
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas is a novel about 16-year old African American Starr Carter. She witnesses police violence and racism numerous times within her life, and the story focuses on her experience after witnessing the shooting of her friend, Khalil. However, the focus of the story is about more than the trauma that one event causes. It displays the damage caused by systematic issues that flow through generations of certain communities. This is especially clear through how Starr leads two separate lives. One of them is at her mostly white private school on one side of town, while the other is in her neighborhood and family life that is in a predominantly black neighborhood. In an attempt to shield Starr and her brothers from the negative experiences many in her neighborhood go through, her parents send them to a wealthier public school in hope of breaking this collective intergenerational trauma. The story highlights the struggles which her friends and family face due to racism and injustice — something that her white friends and boyfriend don’t understand or acknowledge.