Editing Neuromancer (section)

=== Race ===
Some critics consider ''Neuromancer''{{'s}} depiction of an in-orbit [[Rastafarianism|Rastafarian]] cluster called Zion. Scholar Andrew Strombeck writes that their vocabulary is distinct from the [[jargon]] used elsewhere, but notes that the portrayal embodies stereotypes about Rastafarians. He highlights both the group's origin as a [[Labour movement|labor protest movement]] and that they are the only group to perform [[Manual labour|manual labor]] in the novel.{{Sfn|Strombeck|2010|p=280}} Their society could provide an alternative to corporate hegemony but ultimately form "another node in the capitalist network".{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=73-74}}{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=89}} [[Samuel R. Delany]], an [[African Americans|African-American]] writer, criticized the portrayal.{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=74-75}}{{Efn|Delany wrote: "Rastas—he never calls them Rastafarians, by the way, only using the slang term—are described as having “shrunken hearts,” and their bones are brittle with “calcium loss.” Their music, Zion Dub, can be wholly analyzed and reproduced by the Artificial Intelligence, Wintermute (who, in the book, stands in for a multinational corporation), so completely that the Rastas themselves cannot tell the difference—in fact the multinational mimic job is so fine that with it Wintermute can make the Rastas do precisely what it wants, in this case help a drugged-out white hood and sleazebag get from here to there. As a group, they seem to be computer illiterates: when one of their number, Aerol, momentarily jacks into Case’s computer and sees cyberspace, what he perceives is “Babylon”—city of sin and destruction—which, while it makes its ironic comment on the book, is nevertheless tantamount to saying that Aerol is completely without power or knowledge to cope with the real world of Gibson’s novel: indeed, through their pseudo-religious beliefs, they are effectively barred from cyberspace.  From what we see, women are not a part of the Rasta colony at all. Nor do we ever see more than four of them together—so that they do not even have a group presence. Of the three chapters in which they appear, no more than three pages are actually devoted to describing them or their colony."{{Sfn|Murphy|2024|p=74-75}}}} [[Tom Moylan]] notes that ''Neuromancer'' loses its "critical edge" in exploring Zion's within the primary narrative,{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=92-93}} and describes a pattern in Gibson's ''Sprawl'' trilogy of including the racial [[Other (philosophy)|Other]] but limiting their role to "happy helper".{{Sfn|Moylan|2010|p=93-94}}