Ghost Boys

This book is absolutely heartbreaking. I finished it in less than 4 hours and I just couldn't believe that a 200 pages book could make me feel so many things. Anger, sadness, frustration. It's a great, great book. As a white person who want to be more educated when it comes to the history of black people, this book was a great start for me.

It's the story of a 12 year old black kid, Jerome, who is murdered by a white police officer because he thought Jerome was holding a real gun. He was not, it was a toy gun. The police officer shot Jerome in the back without asking him to put the gun down. Without actually telling him that the police was there. Without giving him a chance to explain. And that's all because Jerome had the skin darker than the police officer's.
Jerome becomes a ghost and is a witness to all that happens after his tragical death. How his family is suffering, how the police officer isn't found guilty of murder. He is saying that he was scared for his life, that he thought Jerome was a “big, scary man”. But he was a 12 YEAR OLD BOY.

One of the most powerful things in this book, for me, was this quote: “Color shouldn't make anybody scared. Is it because slavery happened? Is that why some whites are afraid of black people? I don't know. Wake up, people, I want to tell everyone. Fear, stereotypes about black boys don't make the world better.”

This book shows the true face of racism. It is sad, it is terrifying, but it should be something we learn from. We, white people. Because we need to stand together and FIGHT against racism.