David McKenna wrote the book and the story was awesome! I think that every one should read the book rather than see the movie. It makes one think about the way people act toward and treat other people based upon their beliefs. I now understand that there are different paths that a person can take in their life, different choices one can make. Even though mistakes have been made in the past, and although the past can never be changed, it's never to late to try to change the direction of the present, to focus on the good, and strive for a brighter future for all.
             The story begins with a white teenage boy who has a black history teacher. The teacher is encouraging the boy (Derrick) to read books about multi-racial people. One evening at the dinner table, Derrick begins to tell his family about his teacher and the books he is reading. When his father hears this he becomes very upset. In reaction to this he tells Derrick not to listen to his teacher, if he was going to make him read, he should be reading books about "White" history he says. The father then gave the family a lesson on "White power", and how "White makes right", the K.K.K. the Aryan Brotherhood, Wotanism, and so on. In effect how "Coloreds" are lower forms of life (no higher than any other animal) and should be treated with a little or no respect. Derrick thought about what his father had said, but never really put those thoughts into action. Then one day while his father was putting out a fire in the ghetto, (he was a fire fighter) he was shot and killed by a "crack dealer!
             , and yep, you guessed it, the "dope man" was black. After that, Derrick, dealing with the pain of the loss of his father, began to follow in his father's footsteps. Rather than place blame on the individual for what happened, Derrick began to blame a whole race for his loss and because of this, gets involved with a wh
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