Racism in the Hate U Give

The Hate U Give, produced by George Tillman Jr., is a movie based on racism. This movie is based on a girl named Starr Carter and her family, who are switching between two worlds: the poor black neighborhood and the wealthy white prep school. There is a balance between the two worlds that is broken when she witnesses her childhood best friend shot by a white police officer. She faces pressure from each side of the worlds to find her voice and stand up for her rights.

The title of the movie is related because it spells out Thug. Starr, her family, and all her black friends are known as “Thugs” to white people. There is a reason police officers are scared of them, and Starr needs to figure out what it is.

In The Hate U Give, the characters have specific parts. The movie is a mix of white and black people. Starr is given the role of a teenage black girl. Her parents sent her to a white prep school because the school where she lives is where you either get pregnant or killed. At the white prep school, she has three white friends – Hailey, Chris, and Maya. Hailey and Maya are her friends she spends her day with at school, and Chris is her boyfriend. Starr keeps Chris out of her life at home because of the racism and fights. Chris always tries to plan dates outside of school, but Starr always finds excuses to make sure he doesn’t find out about her home life. Starr’s friends and boyfriend all think she lives in a rich neighborhood just like them. Starr’s parents and siblings also play a big role in her life. Starr’s dad, Maverick, always makes sure she knows the rules and rights of being black. Every day he keeps her and her brothers, Sekani and Seven, in their place. Maverick has them recite their rights every morning before they leave for school. This plays a big role because being black is hard for them. They are always blamed for the fights and killings in the world. Unlike Maverick, Starr’s mom, Lisa, never loses compassion for Starr, Sekani, and Seven. She reminds and teaches them the humanity of others and empathy and understanding. Both Starr’s parents help her develop her outlook on the world. Sekani and Seven are her brothers, and they both do their best to protect Starr and help her with any problem she comes across. Khalil Harris was Starr’s childhood best friend whom she always had a crush on. Khalil was always sweet to her and cared for her so much. Until one night after a party, Starr witnessed Khalil get shot by a white police officer for pulling a hairbrush out of his car, with Starr in the passenger seat.

This movie took place in a poor black neighborhood with just a few stores, and one of them being Starr’s dad’s store. The other place is the rich white prep school. Starr’s neighborhood that she lived in was poor and run-down. She lived in a small but cute townhouse with her family. Starr’s town consisted of 3 stores: a barbershop, and a barbecue. Starr’s town had many drug addicts. They would sell drugs for money to help with their families or deal with the King Lords, in order to help their family. Many of the drug deals also consisted of guns because someone could be tricking you into a drug deal just to kill you. This relates to racism because it makes everyone scared of dark-colored skinned people. Police Officers and anyone else know that a lot of dark-colored teenagers and adults carry around guns. The white prep school where Starr goes accepts her. They act like thugs every day with the slang and the dance moves. Starr doesn’t mind it because they accept it and just joke around about it. She accepts it because it makes her laugh and smile about it. No one disrespects Starr or her color. They are teenagers and they all act the same. The difference between the rich and white prep neighborhoods and schools is that there are only white people. No one is scared that someone will pull out a gun, or that a Police Officer will pull them over for no reason. Unlike Starr’s neighborhood and schools, Police Officers are everywhere, waiting for an excuse to pull them over or shoot them for no reason. The Officers are scared of them because they are different and have more reasons to be mad. They live in bad neighborhoods, and barely have any stores. They are always blamed for the trouble that is caused.

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