Naomi

White Boy Shuffle ends with Gunnar telling his daughter Naomi about the Kaufman family history, just like his mother did for him. Gunnar's mother adopted his father's history as her own, in place of her "misbegotten origins". Perhaps his mother is ashamed of her past family members? If that is the case, then it is odd to think that she would accept her husband's history, which to us readers seems very shameful. I thought that it was because the Kaufman family lived in Santa Monica. In a place full of white people, perhaps Gunnar's mother needed to expose Gunnar to his heritage, explaining why she wanted to move to Hillside. Also, she might have told Gunnar that history so that he doesn't end up like his ancestors--an Uncle Tom. Maybe, Gunnar tells Naomi this history for the same reasons.

In either case, I was very curious to see how Naomi would end up. In some ways, she and Gunnar are very similar. We saw that Gunnar had problems with his absentee father. While it looks like Gunnar will stick around with Yoshiko and Naomi, we've seen how detached he can be. He is much more interested in poetry and not as concerned with smaller things like money or family. Naomi might have to face her own sort of absentee father as she grows up. In terms of mothers, Yoshiko and Gunnar's mother are very similar in their personalities. With regards to identity, Gunnar grew up in "white boy culture" as a black boy and later moved to a more "ghetto" neighborhood. He struggled to fit in, but was eventually accepted by the black people. Similarly, I wonder how Naomi, being biracial, will fit in, and whether she will identify more with being Japanese, black, or simply both. In the world of the novel, I don't believe biraciality was ever covered. It was never addressed in the "multicultural" school of Santa Monica, nor it the schools of Hillside (I might be wrong). Biraciality is something Naomi will probably have to deal with on her own. Who knows? Maybe Naomi, following her father's footsteps will grow up to be the messiah of biracial people. Anyway, I would be very interested to see how Naomi's life plays out.

Blacks and Koreans pre-LA Riots

I am going to be giving context to why, if Ms. Kim had been "one hundred percent Korean, [the crowd would] have busted a few windows just for appearance's sake" (133). Around the 1950s and onwards, the was a trend towards (mainly white) suburbanization out of cities (colloquially known as the "white flight"). Consequently, businesses began moving out of cities and into the suburbs to be near the wealthier population. Within urban Los Angeles, Koreans began taking up most of the shops and businesses in mostly black areas. Along with the culture gap, blacks oftentimes felt threatened economically by this foreign immigrant group. This led to tensions between Koreans and blacks.
Another big catalyst for the negative relations between blacks and Koreans was the case of Latasha Harlins (whom Ms. Kim mentions). Here's a link for those who want to find out more (Click Here) but I will briefly summarize it for you. On March 16, Korean shop owner Soon Ja Du saw 15-year-old Latasha Harlins put a bottle off orange juice in her backpack, and thinking that she was stealing began to beat her. During the scuffle, Harlins tried to leave, putting back the drink, but was shot and killed by Du. In court she was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, but was sentenced to 5 years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a fine of $500. This resulted in much outrage from the black community. The rapper Ice Cube would release the controversial song "Black Korea" as a result (which also mentions a lot of what I talked about in this post). Tupac would later dedicate a song to her. The Harlins case, coupled with the recent Rodney King incidence is said to be the major cause of the 1992 L.A. Riots (known as Sa-E-Gu, or 4 2 9 in Korean).
During the riots many Korean-owned stores were targeted, being stolen from and vandalized. To fight back, many of the Koreans got weapons and stationed themselves on rooftops to shoot down any would-be thieves and vandalizers.
To bring this back to the novel, I thought that maybe Beatty was trying to make a point in  the incident with Ms. Kim. The black people overlooked the fact that she was Korean and accepted her as one of them. Similarly, despite Gunnar's more "white" upbringing he is eventually accepted by the black community and is even appointed "Negro Demagogue." Perhaps Beatty is suggesting that being black is not so easily defined.

Janie and the Invisible Man

I know it is a bit late to be talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God, but I realized a connection between Invisible Man and TEWWG after writing the Hurston response paper. TEWWG ends with Janie alone in her room, finally at peace and content. She is independent from her society, no longer needing to participate in porch-gossip or be the center of the community. The Invisible Man realizes that in order to discover himself he must get rid of any outside influences and hides out in a basement, writing and waiting. Both protagonists realize that society cannot help them achieve their goals. Also, in their travels, both protagonists experienced situations which they thought were beneficial for them. Janie thought that a life with Jody would be perfect for her. The Invisible Man thought the college and the Brotherhood would help him make something of himself.

However, there are some differences in how the novels end. While Janie has already found what she sought, having wrapped herself in the horizon, Invisible Man ends with the protagonist still working on understanding himself and discovering his identity. Also, while it is unclear whether Janie will participate in the community later, in Invisible Man, the narrator says he will eventually rejoin society once he is ready to perform his "social responsibility." There are reasons for the different endings. Hurston, interested in folklore, wanted to write a good story. The novel also had some feminist elements in it, so it had to end definitely and with a strong message to get its point across. Ellison wrote his novel to be an allegory for all American people. He stops at where the Invisible Man begins self-discovery because that will be different for every person who reads the novel.