Through The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas explores the presence of racism in the process of justice—particularly racism toward Black people. Racism is rampant in Starr’s community: she changes the way she acts and talks at school to avoid attracting a reputation as someone from “the hood,” and due to her experiences with racism, she fears telling her White boyfriend, Chris, about her background.

When Starr and her friend Khalil are pulled over by a police officer, the officer shoots Khalil three times simply because he moved to check on Starr after the officer told him to hold still. Khalil was unarmed, but the officer later claims to have mistaken Khalil’s hairbrush for a weapon. Starr and the Black community around her know that Khalil’s status as a Black man played a role in his unjustified shooting—a fact that the police department, Starr’s classmates, and news stations try to cover up by emphasizing Khalil’s history as a drug dealer. This is not the only occurrence of racism in law enforcement: near the end, Starr laments that police officers and fire trucks always show up late to the scene of an accident or crime in the mostly Black community of Garden Heights. 

Racism leads to Khalil’s death, and it also impedes the process of justice afterward. Though the case is examined by both the police department and a grand jury, the officer who shot Khalil faces no charges and goes free. Even sympathy is denied to Khalil: many people, including Starr’s friend Hailey, appear to believe that Khalil’s death was warranted because he was a drug dealer (although it is revealed that he was only involved in drug dealing to pay off a debt for his mother). The White students at Starr’s school do not mourn for Khalil, but use his death as an excuse to stage a protest that gets them out of class. At the end of the novel, Thomas does not promise readers that racism will be eradicated from justice and law enforcement in Starr’s community anytime soon. However, Starr provides hope by vowing to continue speaking up until change is brought about. 

Starr is the sole witness to Khalil’s wrongful death, which places her in an important role for testifying about the events she witnessed. Starr’s decision to speak up is not an easy one: her parents fear for her physical, mental, and emotional safety should she choose to testify. Starr decides at multiple points in the story to speak out, such as when she initially gives her account of the shooting to police, when she agrees to give an anonymous television interview, and when she speaks to the crowd at the riot following the grand jury’s verdict. 

Starr courageously speaks out for Khalil despite the dangers she faces for doing so and the toll it takes on her emotionally. Khalil’s death traumatizes her, and recounting the shooting causes her to cry and at one point makes her physically sick. She proclaims the truth in the face of danger both from the police, around whom she must always act cautiously, and from the King Lords gang, who she fears will retaliate when she hints at King’s drug dealing on television.

It is important to note that the novel ends with an air of hope not because justice for Khalil has been achieved or racism has been eradicated, but because Starr promises to continue fighting against the injustice around her. Thomas thus implies that activism like Starr’s is the way in which racism and...

Starr navigates between two separate worlds in her everyday life: that of Garden Heights, her home neighborhood; and that of Williamson Prep, her school. She sees herself as an outlier in both “worlds,” as she is one of the only Black students at school and feels inauthentic when she returns to Garden Heights because she now lives in the suburbs and attends a prestigious, mostly White prep school.

In order to feel acceptable at school and at home, Starr changes how she speaks and acts, engaging in what is called “code-switching” as she transitions from one setting to the other. At school, she doesn’t use slang or react angrily, attempting to avoid the labels of “hood,” “ghetto,” and “angry Black girl.” At home, she uses slang so as to not sound “White.” Constantly code-switching is exhausting and leads to identity crises when her worlds inevitably collide: when her boyfriend, Chris, and friend Maya, who both attend Williamson, meet her friend Kenya, who is her brother Seven’s half-sister, Starr panics, not knowing which identity to assume. When her friends all get along well, Starr realizes that perhaps she can be both versions of herself at once.

Starr’s father, Maverick, is initially opposed to her dating Chris, a White boy, but he soon accepts their relationship, as do Starr’s Garden Heights friends and the rest of her family members. Chris, in turn, supports Starr in her activism, attends protests with her, and reassures her that he loves and accepts all parts of her. Starr’s decision to allow Chris to learn about her family and background symbolizes her ultimate acceptance and reconciliation of both her Garden Heights and Williamson Prep identities.