Aliya’s Opinion Essay On The Hate U Give Most people live their whole lives not knowing the significance of addressing discrimination in discriminatory-prone neighbourhoods. Hence, I recommend that everyone reads The Hate U Give, which educates a powerful message about discrimination. In this book, we see how the effects of police brutality and white privilege make the lives of people of colour less enticing and dangerous. For instance, we observe how the negligence of the police and society has resulted in the loss of innocent lives, with the police's stereotyped presumptions and prejudices being rationalized as "self-defense" or "police lives matter too" when they have taken a life without incurring any penalty or responsibility. Additionally, …show more content…
For instance, in the story officer 115 shot Khalil 3 times as he was forced outside his vehicle. As a result of 115's bias, he had the idea that Khalil's acts and demeanour were violent and dangerous. Furthermore, 115's presumption of Khalil is disturbing since it holds bigotry and an unsteady thought that caused Khalil his life. When Khalil tried to open the door to see whether Starr was okay, officer 115's red flags began to go off, and he thought the hairbrush in the back seat was a pistol, prompting 115 to shoot him three times. Moreover, his assumption was supported by negative prejudices that strengthened his will to commit his wrongdoing and blinded himself from Khalil’s true intentions. “Just like y’all think all of us are bad because of some people, we think the same about y’all” (Thomas, 267). Lastly, when someone takes a life, they must be dealt with and punished appropriately, but 115 does not have to because the media and society disguise his racism as logical and self-defense, which is false. “We want an immediate end to police brutality and the murder of black people, other people of color, and oppressed people” (Thomas, 210). Officers like 115 stay protected; when will black lives …show more content…
This may be shown when Hailey utilizes white privilege to avoid accepting responsibility for her wrongdoings at Williamson Prep, a predominantly white private school. Hailey's relationships with Starr and Maya diminish due to her racially insensitive remarks and actions. Maya, an Asian-American girl in the predominantly white school has also faced racism as she tells Starr, "Hailey asked if we ate cats. Because we're Chinese" (Thomas, 251). In addition to Hailey’s actions, Maya and Starr formed a "minority alliance," deciding they can't allow her to say things like that again. This alliance was in effect when Starr's post on Tumblr about an image of Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old black boy, who was murdered in the 1950s for whistling at a white woman. Hailey texted Starr after she posted, stating she was surprised that Starr would "reblog such an awful picture" (Thomas, 77). Hailey's offensive statements became increasingly apparent to Starr when she was playing basketball with Maya, Hailey, and the other students. Hailey tells Starr, "Hustle! Pretend the ball is some fried chicken. Bet you'll stay on it then" (Thomas, 111). Moreover, to reinforce a racial stereotype, Hailey's reply shows that she can speak without verifying her words, which Starr cannot do since she constantly checks herself to prevent being stereotyped and
At her majority-white school, Williamson Prep, Starr tries to distance herself from her blackness, in fear of being stereotyped: “Basically, Williamson Starr doesn’t give anyone a reason to call her ghetto.” (p. 74) When Starr is at Williamson, she doesn’t use slang, doesn’t get angry or annoyed, is non-confrontational – these are all negative stereotypes surrounding black people, which Starr desperately tries to avoid. She already feels like an outsider, as one of only two black people at her school, and in an attempt to avoid standing out even more, she avoids anything stereotypically black. Even at home, Starr struggles to express herself to her fullest self, although for entirely different reasons than at Williamson.
One of the big reasons why students in the Federal Way School District should be allowed to read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas as a class is because it teaches about real world issues. One place in the novel where you can find discussion about real world issues is when one of Starr’s close friends makes a racially motivated comment towards Starr, the text directly states, “‘Dammit, Starr!’ Hailey yells, recovering the ball. She passes it to me, “Hustle! Pretend the ball is some fried chicken.
‘THE HATE U GIVE’ inspects the way society uses stereotypes of black people to justify violence and racism against them. Through Starr’s deep understanding of racialized poverty, we see how this Intergenerational Recurring Series is difficult to break because black communities like Garden Heights, where Starr lives do not have requisite access to resources such as education, employment and defence from police brutality. Affection or devotion towards anything going overboard becomes very dangerous than the nuclear weapon. It can be in the name of religion, race, creed or anything which always paves way for the inhumane
Starr simply can’t escape racially- motivated actions in her
Starr here expresses that at times, she feels like a fish out of water, and at times she silences her more ethnic sides of her to fit a specific mold. She feels the need to be inherently more "white seeming" with her boyfriend and some of her friends from private school. This also reflects her need to code-switch based on her surroundings
Due to Chris' understanding of the situation, they are able to make up, with Starr being comfortable around Chris. Starr's acceptance of Chris' colour is shown when she thinks "I still don’t know if I’m betraying who I am by dating Chris, but I’ve missed him so much it hurts. Momma thinks coming to Uncle Carlos’s house is normal, but Chris is the kind of normal I really want. The normal where I don’t have to choose which Starr to be" (Thomas 162-163). At first, Starr is uncomfortable around Chris, but she comes to realize that his skin colour is just a part of him and that though he will never experience what it is like to be black, he can try to understand, causing Starr to be more accepting Chris and people like Chris who try to understand.
In the book when she is in Williamson she feels she can not be her normal self like she is in Garden Heights. Her boyfriend had to pressure her into being more like herself because she kept complaining that she couldn’t be herself. Also in the story, her friend Hailey is racist because she doesn’t see what is so wrong with the Khalil situation. There are also other times like when they are playing basketball in chapter 7, Hailey says “Pretend the ball is some fried chicken. Bet you’ll stay on it then.”
The involvement in a community lightens up warmth within oneself. Angie Thomas’s novel, The Hate U Give embodies an ideal model to what a neighbourhood must be. A positive community aids Maverick Carter in developing as well as bettering himself for the sake of his loved ones. In The Hate U Give the feel of community and belonging allows for growth; Maverick Carter breaks the cycle of crime previously constructed by his father, leaves a life and home he knew, and comes to terms with Starr’s additional father figure, leading him to progress as a father as well as provide security to his family. Maverick’s father failes to express love and security to him as a child which encourages him to be an exceptional father for his children.
This quote highlights the tension between Starr's identity as a black girl from a poor neighborhood and her desire to transcend those
The novel shows how the police force upholds a culture of impunity when dealing with communities of color. The killing of Khalil, without any repercussions, gives credence to the systemic racism that continues to exist in society. Another notable theme is the power of unity and the need for collective action to fight against injustice. The novel emphasizes that protests, rallies, and other forms of collective action are necessary to fight against the institutionalized racism that exists in society.
This just proves that Starr felt extremely offended by what Hailey said and that showed through her violent actions, usually she does not resolve things with violence but this comment pushed her hard enough for her to do so. Furthermore, Hailey yet again acts ignorant and selfish and makes another comment she shouldn’t have “Yes, get over it! He was probably gonna end up dead anyway.” (Thomas, 149). Hailey implies that since Khalil is black, he was bound to get in some form of trouble and most likely get killed.
But also, in their neighborhood if they are hanging around other races because then they don’t consider them Black anymore. The fact that Starr does not fit in Garden Heights or Williamson, as well as how she chooses what to say, demonstrates that she has lost sight of who she is. People around the world believe that Black Americans behave in a certain way, and they always cast a negative light on them to justify their racist views. Furthermore, Angie Thomas wants Starr's character to demonstrate how this affects her because of the way people perceive her changes her entirely. Starr attempts to fit in at both worlds, but because of how Black Americans are stereotyped, she no longer knows who she is.
She has put in time and effort to thoroughly grasp what can and can not be done at Williamson and this shows just exactly how much time and effort code-switching and her double consciousness take up in her day. In addition, an implicit analysis can be made as well regarding stereotypes. Although it is not explicitly stated, these boundaries are heavily influenced by the stereotypes of black individuals as many of the prohibitions that she has set are common stereotypes about black people. Thus, showing the reader that Starr does not want to fall into those stereotypes neither does she want to be seen as the typical black girl. Likewise, this has prevented Starr from
At the beginning of the book, Starr is being interviewed during the investigation for Khalil’s death, and she says that her “voice is changing already. It always happens around “other” people, whether I'm at Williamson or not. I don't talk like me or sound like me. I choose every word carefully and make sure I pronounce them well. I can never, ever let anyone think I'm ghetto”
The main character, Starr,is a representation of the microaggressions and prejudice that minorities face on a daily basis. There are comments that people make that may sound normal to themselves but may be offensive to people due to them being based on stereotypes. One example is the microaggressive comment that Hailey said to Starr while playing basketball. “Dammit, Starr!” Hailey yells, recovering the ball.