i think that's part of the point the show trying to make. In reality he's not a bad kid. He's the only one trying to do the right thing, he feels guilty about both hitting the kid and Kofi's outcome. He's trying to see and treat Kofi as a person while everyone else just sees him as a problem that needs to go away.
I think where he pisses people off is that he's a recipient of white privilege whether he likes it or not. He is protected just because of where he's from, his last name, his skin color (just like the Baxter son in jail). And I think that infuriates half the people cause he's getting away with the crime and cover up and I think he infuriates the other half of people cause he's routinely about to fukk up the cover up.
Just my 2 cents