The White? Boy Shuffle


As we reach the halfway point in our latest novel, I wanted to ask, what is the significance of the white boy shuffle? That is obviously the title of the book, but it was mentioned for the first time in chapter 6 during the dance: “After a few moments I’d relax and settle into a barely acceptable, simple side-to-side step, dubbed by the locals the white boy shuffle” (page 123).

In class, we have been talking about Gunner’s transition from white culture to black culture. In the white culture, he was known as the “funny cool black kid” who was smart but got into occasional minor trouble. Then (initially) in black culture, he was known as a “white” nerd, based on the way he speaks, acts, and looks. In the latest couple chapters however, we saw him move out of the nerd crowd and into the gangster one. He is still smart (we can tell from his sophisticated use of language), but he has a new group of friends and a different look (he talks about how people know from his look that he plays basketball). Personally, I thought he had assimilated more or less. Then, when I read this line in the book, I was surprised. I hadn’t expected Gunner to be described as white.
          
Now, upon doing some light research, I found the definition of the dance that is being talked about in the line above: a general term for any ungainly or comical dancing style. Usually characterized by a lack of coordination, rhythmic sense, grace or poise. The name derives from the supposed lack of dancing ability amongst white people (taken from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=white%20boy%20shuffle). The description isn’t wrong about Gunner (he wasn’t being very rhythmic) but I thought it was interesting to use that specific term given his ancestral history. Relating to that point, I also found it strange that that was the dance Gunner felt comfortable doing. What do you all think? Has he become “so black it’s a shame” (page 102) or is he still the “funny cool black kid?”

Comments

  1. IzzyDecember 6, 2018 at 7:57 PM

    Nice post Nina! I think the white boy shuffle is definitely one of the more blatant and stereotypical representations of Gunnar's cultural mixed-ness. If I'm being honest I'm not really sure what the first thing you quoted in your conclusion ("so black its a shame") means, but I think that he doesn't really fit either of those two roles. I think in a lot of ways he's considered the one who's going to make out at his new school. Everyone in his life seems to see his potential and the way he doesn't seem to have been held back to much by racism and they just try to support him and help him succeed. He plays the role of the rising star/talent in basically every situation he's (and also seems to be one of the younger people in each group he's in or at least he acts that way) and he also seems to play the role of people like Scoby and Psycho Loco's little brother being taught how the world works and other such things.

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  2. Tue DoDecember 13, 2018 at 4:44 PM

    Nice post! This line stuck out to me as well. I didn't expect the local community to continue classifying him as white, even as you pointed out, he seemed to assimilated very cleanly. To answer your last question, I think he's definitely a funny, cool, and black kid. Perhaps Beatty is making the point that it shouldn't be mutually exclusive which culture you can fit into. It's okay to have "white" and "black" aspects to your personality. It's the only explicit reference to the title of the novel, so I think that line is significant.

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  3. SamirDecember 19, 2018 at 8:00 AM

    Great post! I think disconnect that Gunnar experiences in both communities as a result of his cultural mixedness is definitely an important part of the novel. I think his own white boy shuffle is probably the result of his uncomfortableness conforming to stereotypes of the group that he is entering into, as he shows throughout the novel that he has issues with these stereotypes.

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