Darnell Shackleford Character Analysis in All American Boys

Darnell Shackleford is a young black man who was being robbed by a white man when David (then working as a cop) was called to assist. Mistaking Darnell for the mugger, David shot him, assuming that the inhaler he was pulling from his bag was a gun. Darnell was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Darnell Shackleford Quotes in All American Boys

The All American Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Darnell Shackleford or refer to Darnell Shackleford . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Racism, Stereotyping, and Police Brutality Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Atheneum edition of All American Boys published in 2015.

My dad, my dad, had paralyzed an unarmed kid, a black kid, and I had had no

idea. My dad shot a kid. I mean, to me, my father was the model of discipline and courage. Sure, he was stern, and sometimes judgmental, but I always felt like he meant well. But to that kid––and now my head was reeling––to that kid, my dad was no different than Officer Galluzzo. Another trigger-happy cop who was quick to assume and even quicker to shoot.

Related Characters: (speaker), , ,

Page Number and Citation: 234

Explanation and Analysis:

Darnell Shackleford Character Timeline in All American Boys

The timeline below shows where the character Darnell Shackleford appears in All American Boys. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...over to the East Side, where he found a white kid and a black kid (Darnell Shackleford) in a fight. He notes that Darnell was dressed like Spoony, with dreads, a... (full context)

...stories of heroic acts David committed as a cop. David explains that it turns out Darnell was the one being robbed, and that he had been trying to reach for his... (full context)

...be a cop, and he says he wanted to do good. After the incident with Darnell, he quit the force. He emphasizes that most cops are actually good. Rashad adds that... (full context)

After seeing a comment about David’s shooting of Darnell Shackleford, Rashad decides to look up Darnell. Seeing pictures of Darnell in his wheelchair, he... (full context)