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Lauren Baldwin

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 8

18 Dec. 2020

A Family Faced with Racial Injustice

Racial injustice is something that unfortunately people face daily. The Hate You Give is

as story featuring main character Starr, and her family and their hardship going through the death

of her friend wrongfully by a police officer. Throughout the series, Starr and her family suffer

through the trauma while trying to get justice and peace. The story brings to light what POC

(people of color) face in their lives. Angie Thomas’s The Hate You Give causes readers to feel

that the book is uncompleted due to the wandering plotline, but she thoroughly develops the

characters through perspective and storytelling as well as the overall theme of racial injustice by

the end of the book.

Firstly, showing a traumatic event that Starr and her family share with other people of

color, develops the readers sympathy and understanding of the injustice that occurs. During their

ride home from a party, a police officer pulls them over. Starr thinks back to when, at twelve

years old she is taught two lessons: the birds and the bees and what to do around a cop. Starr then

realizes that Khalil never had this talk. Showing this crucial detail before the cop approaches

them demonstrates how often these events happen, to the point where they become a part of

growing up, as important if not more than the birds and the bees. The officer pulls them over,

pins Khalil and turns his back. Khalil checks on Starr, and the officer shoots him three times,

when all that was needed was a ticket (Thomas pg. 20). Later in the book, while Mr. Lewis and
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Starr’s dad are arguing, a police officer approaches them. Seeing that it was Starr’s dad involved

in the situation and knowing that Starr was the witness, the cops pull him to the ground. “I

wonder if it's because Mr. Lewis isn’t wearing an NWA shirt. Or because there aren’t tattoos all

on his arms. Or because he’s not wearing somewhat baggy jeans and a backwards cap.” (Thomas

pg. 192). providing these two examples shows how even unprompted, POC are in danger of the

police. Whether it was a broken taillight, or a small argument between friends, anything can be

twisted into an awful situation where the victims have no power. Both examples show racial

profiling. In Khalil’s case, the cop tried to find drugs to incriminate him for an arrest. In Starr’s

dad’s case it was his clothes and tattoos. Not only was the almost arrest of her dad unprompted,

but it was also personally motivated by the police seeing that he was related to the witness.

Providing the details of the events shows the readers that the situation was unprompted and

relays the common injustices that occur.

Additionally, having the perspective be from Starr’s point of view allows the reader to

have background information and to know how Starr feels through the whole book. “People

glance over at me with that “who is this chick, standing by herself like an idiot” look.” (Thomas

pg. 11). Knowing Starr feels awkward lets us know more about her character and shows the

reader that she is a teenage girl that is experiencing this. Seeing from Starr’s eyes also lets us

know more about the other characters as well. The reader gets background information on her

and her family’s past and how they interact with each other. After Khalil’s death, Starr’s mother

comforts her in the car and her dad drives them home. Then while they are home, Starr’s mother

rubs her back after Starr’s father carries her to her room (Thomas Pg. 26-27). Putting the

characters in this situation reveals their personalities. The reader can see that both of Starr’s

parents are loving, but that Starr’s mother is gentle, and her father is quiet and strong. The reader
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can observe both the family dynamic and personalities. Using Starr’s perspective shows the

reader more about her family and her character as well as making the story relatable.

Although Thomas is good at characterizing Starr and her family and showing the

struggles of families of color in a relatable story, at times the book can feel incomplete due to the

two plotlines. The two plotlines seem well developed when combined, but when separated, the

reader can see where the weakness lies. There is the plotline of the court case and the telling of

the story of the racial injustice and there is the plotline of the characters and their struggles. The

characters are developed through the telling of police brutality and injustice as well as the

struggles that they face, but without the plot of the court case and Khalil’s death, the characters

would seem two dimensional and underdeveloped. The background information that Starr

provides is beneficial when the two plotlines are together and help to add to the theme of the

book, but there is a lack of information that doesn’t involve or address the injustice. The reader

glimpses into Starr’s life before the situation in seeing her brief interactions with her friends at

school and her boyfriend, but this isn't developed strongly enough to create a sense of unity

within the two plotlines. While some books rely heavily on the theme, The Hate You Give

needed to have both elements developed strongly in order to convey the theme and allow readers

to relate and understand the characters struggles.

Thomas’s The Hate You Give causes readers to feel that the book is incomplete due to the

wandering plotline, but she thoroughly develops the characters and overall theme of racial

injustice by the end of the book. The book was a good read with an important message. The

characters would hit close to home for most, and they do justice to the story’s theme. People of

all ages would benefit from reading this and would be able to sympathize with the characters no

matter what their background or race.

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Work Cited

Thomas, Angie The Hate You Give: A Novel. New York: Harper Collins, 2017. print.