The novel thus suggests that black children are not simply robbed of their innocence, but also killed for minor transgressions. As Starr points out, however, selling drugs should not be a death sentence. The media’s focus on Khalil’s alleged background as a drug dealer is another tool to exonerate One-Fifteen. In his television interview, One-Fifteen’s father further attempts to garner sympathy for his son by painting him as a man who feared for his life. Maverick pointedly responds by questioning why One-Fifteen “assumed” that Khalil was “a thug” just “by looking at” him. Even Carlos, Starr’s uncle and a detective on the same force as One-Fifteen, describes the officer as “a good guy” who was in over his head. The media then attempts to present Khalil as a thug in an effort to rationalize One-Fifteen’s actions. This scene establishes that black people, even children, are not only not afforded a presumption of innocence, but are often deemed threats. One-Fifteen then points his gun at the unarmed, terrified Starr until backup arrives. The criminalization of black youth appears early in the novel, when Khalil is shot during a traffic stop despite posing no threat to One-Fifteen, the officer who pulls him over. Starr and her half-brother Seven are taught to recite the Black Panther’s Ten-Point Program, including the phrase, “We want an immediate end to police brutality and the murder of black people, other people of color, and oppressed people.” These steps are necessary in a world quick to assume that black individuals are dangerous. Maverick further instills in his children knowledge of how systemic racism manifests in society.
THE HATE YOU GIVE PAGES HOW TO
When pulled over after Big D’s party, Starr is grateful that her parents told her “what to do if a cop stopped” her and hopes “somebody had the talk with Khalil.” For black children, knowing how to act in front of law enforcement can be a matter of life and death. Police brutality is such a reality in Starr’s world that her parents Maverick and Lisa give each of their children “the talk” about how to behave around law enforcement. Though this specific moment of police brutality spurs the action of the novel, author Angie Thomas also presents excessive force as part of a larger tapestry of racism and the criminalization of black communities in America as a whole. The Hate U Give follows sixteen-year-old Starr Carter after she witnesses the killing of Khalil Harris, her unarmed black friend, by a white police officer.
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