All American Boys, By Jason Reynolds And Timothy Kiely's 'All American Boys'

Looking Forwards
"I just want to be treated like a human being too." - Rosa Parks (after being jailed for refusing to give up her seat on a bus). In this quote, Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist who initiated the Montgomery bus boycott against segregated buses, explained how inequality infringed upon those who resided in the lower portion of the racial hierarchy. She noticed that white people dehumanized black people and belittled them by forcing black people to sit in a designated part of the bus. The black community resented this treatment, and when Rosa Parks tried to voice their perspective, she was jailed. However, she continued to persevere and saw hope, for she spread her message of disdain towards the system to others. The origin
In the book entitled All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, Rashad, an innocent black teenager was about to buy a bag of chips and gum when a white woman tripped over him, causing the items to fall from Rashad’s hands. The police in the store then abruptly came to the conclusion that Rashad was going to steal the items. As result, he started to hurt Rashad. Although this book is merely fiction, the Authors based the plot off of similar occurrences of police brutality directed towards Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. “Oh, you wanna resist? You wanna resist? The cop kept saying… I would’ve told him that I didn’t want to resist… I was already in cuffs. I was already… stuck… the man leaning over me, hurting me, telling me to stop fighting even though I wasn’t fighting… My brain exploded into a million thoughts and only one thought at the same time - please don’t kill me.” (Rashad, 22 and 23) Addressing inequality and white supremacy is a vital issue to acknowledge. Considering in a span of five years, fifty-three cases like the aforementioned have occurred, racism has not yet concluded. The fact that over a third of the American people fear that one day, they may be the target of one of these contemptible events (initiated by racial stereotyping), is alarming. People assume that due to the abolishment of slavery, and due to the fact that segregation is outlawed, racism is no longer a topic that needs tending to. This leads to the government addressing the topic less, and ignorance spreads. Nevertheless, due to these tendencies to neglect the issue, racism thrives in this country, and hate crimes continue. White people still tyrannize over other races. Considering America is supposed to be the country for opportunities and freedom, it is time to act like upstanders and live up to these expectations as the benevolent country America