Glory Creed
In her controversial debut novel, The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas tells a fictitious, but all-too-real tale of prejudice, injustice, and racism faced by many black youth in America today.
The novel also illustrates beautifully the struggle Starr goes through on a daily basis attempting to reconcile the differences between her "real" self and her Williamson self. In an NPR interview, Thomas talks about this concept of a double consciousness saying:
"Well, the two Starrs, I think a lot of young African-Americans can relate to because there's this whole thing of - that we call code switching. At Starr's neighborhood, Starr is known as Big Mav's daughter. Her father was a former gang member, and he's turned his life around. But there's also his past that sometimes is brought up.
But there's Williamson Starr who does not speak about where she's from. And it comes from a small place of shame, but it's also a place of trying to fit in because she's in a school where it's mostly white and it's mostly upper class. She has classmates who are driving Benzes (ph), whereas she's dropped off every morning. So she has to try to figure out who she is where she is. And once this unfortunate event happens in her life, the struggle becomes even harder" (The Hate U Give Explores Racism 2017).
This duality that Starr shows throughout the novel points to another issue; stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is the fear of being labeled and evaluated based on the stereotypes of one's groups (Kassin, Fein, & Markus 2017). Starr is careful about what she says and how she acts around the people from her school, mostly because she does not want to fall under their stereotype and justify it. She changes the way she speaks when at school, avoiding words like "ill" in order to seem more proper. She also monitors carefully the way she carries herself, as she does not want to be stigmatized as a stereotypical black girl. Even at a carefree event like the school dance, Starr is painfully aware of the eyes on her. She is expected to be good at club dancing, simply because of her race. She never invites people to her house, for fear they will get a glimpse of her real life (living in the projects) that may reinforce their stereotypes. Starr carefully crafts her second self in order to shake the stereotypes of the primarily white student body.
The Hate U Give also serves as a call to action. Kalil's murder at the hands of a police officer echoes the reality of far too many news stories from around the country. On a routine traffic stop, Starr's friend Khalil was shot 3 times by a police officer. The police officer said that the hairbrush located in the door looked like a gun. He later justified the shooting in an interview, saying that he felt threatened, and that he believed Khalil was a drug dealer (Thomas 2017). This echos the real life case of Philando Castile, a black man from Minnesota who was shot 7 times during a routine traffic stop. Though he followed the officer's instructions, the officer said he believed Castile was reaching for a gun (Berman 2017). Both officers were acquitted of their murder charges, sparking outrage in the black community.
About. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2018, from http://angiethomas.com/about
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| Cover of Angie Thomas's debut novel |
"Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter navigates between the poverty-stricken neighborhood she has grown up in and the upper-crust suburban prep school she attends. Her life is up-ended when she is the sole witness to a police officer shooting her best friend, Khalil, who turns out to have been unarmed during the confrontation – but may or may not have been a drug dealer. As Starr finds herself even more torn between the two vastly different worlds she inhabits, she also has to contend with speaking her truth and, in the process, trying to stay alive herself" (About n.d.).
The Hate U Give intentionally makes readers uncomfortable in the sense that it brings to light issues that one may not want to face, such as one's own prejudice. It also serves as a call to action to face these issues head on, and advocates for the end of police brutality and racially charged violence. The novel is so controversial that it has even been banned in certain school districts around the country.
A common motif (and the title of the novel itself) comes from a song by Tupac Shakur. In the song, Tupac raps about living life being labeled by stereotypes. The lyric, "Born in the ghetto as a street thug, labeled as a cop killa/ I live the Thug Life," is a good illustration of stereotyping in action. A stereotype is any belief of association that links an entire group of people with certain traits or characteristics (Kassin, Fein, & Markus 2017). Just because there are some black people who engage in gang activity, we have a tendency to label all black people as street thugs. Tupac later explains THUG LIFE as an acronym, as seen in the short clip on the right saying, "The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everybody" (TeamHarperTeen). Essentially, the prejudice that exists in the world causes nothing but issues between people. Throughout his career, Tupac advocated for social justice issues, striking a chord with Thomas, who was an aspiring rapper and activist herself before she became an author. Throughout the course of her novel, Thomas brings to light the implications of these stereotypes, and shows the direct effect they have on the lives of those who live with them.
"Well, the two Starrs, I think a lot of young African-Americans can relate to because there's this whole thing of - that we call code switching. At Starr's neighborhood, Starr is known as Big Mav's daughter. Her father was a former gang member, and he's turned his life around. But there's also his past that sometimes is brought up.
But there's Williamson Starr who does not speak about where she's from. And it comes from a small place of shame, but it's also a place of trying to fit in because she's in a school where it's mostly white and it's mostly upper class. She has classmates who are driving Benzes (ph), whereas she's dropped off every morning. So she has to try to figure out who she is where she is. And once this unfortunate event happens in her life, the struggle becomes even harder" (The Hate U Give Explores Racism 2017).
This duality that Starr shows throughout the novel points to another issue; stereotype threat. Stereotype threat is the fear of being labeled and evaluated based on the stereotypes of one's groups (Kassin, Fein, & Markus 2017). Starr is careful about what she says and how she acts around the people from her school, mostly because she does not want to fall under their stereotype and justify it. She changes the way she speaks when at school, avoiding words like "ill" in order to seem more proper. She also monitors carefully the way she carries herself, as she does not want to be stigmatized as a stereotypical black girl. Even at a carefree event like the school dance, Starr is painfully aware of the eyes on her. She is expected to be good at club dancing, simply because of her race. She never invites people to her house, for fear they will get a glimpse of her real life (living in the projects) that may reinforce their stereotypes. Starr carefully crafts her second self in order to shake the stereotypes of the primarily white student body.
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| Dash cam screen grab from Philando Castile case |
Though it is difficult to break down the exact causes of these incidences, it is often assumed to be due to overt prejudice or implicit (unconscious) racism, i.e. racism that operates automatically and without conscious decision. This conscious or unconscious prejudice has a very real impact on decision making. Implicit bias is an issue not just in law enforcement, but in daily life as well. Don't think you have any bias? Implicit bias tests like these may offer better understanding of how implicit bias functions.
In the final chapter of the novel, Thomas ties her fictional story to the real life stories of those who have been victims of police/racial violence by listing their names, in a sense dedicating the book to them. She calls for justice, and for change. So how do we stop this from happening? Though being a police officer is a dangerous, high stress job, I believe that proper training and assessment of implicit bias may be a step in ending this type of violence. By facing our own implicit biases and looking at the world through a wider lens than one's self, we may be able to begin to break down these stereotypes and their societal implications.
References
Berman, M. (2017, June 21). What the police officer who shot Philando Castile said about the shooting. Retrieved February 9, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/06/21/what-the-police-officer-who-shot-philando-castile-said-about-the-shooting/?utm_term=.0d5f2d814795
Diaz, V. (2017, December 01). THE HATE U GIVE Banned by Katy, Texas School District. Retrieved February 12, 2018, from https://bookriot.com/2017/12/01/the-hate-u-give-banned/
Kassin, S. M., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2017). Social Psychology. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
TeamHarperTeen. (2017, May 04). Here's How Tupac And THUG LIFE Inspired The Hate U Give. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://www.epicreads.com/blog/tupac-thug-life-hate-u-give/
'The Hate U Give' Explores Racism And Police Violence. (2017, February 26). Retrieved February 10, 2018, from https://www.npr.org/2017/02/26/517305270/the-hate-u-give-explores-racism-and-police-violence
Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York, NY: Balzer Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Thank you for this analysis and review, I'm definitely going to have to read this novel!
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention how controversial this novel is in the sense that it raises very uncomfortable questions surrounding racism and prejudice and the fact that it has been banned in several school districts around the county, it makes me wonder - why and where? Is this in predominantly white communities/school districts? Although I have no background on this book, in some ways this sounds like a reinforcement for the exact prejudice you mention this book is about.
Although I'd like to think I am not implicitly biased when it comes to race, I think it's very easy to watch something or hear something on the news, or from a movie, whatever it may be, and make assumptions as a result that may influence future judgements or attitudes. For example, "gang violence" and criminal activity that happens in highly populated areas, its easy to judge the situation as an outsider and attribute the violence or criminal activity to some aspect or some group of people that is in fact considered prejudice. Just being aware of those "implicit biases" and/or tendencies I think helps me to check my attitudes, opinions, and judgements in situations where I am likely being influenced by incorrect or clouded information.
I think you're absolutely right, by facing and acknowledging our own implicit biases we will be better able to combat discrimination, stereotyping, and in general, prejudice.
I agree that this post has inspired me to read the book. After seeing Kira's question about where it is banned, I looked in to it. The most well-publicized ban was in a Texas school district: https://bookriot.com/2017/12/01/the-hate-u-give-banned/ Some have argued that the book was banned due to the language (for example, use of the N word), although the bookriot article points out that classics like The Catcher in the Rye and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- two common books on high school reading lists --- use similar language. It would be interesting to know if those other books are also banned in that district or if the concern was limited to this book?
DeleteYou wrote in your post that the novel brings to light issues that many might not want to face because it makes them uncomfortable. I think that this was an interesting point that mirrors society today. For example, in class, we discussed the “Guess Who” experiment in which people who were playing the game with someone of color were less likely to ask about race to win. How do you think we can make people more comfortable? Is the type of awareness this book aims to bring on the subject the first step?
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the point you made about duality. I think that situational and cultural contexts often pressure people who are different to act in certain ways to fit in. You provided great examples of how Starr experiences this throughout the novel. I think that many people experience this in some kind of way, even if for different reasons. As a whole, I think the fact that people feel that they have to engage in duality is very telling about the current state of society and how accepting we are of those that are different from us. Stereotyping certainly plays a major role in that.
I really liked Kira’s comment on this post as well. Adding to her point about implicit bias, I think that the way that certain types of people are commonly portrayed in media and popular culture could be contributing to bias. In addition to raising awareness about implicit biases, I think that exposing people to, for example, black political leaders or people who positively contribute to society could be beneficial. Even in television or film, creating diverse roles that don’t conform to stereotypes could start breaking down the barriers our culture has.
Overall, I really enjoyed your post. It has certainly made me want to read this book!
You raise an interesting question. I'm not sure that there is one "right" way to make people comfortable with dealing with racial issues. I think that a step in the right direction would be educating people on the issues that people of different races face on a daily basis. Also helpful would be to utilize activities and social programs to promote integration and cooperation (think Robber's Cave type activities but on a different scale). This would help break down walls between ingroup/outgroups as well as reducing the effect of outgroup homogeneity by creating real bonds with people that are different than one's self. People who have had these sorts of life experience may then be more likely to advocate for social justice on a larger scale.
DeleteGreat post, this book has been on my list since its publication and I'm finally going to start reading it this weekend. I think that you brought up an important point in emphasizing the duality or double life that many black americans experience. We all have our own levels of implicit racism, our own expectations that we're socialized to expect from groups who are different from us in some way. I think that it can be difficult to empathize with the notion of feeling that one is living a double life if they've never been made to feel that parts of their culture are considered "ghetto" or "hood" by anyone who doesn't understand the roots of A.A.V.E. (African American Vernacular English) or the clothing, music and food associated with black culture.
ReplyDeleteImagine how difficult that must be for someone, to be so mindful of how they carry themselves and move through the world, making deliberate efforts to divorce themselves from their own culture while still trying to retain a sense of authenticity.
I hope that more people read this book, as I think it could be a great tool in classrooms to discuss the racial tension in the United States. The fact that this book has been banned from school districts is disheartening but I think that the current wave of overt racism we've been seeing in the media is possibly (hopefully) the dying embers of a less tolerant generation. I would love to see this book eventually incorporated into classroom curriculums in the way that To Kill a Mockingbird is. The conversation surrounding race and American racism has become more nuanced in recent years and hopefully, more adolescents will be exposed to literature like this that allows them to better tackle difficult discussions such as these.
It's definitely worth the read. I like to think of myself as being really perceptive of issues in the world, but reading this novel really opened my eyes to a lot of issues. I didn't realize just how much racially charged issues permeated every aspect of daily life for POC.
DeleteIt also frustrates me that this book, a valuable educational tool in many respects, is being banned in classrooms. Banning books like these is just delaying productive conversation.
"The novel is so controversial that it has even been banned in certain school districts around the country."
ReplyDeleteThis triggers me. It seems like the novel is very eye-opening and full of realistic problems making you really question yourself. Why then are schools censoring this book... there are probably curse words and violence, but that's life! If a student would like to read a book like this, they should be able to. I reckon this novel is more educational than similar books!
I genuinely enjoyed your breakdown/review of this book in your post. This will now be on my list of books to read!
ReplyDeleteHaving your post broken down in to specific sections each covering a different topic from specifics about stereotypes and referencing the song by Tupac then going into what stereotype threat is and how the character in the book was faced by it really helped to shine light on each of those topics to make them more understandable and how exactly they related to the book.
As another person previously said, the fact that this book is banned in some school districts is a bit ridiculous to me. The book shines light on a very important issue this country is, unfortunately, still dealing with today. I believe that incorporating this book into a classroom could really help to end such prejudice we have against others that are "different". It is a chance to educate younger generations so that these kind of situations can end and they can learn from what has happened before so that it is not repeated over and over again.
The fact that this book has been banned has me extremely curious as to where and why. I've never liked the concept of books being banned, whether for language or any other purpose, because although we may find certain words, ideas, or viewpoints offensive, I don't think that avoiding them (and forcing everyone else to do the same) is ever the answer. I can certainly understand a parent discouraging their child from reading certain material, but an organization banning it flat out? I don't think that's ever a justified response.
ReplyDeleteYour review of this book, and it's relation to shootings by cops in the black community brought to mind a video that I had seen making it's rounds on social media a few years ago after one of the highly publicized incidents. The video was somewhat of a social experiment, where civilians of all backgrounds were brought into police training sessions, handed a fake gun, and put in realistic situations where they would have to make the "to shoot or not to shoot" choice in a split second. The majority of these civilians, regardless of their ethnicity or skin color, when put into the shoes of the cop, ended up pulling the trigger. Following the experiment, there was an interesting conversation on not only the implicit racism that may be at play in the mind of the police, but also in all of us, as well as a discussion as to, instead of simply placing blame for past incidents, where do we go from here. And I think that that's a step in the right direction. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the other and do what we can to understand, and then rather than point fingers and blame each other for the past, sit down and have a conversation about how to make the past not repeat itself.
https://bookriot.com/2017/12/01/the-hate-u-give-banned/ Here's an article about the book being banned in a Texas school district. I agree that banning a book that challenges ideals is absolutely atrocious. What kind of message is that sending to kids? "Let's ignore all of the injustices we see around us jut because it makes us uncomfortable". If we are to eventually fix these issues, we must first engage in discourse about them.
DeleteThat study you talk about seems really interesting, and I would like to learn more about it/related studies.
Your analysis of "The Hate U Give" is quite interesting because it is so true that topics such as discrimination and stereotype are uncomfortable to talk about in society. However, I think that books like "The Hate U Give" in which these topics are thoroughly addressed help make the conversation regarding the issues easier between people. Not only does the book address these issues, but it also describes the fictional life of a character who reflects the lives of millions of African-Americans in our society today. I find it completely ridiculous that there are schools that have banned this book from their curriculum. By banning the book, I personally believe that these schools are completely ignoring the facts about discrimination and are even promoting discriminatory behaviors because they are not providing the information necessary for children and teens to reduce discriminatory behaviors.
ReplyDeleteReading is a wonderful exercise to expand one's worldview and learn to empathize with dissimilar groups. It saddens me that schools are removing this opportunity for children to learn about experiences that may be outside of their current knowledge, or one that reflects problems that they face (depending on what groups they fit into). I think this exemplifies a certain sect of the United States that is resistant to learn and adapt to the ever-changing social structure in the United States, especially with people who could benefit from similar novels. Additionally, I would be interested if reading a novel such as this would decrease stereotyping like some of the exercises in the text book.
ReplyDeleteSimilar situation to To Kill a Mockingbird :(
DeleteYou mention that a large part of the work is based in one of Tupac's songs, and cite the line "The Hate You Give Little Infants F**** Everyone". This really hit home with me. I strongly believe that people, more often than not, tend to be products of their environments. This line communicates this; we visit our sons upon our sons and daughters, and they visit theirs upon theirs, and so on. Angie Thomas seems to understand this. As you yourself mentioned, prejudice breeds prejudice. Unfortunately, it seems to me that few people understand this--how people are so subject to their environment. Instead, this idea of libertarian free will is pervasive, especially in American culture. It leads to a refusal to recognize the role environment plays, and paralyzed our ability to construct policy to deal with many social issues.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that this novel has made i onto the "Banned Book" list in some schools, considering discrimination and prejudice is a major issue in our society today. It seems as though this just adds to the issue overall, as our younger generation doesn't have the opportunity to learn more about the topic through the "The Hate U Give". I have never heard of this novel before reading this blog posting, but I will definitely have to go check it out! The analysis you give of the book is compelling and caught my interest. While I understand that some schools may find the scenes depicted in the book to be graphic, I think it's necessary that students have the opportunity to read this book to shed some light on prejudices. It would be interesting to see if reading this book altered the way people viewed african americans and the stereotypes that surround them.
ReplyDelete