• Glad we read it! by Leslie Wallace.

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On Wednesday, 11 Oct 2000, Leslie wrote:

Hi Jeanne,

Just a quick comment on White Boy Shuffle. I finished this book about a week ago and I really wanted to tell you how grateful I am that you chose this book for one of the class readings. I cant tell you how well I thought this book was written and the comments that you made in class on the different subjects of the book were so on point. Once you get past some of the harsh language you come to realize that there really aren't any other words that could possibly express the feelings and power behind Beatty's writing.

When you commented on the epilogue and the death of the father, I honestly because I had not finished the book. Now that I have finished the book I cant think of any other way to put the father's death, then the way you examined it in class. To me it seemed that the father finally realized his "place" in society and this caused him so much pain that he killed himself. That whole time he thought he was in power and in control of his own life, but when he realized "the truth" he couldnt take it.

Just one other point. When I read a book I like to link the title to the meaning or moral of the story. I think "White Boy Shuffle" identifies the way we as black people move through life. It is a metaphor. Here's what I mean. Steroetypically, white guys cant dance. When they are at a party they do a little shuffle. They dont try to bring down the house with their clumsy attempt at dancing, they do just enough to not draw too much attention to their lack of rhythm, and just enough to make them feel like they are actually doing something and looking cool in the process. This, I think, compares to how a lot of black people live. We dont do anything to, say, change the world. We do just enough to get by "unnoticed". Deep down inside I think we know the social position we are in, and even though we arent 100% comfortable with it, we still shuffle along and play by the rules hoping to remain content in thinking that we are actually doing something meaningful with out lives and look cool in the process.

I hope this makes some sort of sense to you. THANKS FOR LISTENING AND I HOPE IT WASN'T TOO LONG!

See you Tuesday
Leslie

On Sunday, October 15, 2000, jeanne responded:

Hi, Leslie.

Good discourse piece. I'd give it an A for responding with enough specific details that I could tell that you had covered both lecture and text. In addition you tried to relate it to circumstances in which you have experience - we call that "creative.".

Many of you have written to me on White Boy Shuffle. I'll get them all up soon, and hope that this will spark some solid academic discourse.

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