Biases In All American Boys

Roberto Bolaño is quoted as stating, “People see what they want to see and what people want to see never has anything to do with the truth.” This quote is related to the novel All American Boys written by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely because the novel includes negative societal perceptions from various characters. Based on their own biases and perspectives of a situation, members of society create negative judgments about others, leading to discrimination and developing racist thinking. Stereotyping, needing to see something to believe it, and jumping to conclusions are all prime examples of negative thinking. By these three effects, personal biases and opinions on others are formed, resulting in the unjust categorization of one community.

Rashad’s dad falsely accused and shot a black kid for getting his asthma inhaler, making him permanently paralyzed. Rashad’s dad was a cop for 4 years when Rashad was younger. One night when he was working, he went to a place with a noise complaint and saw two kids fighting, one white and the other black. He immediately thought the black kid was the criminal. “‘The black kid was dressed like...’ He looked at me, finally. ‘Dressed like your brother.’ I ran over and jacked the black boy up because I knew he was in the wrong,” (Jason Reynolds, 156). Afterwards, the kid started wheezing and tried to get something from his bag. Rashad’s dad commanded to put his hands up, but he didn’t, so he shot him. “‘I tell the black dude to leave the bag and put his hands up. But he doesn’t, and instead opens it. Puts his hand inside. And before he could pull it out, I pulled the trigger,’” (Jason Reynolds, 156). Turns out, the kid had asthma and was reaching for his inhaler. The gunshot had paralyzed him from the waist down. “‘He was reaching for his inhaler. Asthma attack. But I paralyzed him from the waist down,’” (Jason Reynolds, 157). Rashad’s dad's impulsive gunshot ruined the life of an innocent black boy who was defending himself from a fight. Him jumping to the conclusion of the boy being a criminal reveals some racist motives and stereotyping. Rashad’s dad speculating that he was the criminal based on his outfit is a racial stereotype against black people. Rashad’s dad’s actions when jumping to conclusions is a physical representation of his perspective on others and his racist