Race In 'The Hate U Give'

The theme of race appears throughout The Hate U Give, showing the unfairness with the treatment of black people and many of the race related issues many black people must face.

For example, “I heard he was a drug dealer,’ says Uncle Carlos. ‘And that makes it okay?’ Daddy asks. ‘I didn’t say it did, but it could explain Brian’s decision if he felt threatened.’... Khalil wasn’t a threat that night. And what made the cop think he was a drug dealer?”(Thomas, Page 52) This shows how One-Fifteen immediately assumed Khalil was a drug dealer for the simple fact of him being black because there was no evidence that could possibly make you assume he was a drug dealer, there was also no evidence that proved that assumption to be true either.In addition,

Additionally,“ So his dad can give his son’s side to the whole world, and I can’t give mine and Khalil’s? He’s gonna have everybody thinking One-Fifteen’s the victim.” (Thomas, Page 218)This shows how the police department and the press want to make the public believe that One-Fifteen’s the victim, when it's quite the opposite.This also shows that by putting Khalil in a bad light, by calling him a drug dealer and what not, that it would justify what was done to him. Leading the public to believe that Khalil is at ‘fault’ and ‘deserved it’, which is very common when it comes to police brutalities where the victim is black. Many black police brutality victims rarely ever get justice but especially if they have committed or have a history of committing crimes, whether recent or past, both the press and the department will release that information for the simple purpose of justifying, blaming, and basically villainizing the victim for what was done to them, of course the public usually believing

For example, “The ironic thing is though, at Williamson I don’t have to “play it cool”—I’m cool by default because I’m one of the only black kids there. I have to earn coolness in Garden Heights, and that’s more difficult than buying retro Jordans on release day. Funny how it works with white kids though. It’s dope to be black until it’s hard to be black.” (Thomas, Page 11 )This shows how Williamson, a predominantly white school, treats Starr as if she’s cool mostly because she’s black. But in Garden Height, a predominantly black area, you obviously must prove that you’re cool. Which in a way demonstrates how different each area's definition of cool is. In addition, it really shows how many at Williamsons don’t think they're cool for the fact that they're black, but it’s because they like the idea of them being black and many of the things that come from black culture. As Starr said, in their eyes it’s cool to be black until it’s hard to black, reflecting on how society sometimes likes to pick and choose what’s ‘cool’ and ‘acceptable’ from black culture, leaving all the ‘bad’ parts behind. Additionally,“ I go quiet. If I face the truth, as ugly as it is, she’s right. I was ashamed of Garden Heights