Attitudes Towards Black People in Novel the Hate U Give

The book I began reading for this report is called the “The Hate U Give” written by Angie Thomas. This book’s genre is a “Young Adult Fiction”. “The Hate U Give” ‘s setting is between a beaten up neighborhood called Garden Heights and a rich school called Williamson High. The place of the story is Garden Heights and the time period would be in 2017.

The major character in the story would be Starr Carter, a black teenage girl living in a poor black neighborhood and attending a fancy prep school. In the story she is currently 16 and attends a fancy prep where black people are known to be “hold” or “bad”, but Starr has to keep that behind her when she attends Williamson high. She has black hair, wears Jordan’s, and acts like what people say doesn’t bother her at all.

Khalil was Starr’s childhood best friend who was shot by a white officers. Maya and Hailey are her whites friends and Chris is her boyfriend who all attend Williamson High. Maverick and Lisa are Starr’s parents who work to help her in the situation she is in. Seven is her brother, of which the share the same dad but no the same mom.

Kahlil is the teen who was shot 3 times by a white officer in the eyes of Starr Carter. No one knows what exactly happened that night except her. Many people in Garden Heights riot over how they think white people treat black people. The streets of Garden Heights become a war zone. Many interesting things happen in this story such as how Starr’s house was shot by gangbangers because of what she is in an interview. Everybody assumed Khalil was just a typical gangbanger or thug, whatever you want to call him, but no one knew him like Starr did.

The climax that brings a big problem to the story is when Starr states in an interview was that Kahlil only sold drugs for the “King Lord” because he wanted to help his Grandmother pay her medical bills because she had cancer. As soon as Starr mentioned “King Lord” it was considered snitching out your own kind. Not only was “King Lord” mad but he nearly threatened Starr and her family by shooting their home in Garden Heights. The only way Big Mav (Starr’s father) could protect his family was by moving in with Lisa’s brother (Starr’s mother) who was a cop in a white community.

Towards the end, Starr was sent to Grand Jury for witnessing Khalil’s death. This tore Starr’s heart, waiting to see of he was guilty for his own death or if it was the white officers fault. The only reason Khalil was shot was because he the cop told him to get out of the car and stay right where you are, but he moved to make sure he was okay and then “pow” he falls “pow” “pow” he’s on the floor looking at Starr, bleeding to death. Starr’s wasn't as close to him as they grew up but understood how he felt and what he went through. Many people saw him as a thug but he only really wanted to help his family form how poor they were going to be. If people knew him as Starr did, everybody wouldn't see him as a thug but as a good person.

“The hate U Give” was a good example of how black people were treated by their looks and way of talking. My opinion on the book is that Starr was able to speak about what happened and let the people of Garden Heights and Williamson High hear her voice. She never thought that Khalil, a teenager would be killed for jammed headlights. This book doesn't just explain racism but how bad things were in the past. My recommendation would be 100% on this book. You would be able to see and feel what the characters felt. For the people or are open minded and would enjoy “young adult fiction’ this would be my choice of book. People with this taste would enjoy it because they would know and try to understand how the character felt about racism and standing up for what you believe in. 

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