The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a novel depicting the violence and brutality present in America today toward African Americans. It’s told from the main character’s point of view; her name in Starr. As a girl who grew up in the “bad part of town” but goes to a privileged, mainly white high school, she often finds herself feeling out of place and needing to act a certain way in order to fit in and be accepted among this group of people. She often refers to herself as “Williamson Starr”, basically saying that when she’s in her school environment, she must act as students at Williamson High School expect her to act: “Williamson Starr doesn’t use slang–if a rapper would say it, she doesn’t say it, even if her white friends do” (Thomas, 71). Starr feels the need to conceal her authentic self so she can have an easier experience in high school.

Though I don’t necessarily feel out of place at school, I still feel I have to do certain things to make my experience in high school easier for myself and as stress-free as possible. Most high schools today emphasize STEM courses and require students to study these topics extensively. For the most part, I succeed in these classes, though I’m not really passionate about the subject matter. When I tell people that doing art is how I express myself and find a voice and want to study it in college, they often seem a little dismissive that I’m not doing something more “useful”. I feel similar to Starr in that I have to hold myself to a certain standard to be viewed as intelligent.