Rashad Butler

Rashad Butler is a black teenager who attends Springfield Central high school. One Friday, Rashad falls victim to the racial profiling and police brutality that is all so prevalent in America. At Jerry's corner store, an officer accuses him of stealing when he was just reaching in his bag to get his phone. Despite trying to convey to the officer his intentions, he grabs Rashad, and beats him bloody outside the store- calling him a thug who does not know how to respect authority.

Rashad spends the majority of the novel in a hospital bed, and initially, his character appears defeated. Although he knows he was not doing anything illegal, he feels like the easiest thing to do would be to let this run its course and take the punishment, and that the odds are stacked against him since he is a black teenager. However, his brother...