With the use of a " flippant tone and [ an ] uncomfortable use of sarcasm , " White Dog is Gary 's dissection of the paranoia generated by both racism and classism as he juxtapose McCarthyism @-@ American , in which there is an " obsessive sniffing out of ' subversives ' and violent race riots , " against the barricades and race riots of France in 1968 . The violence depicted also provide a discourse on revolutionary social change , as it also lead to " a new order , a new reality . " Gary " excoriate American racism , black activism , and movie @-@ colony liberalism " and reflect on American race relations as a whole . He also document his own " intolerance of intolerance that is the curse of tolerance " . Through the dog , Gary examine whether a learned response can be unlearned . He also pose the question of how much freedom and uniqueness a person can claim if humans responses are indeed learned by " social indoctrination . "