Dad

                Throughout most of the novel White Boy Shuffle, the Gunnar Kaufman describes the various events in his life with humor and sarcasm, making a joke out of anything and everything. He describes his extended family history as a tradition of cronyism to the white man, giving their saga almost as a comedy or farce with all of the humor he puts into it. However, the jokes stop completely one generation before his own, and for some reason Gunnar refuses to tell jokes about his father, another crony in the form of a criminal profiler for the LAPD, stating that it hits too close to home. This relationship with his father is quite enigmatic, and is expanded upon very rarely, but by closely examining it we can see many of Gunnar's fears and struggles in a more illuminating context.

                Aside from the introduction, the next mention of Gunnar's father occurs in his color vignettes about his early childhood. Most of the pieces are short and somewhat humorous poems about his life and the daily minutiae he experiences, but when he reaches "black," the tone immediately darkens. He heavily implies that he views himself as unwanted and useless, and then segues into a segment implying that his father molested him at some point in his childhood. This segment in between several humorous ones is so somber and intense that it is quite jarring and uncomfortable to read, and yet, as soon as it is over, it is never mentioned again. Gunnar moves on to his next topic with "after my father molested me" and that is the end of his discussion about the topic. This intensity and then return to the norm is  quite important for the development of Gunnar's character and psyche, however.

                Gunnar rarely mentions his father after this incident, but whenever he is mentioned he pointedly calls him phrases like "piece of shit" and tries to avoid him at all costs. In addition, the context of the rest of the vignette about "black" frames much of the internal conflict Gunnar feels. Many of the issues he faces, such as sexual identity and self-worth, take on a very different color when viewed in light of Gunnar's previous molestation. Indeed, his sense of blackness itself seems influenced by this, as his father was the model Kaufman in terms of living on the white man's terms. Gunnar's molestation by a man who had previously forced him to go along with white culture and racism could be part of the cause for the strong distaste in Gunnar's mouth for going along with the institution. The molestation, by being included in the "black" vignette, is implied to be a facet of his own blackness that he is ashamed of, and yet embraces in opposition to the oppressive culture that his father comes from.

                The second significant incident occurring with Gunnar's father occurs during the LA riots. After a humorous if not surreal foray into the streets and stores turns up little to nothing, Gunnar and his gang friends attempt to secure a safe from a building that is left in the nearby parking lot. The crew barely manages to load it into the truck before Gunnar's father, the cop, shows up and beats Gunnar severely. This event too is presented rather starkly, in contrast to the humor of the rest of the scene. A similar dynamic to the molestation can be seen here as well. Gunnar, wanting to belong to the black community of his friends, is beaten by his father, a black man who has completely embraced the white institution. In a way, Gunnar's father is beating him for being everything that he sees as wrong with "blackness." Of course, the reader has grown up with Gunnar, and recognizes this robbery not as a "black" action but as part of Gunnar's frustration and resentment at the white world, which has boiled over by letting Rodney King's killers free.  This contrast between Gunnar's emerging identity and the hate his father feels for Gunnar's rejection of the institution only cements Gunnar's anti-establishment views further, and pushes him further and further away from activities which he sees as affirming his place in white society, such as basketball player and later poet.

                Gunnar's father, interestingly enough, is mentioned at the very end of the novel. Gunnar wrote a poem about his father's suicide, presented strangely comically as literally swallowing the gun and choking on the trigger. The poem states that his father dreamed of equality and civil liberty but then "woke up and had to go to work," implying that his day to day concerns overrode his ideals. This captures Gunnar's father's attitude quite well, and frames him as someone who goes along with the institution because it's convenient and the path of least resistance. Gunnar has in contrast followed a path more resistant than perhaps anyone else, becoming a black messiah while completely rejecting any authority or identity such a title would give him. This desire to escape Kaufmanism, personified in Gunnar's father, presents a strong and compelling case for Gunnar's development as a man.