Lew kind of enjoyed it himself in this part of town, unlike some of the ops at White City, who seemed skittish around Negroes, who'd been arriving lately in ever-increasing numbers from down South.
* * * * * * * * * *
Uh oh. This is getting into discussions of race relations in America! Being a dumb white guy living in Portland, Oregon, I don't have the sensitivity, historical understanding, cultural awareness, or—let's face it—intellect to discuss this stuff. But I do know that cops are worse than I am at this kind of thing and Pynchon sort of points out one of the problems with why cops are so terrible at it (other than the outright racism). I mean, "seemed skittish" really is about the kindest euphemism you can use for a person not comfortable with leaving the bubble of their world in an effort to understand some of their fellow American citizens who maybe haven't lived the same American experience that you've lived for, being blunt, some seriously fucked up systemic reasons. Not that I'm suggesting their American experience is negative simply because it began as completely racist! Black Americans created their own culture outside white American culture because they absolutely had to; what else were they going to do? Whites wouldn't let them experience "American culture." So if somebody feels "skittish" around Black culture, the cure for that skittishness isn't by avoiding it; it's by immersing yourself in it and learning about it. The cure is leaving your bubble rather than suggesting everybody who has left your bubble to actually live in a multicultural America is living in a bubble.
Dammit! I already admitted I don't have the elegance to discuss race in America! But being a white guy in Portland, I just can't help myself! I have mediocre opinions that I have to share!
"some of the ops at White City, who seemed skittish around Negroes"
Look at how perfect that statement is. Pynchon's pretty good at this writing thing.
Imagine being one of my professors in college having to read this kind of explication from me. They loved scribbling all over my essays: "How so? Expound on your thoughts?" And I'd just read those notes and think, "How?! It's all right there in the text! Does 'expound your thoughts' simply mean 'rewrite in your own words what Pynchon just said so eloquently'?!"
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