The Hate U Give is a novel written by Angie Thomas as a commentary on police brutality in America, particularly against black people. Starr Carter, a teenager living in two very different worlds at school in a predominantly white upper class neighborhood, and at home, in a predominantly black and poor community, grapples with how to form her identity and embrace both sides of herself. The novel begins with Starr at a party in her neighborhood, which turns dangerous and chaotic so she runs out. One of her childhood friends, Khalil Harris, another black teenager, offers her a ride home. They get pulled over by the police, and Starr witnesses the officer shoot and kill Khalil outside the car. The rest of the novel follows Starr trying to understand how her peers in Garden Heights, her neighborhood, and her peers at Williamson Prep, understand and view each other as “others”. Starr eventually becomes an activist to protest police brutality and be a voice for Khalil.
Throughout the novel, Starr struggles with her rich, white friend’s understanding of her as a black girl and her peers in the neighborhood that she grew up in. She faces racism at Williamson Prep, mostly due to her white friend’s ignorance. Starr’s identity at Williamson Prep, as one of the only black girls, is a stark contrast to her identity in Garden Heights. She feels Othered in both places, too black for one, and not “black” enough in the other. Her peers at Williamson Prep are racist toward her, and demonstrate their racism especially in their comments on Khalil’s murder at the hands of police. They did not know that Starr was there and witnessed it. Meanwhile, her peers in Garden Heights criticize her for spending time with her rich white friends and not with her neighbors.
The police killing of Khalil in the novel was a clear example of injustice, one that we see far too often in our own reality day to day. The identities throughout the novel really mirror situations in reality. White people and black people in America are still divided in how we get to live our lives, especially in how we get to perceive policing in America with different skin colors. The other clash in identity is between people of different socioeconomic classes in America. I think the author, Angie Thomas, wanted to create a narrative that people of any race can read and empathize with, especially since there are so many situations of police brutality happening in this country. As a white person, I found this novel helpful in learning what microaggressions are and how they are presented, as well as a small insight to some things that a young black girl might face that I never had to. 