How It Went Down
*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
A black boy is shot by a white man and killed. The white man is released on claims of self-defence without an investigation. What follows is what we see everyday on the news—media interrogation, racist assumptions, ghetto-blaming, and injustice. Told from the perspective of several people who live in the Underhill neighbourhood where the boy was killed so that voices are given to both sides and everyone who had a part in the murder. An undercurrent of mystery and accountability runs through Magoon’s writing—who was Tariq Johnson, really? Was he a member of a gang, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Are people seeing what they want to see? When you truly believe you are acting out of goodness, does that make your actions right?
What I enjoyed most out of this book was Kekla Magoon’s crazy good ability to write a variety of different characters with their own narrative style. The language changes in each new chapter and keeps the story interesting. It was also really striking to me how, when you get to see everyone’s different perspectives, you can see how mistakes were made, namely with Tom Arlen’s character who, if he hadn’t assumed the worst of Tariq and stopped him on the street, wouldn’t have gotten Tariq killed. At the heart of it, though, you know that Jack Franklin’s motivations can’t be mistaken for anything other than racism and murder. Out of all the characters, he’s the only one who can’t be forgiven for his actions. For everyone else, you can chalk it up to the neighbourhood, or their parents, or what have you—but with Jack Franklin, there is no excuse. His actions were not a mistake. They were intentional.
I wish we had gotten more of Jack’s perspective, and I wish we had seen a happy conclusion for the people of Underhill, but if anything, this is an accurate portrait of race issues today. I believe this should be necessary reading on all high school curriculums in America and Canada, for sure. I’m going to keep this book and give it to my children to read, when I have them. I do believe that, even at its worst, this book is a rosy picture of ghetto life and violence, but I feel like we rarely get to see a portrayal of that lifestyle at all, so I’m happy to take what I can and learn from it. I will definitely be looking out for more work from this author. Highly recommend.
*Side note: The day I started reading this book, my papa passed away. The funeral is today, which is why my review may not seem as up-beat or detailed as normal. For a post on my experience with grief, go here.
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