All American Boys

In All American Boys, combating racism isn’t as simple as treating people equally on an individual level. Rather, as characters like Quinn and Jill discover, racism is so deeply ingrained in American culture and institutions that fighting it requires a complete shift of perspective, an understanding that racism is “everywhere and all mixed up in everything” (292), and then a choice to speak out and take action in order to affect real change. 

The novel begins with a clear, overt act of racism, as police officer Paul Galluzzo beats Rashad hard enough to break ribs, despite there being no evidence Rashad has done anything wrong. Paul calls Rashad one of the “fuckin’ thugs” who “can’t just do what [he’s] told” (23)—an opinion he clearly holds about African-Americans in general, not just Rashad. However, the initial responses to this act reveal how deeply racial prejudices are ingrained in American culture, as Rashad’s own father blames him for what happened. David berates his son for not following his advice: “Never fight back. Never talk back. Keep your hands up” (50). African-Americans like David place the responsibility of deterring racism not on the whites, who make prejudiced judgments, but on blacks, who must anticipate and avoid these judgments by changing their own behavior—and even their identities.

Later in the book, the idea of internalized prejudice and stereotypes becomes even stronger, as we learn that David himself shot a young black kid when he was a police officer. The youth turned out to be innocent and unarmed, but working in the police department, an institution where racial assumptions and snap judgments can become part of the job, David had found himself “walking into situations expecting to find a certain kind of criminal” (235). David did quit the police force and eventually supports Rashad after what happened, giving hope that these entrenched, unconscious prejudices can be overcome.

As a young white man whose life was largely unaffected by racism before he witnessed Rashad’s beating, Quinn undergoes a very different journey in the novel. For the first time, Quinn realizes that his white privilege gives him the ability to walk away from the difficult questions raised by Rashad’s beating. As English tells him, “White boy like you can […] just keep on living, like this shit doesn’t even exist” (176). But by walking away, Quinn now understands that he is not only avoiding the problem of racism but adding to it. He discusses the situation frequently with Jill, who comes to a similar conclusion in saying, “I don’t think most people think they’re racist”—but that by continually saying “not my problem,” they are in fact contributing to racism (184).

By the time the novel ends, Quinn has concluded that yes, he is white—and that is “exactly why” he’s taking part in the protest (292). He now knows that “nothing is going to change” unless white people speak out about racism (292). He concludes that whites must work to counter their own ingrained prejudices and that staying silent is just “another kind of violence” (292).

The novel ends with Quinn really looking at Rashad for the first time, determined to see “the guy beneath all the bullshit too many of us see first” (309). All American Boys suggests that people can truly affect change only by altering the way they view the world and the people in it, regardless of race or background.