The Hate U Give Diversity Essay

Many people have mixed opinions on required reading. Some may enjoy it while others tend to despise it. Required reading is normalized in today’s society, and many teachers assign novels for the whole class to read. If a student is uninterested in the novel, they won’t be as motivated to do work in school, so choosing the right book is important. It is necessary for students to be able to relate or find some sort of connection to the story or character being talked about. Written by Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give is a novel about a 16-year-old girl trying to fit in her poor, all black neighborhood, and a fancy prep school she attends. She has to face the tragic death of her best friend, Khalil, and wants to stand up for him. The rest of the

Diversity is key to helping students develop into understanding humans are all different and become more aware of the world and cultures around them. According to the article “The Importance of Diversity in Books”, Dilloway, an author of middle-school level texts, states how “it’s also important to read about other peoples experiences, and understand what it's like to walk around in their skin” (Prescott 1). Diversity in books exposes children to learn about people who might be different from them and step into someone else’s shoes. This helps them show the challenges and problems other people have that they might not face. A class novel should include real world situations to open students' eyes to social issues around them and help them better understand what is going on. Also stated in the article “The Importance of Diversity in Books”, reading about important issues “...creates empathy, and helps students to become more conscious of the world around them…” (Prescott 1). As students, we are still children growing up and trying to figure out our way around the world. Being introduced to real world problems at a young age makes us develop into more aware adults. It opens our eyes to educate ourselves on things outside of school, and not just

The Hate U Give is an excellent example that illustrates real-world problems, like racism, and diversity amongst communities. Racism has been going on since the early 1700s, and has been an ongoing issue. Starr Carter and her family face this. Starr witnessed two police officers attack her father, Maverick for no reason. After being frustrated at being targeted for the color of his skin, Starr remembers what he has said before: “...there’s a rage passed down to every black man from his ancestors, born the moment they couldn't stop the slave masters from hurting their families” and “... there’s nothing more dangerous than when that rage is activated” (Thomas 196). The author connects the past enslavement of people of color to show trauma of the people now. This explains their “rage” and build up of anger that damaged people of color’s minds caused by slave owners and unfair treatment. For so many years, black people were treated unfairly and didn’t get the chance to take a stance. However, instead of fighting back the police, Maverick screams and cries afterwards, which makes people realize the danger was toward a person of color. If he were to try to talk back or argue, he would have been shot. This can lead people of color to feel powerless because if they express their anger, they can end up being killed. Diversity is also expressed in the novel. While balancing her