This Is My America

Of all her family members, protagonist Tracy Beaumont connects with her father the most over her interest in his case. After the outcome of the trial, Tracy lost trust in the criminal justice system: “I believed so much in Daddy being found innocent during the trial, but hope wasn’t enough to go against the story the police wanted the jury to believe” (154). This mistrust of law enforcement and the criminal justice system is what enables Tracy to uncover the truth, even when it is painful. Her relentless advocacy and pursuit of justice is the catalyst for revealing the truth not only of Angela Herron’s murder, but the murders of Cathy and Mark Davidson seven years before. Most importantly, her pursuit of justice secures freedom for her father, and therefore for her entire family, who has been counting down the days for the past seven years until Daddy’s execution date.

Tracy is strong-willed, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her father’s freedom, even interrupting her brother’s television interview to draw attention to her father’s case. She is dedicated, having spent seven years writing to the criminal justice organization Innocence X in the hopes they will take on her father’s case.