In his novel The White Boy Shuffle, Paul Beatty recounts what it is like for a young African-American man to grow up in Santa Monica, a coastal city heavily populated by chauvinists. Caucasians with social dominance – at least in the eyes of the protagonist Gunnar Kaufman. In The White Boy Shuffle, Beatty demonstrates the horrors and absurdities of cultural labels in familial and social contexts. Ultimately, it shows that for maturing black boys, Americans' comfort with racism degrades the potential for academic and social success. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Gunnar Kaufman is part of two worlds, family and social. Her family life is inundated with realities related to ethnic interpretation and gender understanding; it’s where black norms remain black, where profanity and sexism are part of everyday life, and where mockery and ridicule are used to demonstrate outright acceptance of racism. Gunnar reveals that his family comes from slavery. “I spread out my gigantic family tree… the class ooohed generations of crumpled Negro couples holding stick hands… I started with Euripides Kaufman… the only person to ever escape into slavery” (Beatty 12). By establishing his family tree, Gunnar, in turn, puts him and his family in chains. Each level of heritage down to its own existence has been preserved in a line that abides by the norms of racial standards. Throughout his novel, Paul Beatty uses a lot of profanity and racist remarks, not to demean African-American family life at that time, but to grab the reader's attention and say, "Hey, this is what really happened. » This boisterous method of writing takes a very serious topic like racism and turns it into something friendly and enlightening. Mansbach suggests that this style of literature is common in much Lit-Hop. “Knowing racial literature and real-life struggles, the characters are able to position themselves in relation to these traditions, both playfully and seriously” (Mansbach, 95). This radical approach to literature on race is effective in highlighting racial intolerance in a way that demonstrates an unhealthy acceptance of struggle and, furthermore, the need for radical change. Gunnar's family life is riddled with racism and sexism which limits Gunnar's understanding of gender and race. to the meager stereotypes defined by his family. “To my knowledge, no Kaufman man had ever slept with a white woman, not out of lack of hunger in the jungle or to preserve racial purity, but out of fear. I watched my father talk to white women, drowning them out with “Yes, ma’am” (Beatty 23). As a mature boy, Gunnar's awareness of chauvinism in society is important because he distinguishes that something is not fair, just, or equal. In essence, Gunnar demonstrates that he is uncomfortable with racism in America, a representation Beatty describes as rare and valuable. Beatty's depiction of racism in Gunnar's family life may or may not be a legitimate representation of racial understanding in African American families, but it is nonetheless a representation that Beatty feels is important to convey. Gunnar also remembers sexist scenarios within his family history. “There are no gorgeous Kaufman superwomen… no nubile black women… the women who have allied themselves with Kaufman's legacy are invisible” (Beatty 23). Gunnar establishes the harsh reality of female existence not only in hisfamily but also in American society. This understanding of what it means to be a man or a woman, black or white, rich or poor, has given Gunnar some idea of ​​what his future may hold. His ancestral history and family experiences seem to be holding him back, but Gunnar's apprehension of the potential of gender and racial roles in society is the key to freeing him from a cage of stereotypes. Gunnar aspires to distinction. “They say the fruit never falls far from the tree, but I tried to go down the hill at least a little” (Beatty 24). Gunnar's ability to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong allows him, as a mature young man, to prepare for his own future. Over time, Gunnar gains control of his own life with the ability to resist the norms of acceptance of common stereotypes and discrimination that exist in America. Gunnar's social life is just as important as his family life in determining his future as a man. young African American. Gunnar establishes that his social life and his educational life are interchangeable to some extent. “My early education consisted of two types of multiculturalism: multiculturalism in the classroom, which dismissed race, sexual orientation, and gender, and multiculturalism in the schoolyard, where kids… who knew the jokes ruled » (Beatty 28). In this passage, Gunnar explains that his social life revolves around the people he knows at school. At the same time, his educational life revolves around his social life as, through his experiences and relationships, he learns more and more about what it means to be black. Much of his education about race and himself took place at school, where he was immersed in both black and white cultures. At school, Gunnar and the other students are continually told that color doesn't matter, but are quickly reminded that racial barriers are still in place no matter what. “Our teacher says we’re supposed to be colorblind. It's hard to do if you can see color... Don't say things like "Black people are born lustful, violent criminals" (Beatty 31). Beatty uses his sharp wit and racist stereotypes to depict the existence of discrimination even in elementary and middle school. This radical way of writing, as Mansbach suggests, is used to “attempt to make race accessible, [and] to reflect its complexity (Mansbach 98). Beatty absolutely makes race accessible in this novel and does so in a way that brings out the complications of seeing black and white at an early age. Beatty demonstrates that even at crucial moments in the development of the human brain, students are told one thing: color doesn't matter, but at the same time they observe another thing: racism is pervasive. This can be very confusing and complex, especially in classroom experiences where students are told that everything they learn comes from cold, hard facts. Beatty uses satire to lighten the subject matter to some extent, but there is no doubt that Gunnar's accounts of racism are legitimate. to shed light on a subject that is black and white. Gunnar remembers his family's acceptance of black stereotypes: "What are some nigger jokes among friends?" We Kaufmans have always been the kind of niggers who take jokes” (Beatty 9). The Kaufmans' comfort with racial remarks makes it difficult for Gunnar to dream big; he is essentially trapped and does nothing but stand by and accept the responsibility of being black. But Gunnar's recognition of racism in America sets him apart as a child, student and citizen who sees the realities of discrimination and.