Racial Discrimination And Stereotyping In Paul Beatty’s The White Boy Shuffle: A Critical Study

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Dr. Gowher Ahmad Naik , Sanjay Kumar

Abstract

The White Boy Shuffle is Paul Beatty's debut novel, raising racial issues in the United States of America. In this novel, Beatty, the Man Booker prize-winning author, discusses racial problems through the protagonist Gunnar Kaufman. Gunnar is an African-American who suffers discrimination, demoralization, mistreatment, and prejudice. Beatty has portrayed racism prevails throughout the novel and depicts African-Americans as hopeless. Paul Beatty has delineated the stereotypical images of blacks and shown how white people use stereotypical comments on blacks to make them feel belittled. Gunnar is an exception to his community as he gets success instead of falling into the trap of racial barriers. Beatty explores that blacks have been targeted in America. He avers that African-Americans have suffered from misrecognition due to their race. They have been belittled, denigrated, and subjugated by the whites and the policies of the United States of America. Beatty reflects that there are many negative stereotypes against black Americans. The white people have used this to undermine the identity of blacks and consider them inferior. Moreover, the white people tortured the blacks, so they chose to commit suicide instead of living their lives under slavery and demonization. This paper aims to trace that white people have discriminated against African-Americans. This has been analyzed from the perspective of Dr. Cornel West. 

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