set their friendship going that Gunnar discovered his talent in the game, what earned in respect among his peers in the Hillside community who earlier treated him with a high degree of discrimination. It is quit ironical that his unusual talent did not allow him to fit well among his peers as it made him too outstanding. In an attempt to make himself fit socially, Gunnar makes his hairstyle as well as dressing style to conform to that of the Hillside as he was advised by his friend Scoby The author, through Gunnar’s first poem, "Negro Misappropriation of Greek Mythology or, I know Niggers That'll Kick Hercules's Ass" further illustrates the gravity of this vice. This is done by comparing Black Nationalism to the image used by the Japanese nationalists that is Misihima and Chikamatsu, emphasizing on their demise. Gunnar borrows from the Japanese author and probes what life means. So I asked myself, what am I willing to die for? The day when white people treat me with respect and see my life as equally valuable to theirs? No, I ain’t willing to die for that, because if they don’t know that by now, then they ain’t never going to know it. Matter of fact, I ain’t ready to die for anything, so I guess I’m just not fit to live. In other words, I’m just ready to die. I’m just ready to die (Beatty 200). In Gunnar’s opinion, the black people are not able to achieve progress due to the fact that their leaders are not serious enough. He is later made the leader of the Black Americans. Gunnar’s probation of what life, which was globally broadcasted, inspires a number of the black to commit suicide, seemingly as a way of protest. For instance, Scoby, the best friend known to Gunnar, resorted to taking off his life by simply throwing himself down from the roof of a building. On the other hand, in Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners the discrimination is not that intense although its existence is real. The author reveals that much as the physical side of imperialism ended by the time the former colonies of Britain gained independence, there remained some notable exploitation. For example, those who migrated from Caribbean and the other former British colonies live in the poorest parts of London and can only perform manual labor. The blacks are also denied the opportunity to climb the social ladder as the white gets do. However there is no open hostility towards the blacks as portrayer by the author though they are not willing to full integrate them as part of their society. This is in contrast with the scenario in the novel, The White Boy Shuffle where the hostility is very pronounced. Reaction and Copying Strategy Realizing how adverse racial discrimination may be, the characters in these novels adopt varying responses and adaptive strategies. Just like the nature and extent of racial prejudice manifested, the response mechanisms exhibited are equally different in these two novels, although there are subtle similarities. Whereas Selvon’s threatened races in The Lonely Londoners adapt by resorting to hard work, accepting low profile and less lucrative lifestyle and at times by identifying with the whites or merely accepting the low position given to their race, in Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle, the people of color adopt a rather radical response mechanism that go to the extent of actual physical death or even committing suicide. However, in both novels, the people of color sometimes realizes the value of having a link or identifying with the whites, as the whites are equivalent to a source of benefits to the blacks. In both novels, the characters develop a sense of hopelessness in life, owing to frustrations stemming from racial discrimination. Gunnar in Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle happens to have been one of the very few blacks who make it to a white dominated school, at the San Fernando Valley. He finds it very difficult to live amongst the white students and often feel a sense of inferiority when he is amongst them. Being more aware of the comfort that comes in identifying with white mannerisms and the possibility of assimilation that may come by, he soon adopts their mannerism. On this Gunnar he admits as follows: “I was envious. When no one was looking, I found myself trying to blow puffs of air past my wrinkled brow or emulating that quivering headshake freeing imaginary blond locks from my eyes” (Beatty 154). Gunnars confession therefore clearly illustrates adoration of the whites and attempt by the people of color to take on what they do just to get acceptance. However, Gunnar is not alone. Many other black students in that school make more or less similar efforts in a bid to fit into the dominant white culture. This is best captured by the narrator who asserts as follows: It was sad to watch us troll through the halls, a conga line of burlesque self-parody, all of us affecting our white-society persona of the day. Most days we morphed into waxen African-Americans. Perpetually smiling scholastic lawn jockeys, repeating verbatim the prosaic commandments of domesticity … Though shalt worship no god other than whiteness (Beatty 154). The blacks are not aping the whites because they would love to do the same, but whiteness has been made so popular such that whoever is exhibiting anything in the contrary appears odd and risks isolation. In any case, the whites are the dominant group. Acting the white way and being assimilated is not a very popular adaptive strategy in Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, ostensible because racial differences are not so much a highly emphasized issue. However, there are a few characters in the novel that will go their way, act like the whites just to fit in for a gain. Captain, one of the naughty characters in Selvons’ novel, has learn that the Blacks in London will generally be given raw deals when they look for jobs unlike the whites who are highly accessible to well paying jobs and executive positions. He therefore looks for a way of striking sexual relationships with white women. Just like Beatty’s student characters who solicit acceptance from the whites to evade the harshness of rejection, Selvon’s captain solicits acceptance from the white women so that he evades the harness of jobless life resulting from racially skewed job market. Other adaptive mechanisms in response to racial relations and its impact in Selvons’ work are portrayed through the characters and their actions. Despite isolation of the immigrants in London and the raw deals they get, particularly in the job market and in labor remuneration, Moses Aloetta, the novel’s protagonist is an epitome of immigrant’s adaption in to this interracial London life. He hosts a number of immigrants who come to London and have no place to turn to. At the beginning of the novel, we come across him leaving for Waterloo station so that he may meet some immigrants from Trinidad. These are another set of new immigrants who are again going to rely on him in one way or the other to establish them in London. He even helps them look for job opportunities within London, although they have become so hard to come by. When he came to London, he had to put up in a hostel, as there was none to turn to. Ten years down the line, he still has to do with the small room; the hopes to make progress have remained a vanity. Never the less, he adopts an optimistic attitude to life and works so hard. He is one man who is ready to do any work that come by, not withstanding the fact that it may be very hectic and tiresome. It may therefore be seen, through Moses, that strong sense of kinship and strong intra-racial ties is a core adaptive mechanism among the London blacks. They rely on a member who is already better off so as to enable them also rise the ladder. They never protest, but strive to get peaceful solution to the problems created by racial injustices and prejudices. They also resort to hard work and sharing stories of them disappointments as they keep days going. There is a completely different reactive mechanism in Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle. The blacks in Beatty’s world never accept to sit back and see them being discriminated upon. They react violently: youths form gang groups that terrorize anybody who appear to have elements of white mannerism or lifestyle; they form black’s nationalism to liberate them from the injustices of a white dominated society and some resort to steps as radical as committing suicide. The readiness to die as a philosophy to solving racial problems is captured in Gunnar’s nationalism speech wherein he says: The day when white people treat me with respect and see my life as equally valuable to theirs? No, I ain’t willing to die for that, because if they don’t know that by now, then they ain’t ever going to know it. Matter of fact, I ain’t ready to die for anything, so I guess I’m just not fit to live. In other words, I’m just ready to die. I’m just ready to die (200). Adoration of suicide as a means of protest is further comes out clearly when Scoby opts to jumps from the roof of the highest building that he finds and he dies, following his strong dissatisfaction with the black’s state of affairs. Most likely, he is reacting to Gunnar’s call for blacks to undergo mass suicide protest, since shortly before his death; he (Scoby) had asked Gunnar if Gunnar knew the highest building. Conclusion Both Samuel Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle depict manifestation of racism, the character’s response to it and the adaptive strategies the blacks , who are on the adverse end of racism adopt. In Salvon’s London, racism is tacitly exhibited and its aftermath are not extreme; a reverse of Beatty’s America where racial discrimination and prejudice is so dominant that those from the tow races hardly see eye to eye (unless the blacks opt to be assimilated into whiteness). Further, whereas the blacks in America as portrayed by Beaty exhibit a sense of dissatisfaction, hatred violence within them, and times culminating into sacrificing oneself, their counterparts in London, as portrayed by Selvon, exhibit a sense of unity and brotherhood. The fact that the British white community discriminates against them and gives them a raw deal does not serve to weaken their ties, rather, it strengthens it. Works Cited Beatty, Paul. The White Boy Shuffle. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Selvon, Sam. The Lonely Londoners. London: Penguin Books2006 Read More