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Kylee Grover

Mrs. Cramer

College Composition I

11-01-19

All American Reality

The world has evolved in both good and bad ways. Sometimes, the bad needs to be

represented as well as the good. Inequality and social issues are a big part of our culture. It’s

something we deal with frequently and react to in all different ways. Brendan Kiely and Jason

Reynolds’ novel All American Boys reflects the authors’ thoughts on inequality and current

social issues.

Inequality; A word that means much more. It’s an issue in the hierarchy of life. In All

American Boys, Jason Reynolds is the author of the Rashad chapters. Rashad is a black ROTC

student, who’s just trying to have fun and impress his parents. One day, that all changes when he

is tripped in the store when trying to buy a bag of chips. All it took was for the store clerk to

scream “he’s stealing,” and Rashad was being shoved on the floor – all because of his skin color.

“...Even though I felt abused, wanted to tell him to let it go.” (Reynolds, 59). Rashad felt

attacked the minute he hit the ground. He knew it was about his skin color. This shows traits

about Jason Reynolds. He is a black man himself, and he has experienced the sickening feeling

of fear around police officers – all in fear of being attacked because he was of color. He knows

that all it takes is for a misunderstanding and he could be thrown to the ground. Spoony, one of

Rashad’s friends, also was always targeted because of his skin color. Women clench their purses

when he walks by, others gaze him up and down in fear. They glared at him like he was a

monster, like he was going to harm them someway. (Reynolds, 60). This shows another example
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of Jason Reynolds’ understanding of being a suspect, based on his skin color. The inequality of

being looked at as a criminal, just because of his skin color. To be expected to steal stuff and

glared at, to be feared all because of his skin color. The saddest part is, it is inequality. If Rashad

or Spoony, or even Jason Reynolds were white – it would be a different world for them, and

that’s not fair; at all.

Quinn, however, is in a total opposite situation of Rashad. He’s a high school basketball

player, with not a care in the world. He’s a good kid at heart though, and always tries to live up

to the man his dad was. He was familiar with Rashad, but never dreamed of what was to come.

Rashad’s absence left an eerie feeling in the school. He was absent, again. As these words were

spray painted in blue, neon letters in front of the stairs – the more response the situation received.

(Kiely, 165). Quinn felt like it needed to be discussed, yet no adult would. It was the reality of

the situation. This shows that Brandon Kiely – as a white man – sees it. He hears about, he

understands it. He feels as if there's a need for change, but society just ignores it to prevent

chaos; when all it does it create it. He, however, doesn’t truly understand the world of a black

man. He never has been targeted because of his skin color or looked at as a criminal. “The kid

took her down because he caught her stealing...” (Kiely, 2019). Quinn is told by the store clerk –

which Rashad supposedly was trying to steal from – a completely different story than what

happened. Instead of the story of Rashad being tripped, then landing over his bag and the chips,

the clerk insists that he was trying to run away from the store and attempting to steal the chips.

This shows another understanding that Kiely has of social issues. It’s always another excuse, or

story. It’s always the victim’s fault according to society, not the officers. Brandon Kiely

understands the social divide between cops and whites, then blacks. He understands that most
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take the police officer’s side, or even another person's just based on the idea of ‘they got arrested,

they’re in the wrong.’ Which only makes it a bigger divide when it comes to races.

Brandon Kiely and Jason Reynolds’ All American Boys shows the cultural divide of

inequality and current social issues. They understand the concepts of their race, as well as the

nation’s reaction to current issues. They wrote this story to show their own thought processes and

struggles, as well as a mirror image to both sides of the situation – white and black. The two will

never be able to truly understand each other’s side, simply because they’re not living it. Though

through society and their writings, they were able to tell a story of Rashad and Quinn to display

the realities of inequality and social issues within our nation

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Work Cited

Reynolds, Jason, and Brendan Kiely. All American Boys. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2018.