Review for "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that is becomes okay to them and normal for us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be? 



Rating: 4 stars

This such an important, powerful book. It discusses one of the most politically charged topics that we face today, and it really simplifies the issue by calling it what it is: people shouldn't kill people, and when someone does kill someone, the FIRST someone should be responsible for the killing, not the second person responsible for dying. The reason I liked this book was because of the characters. I think they each provide an interesting perspective on the issues of class and race.

Starr
Oh Starr, my star. You are so amazing. Starr is caught up between two sides of herself. First, there's Williamson Starr, the Starr she pretends to be at her private school surrounded by white people who refer to the area she lives as the "ghetto". She find it easier to hide behind a fake version of herself than to really show who she is and be judged for it. Then, there's the true Starr, who is proud of her family and her community, and isn't afraid to use slang or curse someone out. Starr struggles with her identity, and it becomes a burden for her when she decides whether or not to speak out against the injustice of Khalil's murder. I love the anger that Starr feels in the book, at the situation itself and the injustice following it. Her feelings represent what so many oppressed people feel every day after yet another unarmed black person is shot. People need to read this book, just so they can understand and share that anger.

He's been a cop for as long as Khalil was alive, and I wonder if in some sick twist of fate Khalil was only born for this man to kill. 

Khalil
Khalil is representative of the problems that face black communities everywhere, and I'm not just talking about the fact that he was shot just for being black. Khalil makes a decision to risk his freedom in order to give his grandmother and younger brother shelter, food, heat, electricity, etc. As he puts it, "I got tired of choosing between lights and food." And in their community, no one could've or would've helped him out of his situation, so he took it upon himself. No matter what his reasons or intentions were, the media singles Khalil out for the fact that he was a drug dealer as a way to invalidate his life and give the police officer who shot him an excuse for taking his life. People who live outside "the ghetto" want to blame Khalil for doing what he had to do, but none of them wanted to extend a hand and help him out before he got to that point, and they certainly don't want to understand his intentions now.

Chris
I think I identify most with Chris in this story. He cares so much about Starr, but since he's not part of a minority, he can't understand the issues she has to deal with. He wants Starr to let him in, but she's not ready to do that and he can't wrap his head around it. Chris's intentions are good. But he literally cannot comprehend what Starr is going through. The great thing about Chris is that he was willing to try. He doesn't jump to defend white people just because he's white, and he eventually becomes someone Starr can trust with her feelings about what happened with Khalil and the aftermath.

There's Them and then there's Us. Sometimes They look like Us and don't realize They are Us. 

Hailey
Ooooooooooooooooh girl. I'm about to go off. Hailey encompasses everything that is wrong with upper/upper-middle class white people everywhere. She comes in with that "the cop's life matters too" as if there was ever a threat on the cop's life. She tells Starr and Maya to "get over" her racist jokes. She apologizes to Starr, stating that she was sorry Starr reacted the way she did when Hailey was completely out-of-line. And the thing is, I live in Missouri. I know a thousand Haileys. I bout wanna smack every one of them. Of course I don't need to rant now, if you read this book you'll get the gist of what I'd say. But I think Hailey was an important addition in this book, to show why it's so important to keep fighting. Yeah, there are systematic issues in police forces and the justice system, but they would be much easier to change if it weren't for the general White mindset that Hailey and so many other people have.

There are so many other characters I want to give shoutouts to. Starr's parents are both amazing. They struggle between protecting their family and supporting their community. Seven was great, and I think he represents another grim truth of low-income families, the responsibility older siblings feel to protect their younger siblings from parents under the influence of drugs and gangs. Kenya helped show the shame that Starr feels about where she comes from. The characters of this book just made it so real, so personable, and so moving.

They can easily grab their guns and leave us like Khalil. All the blood in our bodies pooling on the street for everybody to see. Our mouths wide open. Our eyes staring at the sky, searching for God. 

The best part about this book is that it is real. Starr isn't automatically become the leader of the movement just because she's the witness and the protagonist. She's afraid of the police every single time they cross paths after Khalil's death, which is how so many black people have to spend their lives: afraid the cops with literally kill them just for the color of their skin and their assumptions based on it. The decision of the case is the exact same as it is in 99% of real cases: no justice served.  There are good police officers and bad police officers, good white people and bad white people, good black people and bad black people. The topics of how race and class have shaped these people is obvious, but told through Starr's eyes, and it makes for a really stunning story.