Why do you think Rashad’s father told him the story about Darnell Shackleford? What is similar and different between Rashad’s father and Darnell and Paul and Rashad?

I think that Rashad's dad was trying to say that even he was involved in an altercation that got heated.

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.

I think they were both cases of mistakes leading to unnecessary violence and suffering.