Police Brutality In James Baldwin's The Hate U Give

James Baldwin, an American writer about race, once said, “The challenge is the moment; the time is always now.” One of the biggest challenges in today’s society is police brutality, especially in the Black community. This challenge was prominent back in the day, particularly during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. As of today, current events like George Floyd took the world by storm and the Black community is still fighting for their rights. Police brutality was also shown in the book, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. In this book, the protagonist, a teen girl named Starr, experiences police brutality through her best friend named Khalil. (Who got shot by the police). Throughout the novel, she has to find ways to give her best friend

In the book, Starr states, “‘Everybody wants to talk about how Khalil died,’ I say. ‘But this isn’t about how Khalil died. It’s about the fact that he lived. His life mattered. Khalil lived!’ I look at the cops again. ‘You hear me? Khalil lived!’” (Thomas 412) So, in this Starr is feeling disappointed, mad, and most importantly sad, because Khalil will not get justice due to the cops not listening to Starr. Sadness is also shown in real life, a guy named Darius exclaimed, “I remember I walked into work, face cut up and people were like, "What's wrong? What happened?" I told them I had been in a fight. But really, I had been beaten up by a police officer who assumed I was someone else.” (Hawkins How Black Communities Cope with Trauma Triggered by Police Brutality) This event took a toll on Darius because he is getting hurt by the police when most people view them as heroes. Police brutality doesn't just have a toll on the Black communities but only on the community as a whole. One of the data sources found that “3 in 4 voters say police violence against the public is a very or somewhat serious problem in the United

So the people in this movement are trying to ask people and influence people to follow them with this movement. In the novel, Starr also states, “What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be.” (Thomas 252). So she is technically saying the same thing as what the article stated. So that means that people need to ask for help when it is needed. A real-life example would be in the anecdote research where a girl named Lena stated, “It’s a sad reality to accept that no matter how you dress, how you talk, a police officer will always judge you and think that you're a threat. I don’t think we have control over if we are going to get beat or not.” (Hawkins How Black Communities Cope with Trauma Triggered by Police Brutality) So in this annotation, Lena is trying to ask for help. But as stated in the other two sources people need to use their voice and influence others around them, and that’s what Lena needs to