Kneel, Candace Buford, author
Russell Boudreaux is on the Jackson Jaguars and is a star player. He and his best friend Marion are the co-captains. Both are dreaming of getting out of their impoverished neighborhood by landing a football scholarship at a division one university. Both are always conscious of behaving above reproach so that they are not a target of the police, whom they fear and distrust. Both are sexually active and often preoccupied with partying and talk of girlfriends. Russell lives in a two-parent home. His parents are strict and support his football effort to help him reach their goal of improving his life. His mom is a nurse and his dad is a plumber. Marion’s mom has abandoned him and his stepdad is abusive. He spends most of his days and nights with the Boudreaux family. When Dante Maynard is gunned down by Officer Reynaud, a corrupt cop, there does not seem to be any justice. The frustration of the community is real but they are helpless. Those in power do not respect them. Those in power are white and have all the power. This is the world that Russell lives in, and it is not a fair one. He lives in Monroe, the town on the wrong side of the tracks. Suddenly flyers are posted all around town saying “Silence is Violence”. Who is posting them? The phantom is nicknamed Dante’s Shadow. The police want to find this agitator, but no one knows who it is, nor would anyone tell if they did. They protect their own.
Russell and the Jackson Jaguars have their opening game with the Westmond team. They are from the wealthier white side of town, the right side of the tracks. Brad Simmons, a spoiled, smart-mouthed bigot is their captain. He plays dirty. At the start of the game a racial slur starts a fight. The game is canceled and rescheduled. The corrupt cop, Reynaud, arrests Marion who is visibly injured. It is unfair. Brad started the fight, and there are witnesses, but no one comes forward, not even the referees who watched. They were on Westmond’s turf. Brad is released without any charges against him, but they throw the book at Marion. Unlike Marion’s deadbeat family, Brad’s father is well connected, from the right side of town, and from the right race.
Marion is suspended from the team because of the arrest. If he can’t play, he can’t get a scholarship. Dreams of a better future go down the drain. Russell is distraught over his friend’s plight. At the next game, a sure win, he decides to kneel in protest during the National Anthem. His coach, his teammates and his family are furious. He is benched and they lose the game. Should he have kneeled? Did he have any other way to make his feelings known? Were his feelings important? Was it more important for him to consider his own future and how his behavior in defense of Marion might affect it? Only one person seems to be pleased with his actions, Gabby. Gabby was once his good friend, but awhile ago, he invited her to a party and abandoned her. That ended their relationship. Now, he wanted to get closer to her, but she had largely been ignoring him, that is, until he knelt. She brought him to meetings that opened his eyes to other possibilities of having his and other black voices heard. What will Russell do next? Will the or Dante’s Shadow achieve justice? Will he fulfill his dream or toss it away to right wrongdoing?
The message of the book is told in extremes. Examples of racial injustice are highlighted. It is black and white, literally, though, with no gray or explanations. Yes, there are lousy cops, but most are not. Yes, sometimes blacks are targeted by the lousy cops, but most are not. Sometimes those targeted are actually guilty of committing crimes or resisting arrest, but that is not addressed. No daylight appears between the examples of racism in this book and the reasons for them that may not have been racist. However, the book highlights the injustice in the black community and it does it well. Still, portraying all white people as racist and all cops as corrupt, does no one any service. There is injustice on both sides of this coin. Both sides need to be explored. The book needs to be read by all students so that they can empathize with this discrimination and put an end to it, but it needs the supervision of a just person.
The book obviously stirs up memories of the football player, Kaepernick, whose kneeling protest started a movement that was resented by many sports fans who do not want politics in their world of sports nor do they want their flag disrespected. They do not see the connection between American patriotism and his protest. America had given Kaepernick the very right to protest. The book does not address both sides of this issue which, if it did, could lead to more helpful conversations, uniting the races, rather than dividing them. It does not address the differences in the social or economic backgrounds of both Russell and Kaepernick, either. The book also reminds people of a cop who had been reprimanded many times for his behavior, who seemed to target and then murder a black man, high on drugs, who resisted arrest for a minor crime. This is a horrific memory, but the author does not address the crime committed, or the drugs involved, or the arrest resistance by the victim that led to his death. It only addressed the result. The book also hearkens back to memories of Trayvon Martin, whose crime appeared to be walking in a white neighborhood. A private security volunteer accosted him. This racist incident resulted in the death of this young man. However, the fact that he had a record and there had been recent incidents of vandalism is part of the story but is not discussed. The circumstances that led up to many of the racist incidents are not explored, only the racism is, and that may be appropriate if the final message of the book is that there is a problem on both sides of the coin. Blacks should not have dead end lives, but nor should they commit so many crimes which is what causes suspicion. Which came first, the chicken or the egg. We know racism was first, but is the acceptable end result to be racism toward another group?
This book could present a teaching moment to stop the extreme reactions we witness everyday of both racism and some over the top resistance movements that are followed by looting and rioting that hurts the cause of the justice they seek. Instead, it seems to encourage divisiveness because even after achieving the goal and attaining justice, the kneeling continues in even greater numbers. There is no satisfaction for success. There is only the feeling of power which spurs them on to do it again. Unity is a good thing when it doesn’t inspire disunity. If the goal is justice, the end must not be injustice for others.
This young adult novel does justify Russell’s kneeling, at least the first time, even for me, who doesn’t believe it is appropriate to disrespect the flag or country, that gives you the right to protest. I just think it went too far by painting all blacks as innocent and all whites as guilty. However, as a white woman, pejoratively referred to as a Karen in some circles, my review may be unacceptable, and my views may be unrealistic. I have not walked in the shoes of a black person, but I have experienced the injustice and the fear caused by bias. Silence is wrong for both sides, but before there is a dialogue bringing about justice for all, both sides have to trust each other. A book that highlights violence, should not reinforce it.