All American Boys



All American Boys
The current paper is concerned with the racism portrayed in All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. This story is clearly depicting the condition of Black boys in America. Rashad was a sixteen-year-old pupil who was mistakenly accused of stealing. His classmate Quinn had witnessed the entire matter of brutal beating. He was beaten by Police Officer, who is accidently brother of Rashad’s best friend. Entire story is seen from the perspective of Rashad and Quinn (Dennis). For this research paper, quote from Martin Luther King Jr. has been chosen. Martin Luther has depicted that “If we are to have peace on earth… our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective” with the help of this quote, it has been understood that everyone in the world should maintain peace. Rashad stated that police officials told his friends the he had been caught due to stealing; police officer also added that Rashad did not want to surrender and caused several public annoyances. He was beaten by police officers and his entire body was covered with vermin. “Police Officer explained to my Folks that I had been caught stealing. Not only that, but I had also been charged with resisting arrest and Public nuisance (p.44)”. Rashad stated that he was not only tortured but also mentally punished for such crime, which was not done by Rashad. Rashad was harassed physically as well as mentally. When the authors state “Truth is I was feeling two ways. Physically, I Obviously didn’t feel great, that’s for sure, clearly shows Rashad’s experience in police station (p.45).
In addition to this Rashad was in hospital due to several bruises on his face. He was sent to hospital, because he was severely beaten by police officers. In the middle of every collision, the only thing that could charm him is the Voice of Clarissa to which he was fascinated. He liked to have company of Clarissa and waited for Clarissa. He feels soothing while communicating with Clarissa. Everything moved him. He loved the way she spoke to him, treated him, and respected him. His emotions are depicted as “Knock, Knock. The door opened and there was Clarissa pushing my lunch cart in” (p. 86) which also shows his hidden respect and affection for Clarissa. Rashad did not like to expose his emotion in front of his parents. Therefore, he behaved stiffly in front of his parents and engaged himself in his daily work. Even, he did not like Pastor to come in. Rashad had demonstrated the word “exactly” because media is imprinting wrong information in the mind of the viewers. “Rashad?” my mother called through the crack in the door”.
From inside, Rashad wanted to narrate everything in front of everyone but he was incapable in doing so. News and media are portraying everything wrongly; even, they are using several racist term against him. He tried to explain the exact matter of that day. “I knew exactly what I was drawing. The only thing I could. I was going to re-create the scene, what had happened to me, what was playing constantly on the news, on the page”. As Rashad was seeing this news while he was in hospital, Clarissa was present at that time and being the modest woman, she did not want to hurt emotions of Rashad. Therefore, she stated that the news was complete out of track. It did not show any valuable detail. Clarissa was trying to motivate him and distracting him from the news.
                      “Clarissa glanced as the TV again. Then back to me.” When Rashad was returning from school; Rashad was a genuine schoolboy and he had no anxiety for anyone particularly. He loved to stay mutually everyone around him. He had left with no respect for Paul still when Paul waved him he waved him back. Rashad thought that may be Paul was repenting and thinking that he had done wrong with Rashad. “He waved me and I waved him back”. Paul was repenting and telling Rashad that media is spreading wrong news against him. Anybody should not try believe this. “Paul sniffed again. His eyes were bloodshot.” His mother is in search of a good lawyer so that his son is able to get justice. “My mother did eventually show up with the lawyer she found Wednesday evening”…..“This is the Lady who was in the store. She was here today”. The storekeeper had come to meet him and she would be there to verify everything.
From the above analysis of the essay, it has been understood that white people torture black people for no specific reasons or causes. Quotation of Martin Luther has been chosen to understand the impact of racism in the mentality of Black people. Loyalty should be transcended through race, class, nation and tribe. People all over the world should be treated with utmost dignity and respect. This book is about the racism and how black people are treated. With the help of this book, harassment faced by racist people can be understood well. Martin has preached that people should live with peace and they should have respect for every people despite of their complexion and gender.



      Works Cited

Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. All American Boys. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2015. Print.

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