Morgan Hawkes

SED4200

For this assignment, I have chosen to use The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. When teaching
this novel, I hope to tie the racial literacy aspect directly to the learned literature. What I love about
“T.H.U.G.” is its modernity. While other novels that we read within the classroom deal with the
ideas of racism and racial literacy, there is a charm about how modern this novel is. Students have
this ability with this novel, unlike other novels such as To Kill a Mockingbird, to connect to the
events within it. Although this does not make T.K.A.M unusable, it just does not hold the same
power that T.H.U.G. does.
The Hate U Give has racism built into the very soul of it and allows students to empathize
and relate to Starr. One area I would like to focus on is towards the beginning of the book. Starr’s
best friend is driving them home and is falsely accused of a crime. He does not follow the rules
which Starr’s parents gave her to remain safe. Due to this, he ends up being shot and killed by
police brutality. The relevance of this to modern events is unlike any other YA book I have ever
read. It describes the unfair justice system within America, as well as this epidemic for black and
p.o.c. youth.
Some essential questions for students reading this may be:
● Starr’s parents give her a very serious talk about what to do if she were stopped by
a cop. Were you ever advised by your parents on the “proper way” to communicate
with another adult figure? (Teacher, politician, police officer, store manager, etc.)
● Starr says that she assumed that if something like this happened to her, she
thought she would have the loudest voice until it happened to her, then she was the
quietest of them all. What kind of voice do you think you would have in this
situation? Have you ever protested for anything before?
● Why do you think Starr struggles to be her authentic self so much throughout the
novel?
I have learned so many things about how to approach race talk within the classroom over
the last two weeks, but one of the most important things is that these conversations need to be
happening. As a white teacher, I sometimes feel that it is not my place to talk about these topics. I
am a white woman and I recognize that I have privilege in this world while others have none. Even
though I hold this privilege, I need to use it to my advantage to let those who do not hold the same
privilege as I do have their voices heard. Letting people tell their stories, having these deep
conversations, and making advances toward change is just the first step. I should not avoid having
these conversations in my classroom. Instead, I should allow my students to educate me, just as I
educate them, on the subjects I am not familiar with. By allowing myself to learn and grow, I am
also showing my students that this is possible in the world, and that is one of the most important
things for them to see in the classroom.