In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, what do George Murchison’s white shoes symbolize?

George Murchison represents an assimilationist ethos in
the play. His shoes signal that he has adopted the prevalent values of the dominant
culture, as Beneatha puts it, and this notion is indirectly addressed in the dialogue of
the scene with the white shoes. 

Walter cannot understand
the reason behind George's shoes and so mocks them. 

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Walter: Why all you college boys wear them
fairyish-looking white
shoes?

Ruth
explains. 

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Ruth: It's the college
style,
Walter.

This conversation
takes place, notably, after Beneatha has appeared wearing "what a well-dressed Nigerian
woman wears" in a robe that Asagai has given her. She has also already explained her
views of George as an assimilationist and explained what this
means. 

"It
means someone who is willing to give up his own culture and submerge himself completely
in the dominant, and in this case, oppressive
culture."

Murchison is proud
of his awareness of the cultural nuances of the upper classes. He brags of going to New
York and even offers up the factoid that plays start at eight-forty in the evening in
New York City, although they start at eight-thirty in
Chicago. 

When confronted with the claim that he is an
assimilationist, George side-steps the accusation and takes a superior line. When Ruth
asks for a definition of the term, George says that "assimilationist" is "just a college
girl's way of calling people Uncle Toms - but that isn't what it means at
all." 

One reason George takes this line of reasoning is
that he does seem to positively believe that the best way to get ahead is to fall into
line with prevailing cultural expectations and take the cultural markers of class as
universals. Thus, for George, successful African Americans should act and dress as
successful Caucasians do. Successful people act and dress as
successful people, regardless of race. (This universalism is a
foundational element of assimilationist thinking, especially as it is presented in the
play.)

Being a success, to some extent, means having an
awareness of the specific etiquette of the upper classes and adopting that etiquette as
one's own. If white shoes are the mode or norm for social climbing,
socially savvy, upper class college people, then George Murchison will wear white
shoes. 

Important to note here is the fact that the play
leans toward a Pan-Africanism at times by portraying Asagai in a generally positive
light and by showing Beneatha's preference for Asagai as well. However, the play does
not make any ultimate or final declarations as to whether or not assimilation and
integration are adequate solutions to America's race problems. George, for all his
arrogance and shallowness, may be on the right side of the debate. After all, he is the
richest person Beneatha knows (or has dated) and has a strong sense of his own future.
He may be lacking soul, in some ways, where Asagai does not, but the politics George
represents are not entirely cast into doubt.