The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give

By Angie Thomas

 

 

The (a) story follows Starr Carter, a young woman torn between the poor black community where she lives, and her suburban, mostly white, prep school where she attends classes and plays basketball. But when she witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend Khalil at the hands of a white police officer, her two worlds finally collide—and the ensuing chaos touches every aspect of her life and the lives of those around her.

Now, Starr has a choice: she can either remain safe in silence as everyone draws their own conclusions of what really happened that night and what kind of person her friend Khalil might have been; or, she can speak out, risking her own life and the lives of those she loves in order to expose the cold truths behind the racial injustice we see in America to this day.

 

The (A) story is in the title. For those who weren’t already aware (I being one of them, before I read this book), The Hate U Give is a reference to a philosophy held by American rapper Tupac Shakur. He believed that the words “THUG LIFE” stood for: The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everybody. In other words, what society gives to its youth comes back to bite it once they’re grown. Specifically within the context of racial injustice, it also means that the responsibility for what becomes of a marginalized group of people lies with the society that put them where they are. And a lot of the hate that is given to black people within America today is revealed through Starr’s eyes over the course of the novel. Between her life in Garden Heights and her life in school at Williamson Preparatory, Starr becomes witness to more than a fatal shooting: she becomes witness to a variety of societal issues, particularly those between race and class.

First and foremost, we see how Starr struggles with her identity as a black person in a white world. This is clearly shown in the way Starr feels pressured to act more “white” once she enters her school. For instance, the “Williamson Prep version” of Starr Carter has to make sure she doesn’t speak slang in front of her peers—even if they do. In her own words, from her own experiences: “Slang makes them cool. Slang makes [me] ‘hood’.” While she even admits to the reader that she “can’t stand” herself for doing it, she does it anyway, in order to avoid drawing unwanted attention to herself.

In fact, throughout the book, Starr is pressured into a myriad of uncomfortable situations based on her placement between one world and another. On the one side, she feels like she is betraying her family and the people in her neighborhood by dating a rich white boy; on the other, she feels forced to hold her tongue in the face of privilege, such as when her friends at school recount what they did for their spring breaks. For many of them, spring break was time spent groaning about “family bonding” in the Bahamas, or else getting dragged to Harry Potter World “for the third year in a row.” While each of her friends has a truly upper class experience to share as if it’s the same-old-same-old, Starr informs us that for her family, vacation is “staying at a local hotel with a swimming pool for a weekend.”

This is something her rich white friends at school have no understanding of. And we see such privilege and ignorance the most through Starr’s “friend” Hailey, who is a very clear example of white fragility at work, as she is quick to get defensive and unapologetic about her racist remarks and actions. However, as Starr’s story continues we are somewhat refreshed from Hailey’s attitude by a more balanced perspective from Chris, Starr’s white boyfriend, who is a clear example of an ally trying his best to learn from his mistakes.

But as the chaos unfolds from the fatal shooting of her friend, the more obvious the differences between their worlds become, and even Chris seems like just another person Starr cannot turn to. Especially not as her schoolmates begin to draw their own conclusions of Khalil and what happened that night.

Unfortunately, much of what her classmates believe is a twisted version of the truth that is fed to them by local media outlets. And this harsh reality of media misrepresenting the narrative is perhaps one of the most apparent hatreds given to marginalized groups—something Starr is soon to discover as the cop is made out to be a poor unfortunate who was only doing his job, and Khalil is portrayed as a drug dealer and a gang member—though there was only ever a general suspicion of him being either of those things.

And as we move between white realities and black realities along with Starr, the more it becomes apparent that there are hundreds of factors beneath the surface that outsiders are either ignoring, or else unaware of. Even her own beliefs are often tested and unhinged as deeper questions are asked and truths are revealed. Every narrative she comes across, even the ones she doesn’t want to believe, has reasons and analyses of the bigger picture behind it. As readers, we find these analyses most clearly through a heavy conversation with her father about Tupac’s THUG LIFE, and a heart-to-heart conversation with her new friend DeVante—who actually is everything the media has accused Khalil of being.

 

I could go on with further details, but the truth is The Hate U Give is so open and frank with its themes that it only takes reading it (as well you should) to see them. Plus, I would hate to spoil the more poignant moments from the book by citing them, as much as I’d like to discuss them further.

Is The Hate U Give a perfect book? Well, since I tend to gravitate more toward the fantasy genre, I wouldn’t say I’m the best judge. There were definitely moments when the more casual dialogue seemed a little too on the nose (particularly in the way of some character exposition), and some of the scenes in-between the more dramatic or emotional moments seemed needlessly stretched out—although, that may just be a reader/writer’s bias on my part, since I came into this book already knowing it started off as a short story and was only later stretched into a novel.

However, is The Hate U Give a powerful book? Without a doubt, it is. It is inspiring, it is heartbreaking, and it is necessary. Many times I recognized myself and my past mistakes being reflected on the page, and I found myself clenching my jaw both in shame and in anger at finally being able to see these situations through Starr’s eyes. As a white person who grew up in a small, mostly-white town, I had never learned to consider the details of the other side of the story until I went away to college. I’ve had friends and family of friends in law enforcement, and honestly believed there was reason in the “Shoot first, ask questions later,” and, “He just wants to go home to his family at the end of the day,” mentalities; I have been guilty of saying, “All Lives Matter,” thinking at the time that it was the fair thing to say, and I have been guilty of focusing on the words, “drug dealer,” and not on, “unarmed.” In other words, I am far from perfect, and I know I will continue making mistakes. But, like the character of Chris, I am trying my best to make them less and less as time goes on—and books like The Hate U Give are just the thing I need to help me along the way.

It is a book for everyone to read. And I literally mean everyone.

 

In closing, I would like to do a little something different. While I do not intend to fill up the rest of Black History Month with only the darkest sides of black history, in line with The Hate U Give, I would like to partake in the #saytheirnames movement. If I’ve done this correctly, these should be every name of every one of the black lives unjustly taken since the book’s publication in February, 2017. But if I’ve missed anyone, please let me know.

You can view the rest of the list and the news articles that accompany them here.

 

 

 

Desmond Phillips

Alteria Woods

Tomothy Caughman

Jordan Edwards

Mikel McIntyre

Charleena Lyles

James Lacy

Damon Grimes

Ronell Foster

Stephon Clark

Danny Ray Thomas

Dorian Harris

Marcus-David Peters

Earl McNeil

Robert White

Antwon Rose Jr.

Jason Washington

Harith Augustus

Botham Jean

Charles Roundtree Jr.

Jemel Roberson

Emantic Bradford Jr.

Aleah Jenkins

Jassmine McBride

Bradley Blackshire

Sterling Higgins

Ronald Greene

Pamela Turner

Dominique Clayton

Jaleel Medlock

Elijah McClain

Byron Williams

Atatiana Jefferson

Michael Dean

John Neville

Miciah Lee

Darius Tarver

William Green

Jaquyn O’Neill Light

Lionel Morris

Ahmaud Arbery

Manuel Ellis

Barry Gedeus

Breonna Taylor

Daniel Prude

Steven Taylor

Cornelius Fredericks

Maurice Gordon

George Floyd

Dion Johnson

Tony McDade

Calvin Horton Jr.

James Scurlock

David McAtee

Jamel Floyd

Kamal Flowers

Robert Forbes

Priscilla Slater

Rayshard Brooks

Maurice Abisdid-Wagner

Julian Lewis

Anthony McClain

Damian Daniels

Dijon Kizzee

Jonathan Price

Walter Wallace

Quawan Charles

Aiden Ellison

Casey Goodson Jr.

Patrick Warren