All American Boys

Quinn Collins is a Caucasian high school senior who, at the opening of the novel, feels he must live up to his role as “the dutiful son, the All-American boy with an All-American fifteen-foot deadeye jump shot” (27). Quinn’s father is revered by the community as “Saint Springfield” after he “died in the name of freedom” (31) while fighting in Afghanistan seven years prior, and Quinn places enormous pressure on himself to live up to his father’s legacy, as well as to excel in basketball and receive a college scholarship. At the same time, Quinn deals with this pressure in the typical teenage ways, including stealing some of his mother’s alcohol and occasionally smoking pot. Notably, while Rashad, assumed to be a “thug” (23), doesn’t steal or use drugs, the All-American boy, Quinn, does. While Quinn’s actions aren’t particularly reprehensible or out of the ordinary, they do subvert the racial stereotypes that drive so many of the novel’s events.

Like Rashad, Quinn undergoes a transformation throughout the novel. Forced to witness the act of racial violence against Rashad, he at first wants to forget about it, wishing others weren’t “digging it up and making everyone look like shit” (140). Quinn realizes that he can’t forget this violence—he needed to witness it “to be shocked back into [his] best self” (296). The Rashad incident forces Quinn to remember Paul’s violence in the past and his own part in it, as Quinn once told Paul another boy was bullying him, knowing Paul would beat the boy up. Quinn has tough encounters with Rashad’s friend, English, and his own friend, Guzzo, and starts to examine racism in a new light. Quinn has never thought of himself as racist, but he now understands that by “ignoring” racism, he has become part of “a bigger problem” (262).

Quinn affirms his commitment to acting against injustice, rather than refusing to see it, through two courageous acts: by making a statement as a witness to Rashad’s beating, and by attending the protest, despite the intimidating police presence. In choosing to stand up for his new beliefs despite his fear, Quinn finds that he has become an All-American boy who reaffirms his father’s legacy in a new way. As Quinn says, “If [my father] died for freedom and justice—well, what the hell did he die for if it doesn’t count for all of us?” (293) Just as his father stood up for American values of freedom and equality while fighting in Afghanistan, Quinn does the same as he protests the many African-American lives lost due to racial injustice.

Rashad’s father, David, is a former police officer with a strong faith in American institutions such as the Army and police force. He is a man who believes that “if you work hard, good things happen to you no matter what” (51). He places high standards on his sons, which leads to tension as he forces Rashad to become a cadet in the ROTC, expresses constant disappointment in Spoony for disagreeing with his values, and even blames Rashad for somehow “bring[ing] on” (49) the beating by presenting himself as less than perfectly respectable.

David’s character gains a new dimension when he reveals to Rashad that as a police officer, he shot and paralyzed an unarmed black youth whom he assumed was reaching for a weapon. Rashad realizes his father is flawed and that he hasn’t always been the upstanding, righteous man he presents himself as. After this confession, when David says that Rashad doesn’t know everything, Rashad responds, “And neither do you” (236). Now able to see each other as flawed but well-meaning humans, Rashad and his father develop a deeper relationship. Rashad understands how much his father loves him—as a police officer, David would do anything to make it home to his family, even if that meant making snap judgments in the line of duty—and David shows support for his son when he attends the protest at the end of the novel.

Rashad’s mother, Jessica, is the peacekeeper of the family, or, as Rashad puts it, “the referee who blows the whistle but is way too nice to call foul on anyone” (101). She defends Rashad and Spoony to their father, and her love for Rashad and heartbreak over what happened to him shines throughout the novel. She tells Rashad he that “didn’t deserve” to become “some punching bag” (193), and she supports the protest by inviting the pastor and his followers, as well as attending herself.

Rashad’s older brother, Spoony, works at UPS and has a style Rashad describes as “nineties hip-hop, gritty, realness” (51)—and, as a result, Spoony is “always a suspect” (60) just because of his race and the way he dresses. Perhaps the most vehement voice against racism in the novel, Spoony refuses to allow Rashad’s beating to get “swept under the rug” (60). He and his law-student girlfriend, Berry, become the main forces behind the #RashadIsAbsentAgainToday movement online, in the news, and through the protest.

Paul, the policeman who beats Rashad, is the older brother of Quinn’s best friend, Guzzo. After the death of Quinn’s father, Paul stepped in as a surrogate father and role model. Paul has taught Quinn basketball and promised to always be there for him, but his encounter with Rashad reveals a very different side to his character. Without giving Rashad any chance to explain himself or even surrender peacefully, Paul beats him mercilessly, saying that “fuckin’ thugs […] need to learn how to respect authority” (23). Paul clearly abuses his power as a police officer out of a need to assert control, and, as Quinn later realizes, this isn’t Paul’s first act of violence—years earlier, he used excessive force when beating up a neighborhood bully. Quinn must come to terms with the fact his childhood idol has become “some hulking animal stalking the shadows of [his] mind all night” (62), and he chooses not to accept what Paul has done. Like other characters in All American Boys, Paul has flaws as well as redeemable qualities, but for most of the other characters, Paul’s actions are ultimately unforgivable.

Guzzo is Quinn’s best friend, basketball teammate, and Paul’s younger brother. After the beating, Guzzo continues to support Paul unequivocally and resents all the discussion about racism the incident has brought up. By the end of the novel, Guzzo’s face has become “a twisted mitt of hate” (256) as he beats Quinn up and ends their friendship. Guzzo chooses loyalty to his family, and in the end, Quinn says, “I didn’t blame him” (256).

Jill is Paul and Guzzo’s cousin, as well as Quinn’s crush. As the only girl among eleven Galluzzo cousins, Jill has learned to “never [take] shit, never let anyone get the jump on her” (109). After the beating, Jill is the only member of her family to question whether Paul is such a “good guy” (129). She is prompted by the incident to examine her own implicit racism and motivates Quinn to do so as well. Jill plays a huge role in organizing the protest in honor of Rashad, saying that this is “a real moment in history,” and she wants to be “on the right side of it” (290).

English, Rashad’s best friend, is the star of the high school basketball team and, according to Rashad, the “stereotypical green-eyed pretty boy” who is “a master at everything,” yet not “cocky” (10). English is African-American, and he’s deeply affected by the beating—as Rashad says, “It’s stirring [English] up inside in a way that I had never seen before” (159). Even English, the “coolest dude on Earth” (159), loses that cool in the wake of the injustice inflicted on his best friend; however, he channels his anger into something positive, helping to organize the protest against police brutality.

Carlos is another African-American high school senior and the “extra-salty add-on” (11) to Rashad’s group of friends. Unlike Rashad’s other friends, Carlos is not on the basketball team. Rather, Carlos is an artist like Rashad himself—specifically, a graffiti artist—and he creates the “RASHAD IS ABSENT AGAIN TODAY” graffiti tag that becomes the slogan for those protesting Rashad’s beating.