“The Hate U Give” Adaptation Sheds Light On Systemic Injustice

Maverick, father of 3, starts out by telling the main character at age 9 and her two younger siblings how to respond when you get pulled over. A Black family, he tells them to make sure that they don’t act mad, remain calm, answer their questions but don’t tell them anything extra. If they drop something, leave it, maybe there was a driving mistake or nothing at all, he says you’ll see me with my hands on the dashboard because hands moving makes the police nervous. 

Keep your hands posted, it can get really dangerous so don’t argue with them. “But don’t ever forget that being Black is an honor because you come from greatness”. He calls the Black Panther program their rights, their Bill of Rights, and to know them. Starr, the main character, is constantly held between the low income Garden Heights area where she lives and her mostly white Williamson prep school. 

Starr goes on to discuss the necessary separation of the two worlds, the different versions of herself she presents. At Williamson, she is careful not to present herself as “hood” by using slang “even if her white friends do”. She says her Williamson Starr version is approachable, non-confrontational, not giving anyone a reason to call her ghetto. She’s also in a relationship with Chris, a white student. 

Racial differences are always at the forefront of her outward awareness of how people, particularly other students, respond to her romantic relationship, how she responds to everyone, and in saying she’ll meet her boyfriend at a neutral location for their weekend date rather than at her house, retaining separation of worlds. Which version of her will show up at a party, and does either version have a place in her heart?

She’s seen differently by her friends and neighbors at the Heights too, a hybrid with no true fit feeling, trying to figure out her identity and when and how to stand against injustice. The systemic violence and hate is seemingly inescapable, in gun shots fired at that party and coming to a front that night as she’s driving home with friend Khalil.

Khalil recites Tupac, the current truth and relevance from his words on this systematisms, “THUG LIFE” stands for “The Hate U Give Little Infants F’s Everybody””. The drugs and poverty mixed with the injustice are also shown to keep everyone on a cycle, including those closest to Starr. 

When she is unexpectedly pulled over by a cop, Starr becomes increasingly concerned when Khalil fails to do any of the things she has been taught to do. Things quickly escalate, and Khalil is removed from the car as he continues to rant about the injustice before being shot with a hairbrush in his hand, which was allegedly mistaken for a gun.

She’s afraid of being targeted as a witness to the murder, looking at testifying in front of a grand jury. What will her voice say, find out what her final chosen identity will show. This need-to-watch film, The Hate U Give, tells the heavy truths of systemic injustice and some representative few trying to work through their identities, truths, and fights to work against it. The messages of collective power and never letting anyone make you be quiet deeply transcend and will stay in your heart and head.