*In my last post, I mixed up Maya and Hailey. I did that often throughout the novel because I did watch the movie back in June and the star who plays Hailey is named Maya in a tv show I used to watch called Girls Meets World so my apologies everyone!
There is an article that discusses this exact question. I will leave it below.
https://www.dailylobo.com/article/2020/06/the-hate-u-give-still-relevant-in-a-racist-justice-system
I think this book is foreshadowing, if you will, to the events of 2020. Multiple black people are shot and killed for doing absolutely nothing. Jogging, sleeping, breathing, etc.
Here is an article with the video of the pastor who ran with a tv to prove that racism killed Ahmaud Arbery.
https://www.insider.com/white-man-carried-tv-while-running-arbery-killing-vide-2020-5
The novel has taught me that it is important to speak out against all forms of racism, including passive because as shown by Maya, passive racism becomes passive-aggressive to just aggressive. It taught me that more than one person needs to speak out and it cannot just be from the harmed group themselves because as proven for the past 400 years, nobody is willing to listen to the marginalized group shout that they are marginalized. People with privilege need to step in, and they need to not be "saviours". It is not about "saving the race", it is about making all races equal. It is about giving all races a platform for their voices, their cultures, their histories, and it is most importantly about not getting defensive when being called out. I honestly think that when it comes to racism, I learned most from this novel to relate to the real world (aside from a literal black killing by a white police officer), between the interaction of Hailey and Starr. Hailey was very racist, and not just to black people but to any non-white people. She made inappropriate Chinese jokes to their other "best friend" Maya. The girls never confronted Hailey because they were all "friends" and it can be hard to call friends out. I have learned from this novel and from the issues in 2020, that no matter who it is, even if it is yourself, call out racism. Call out friends, family, co-workers, superiors, companies, etc.
There is an article that discusses this exact question. I will leave it below.
https://www.dailylobo.com/article/2020/06/the-hate-u-give-still-relevant-in-a-racist-justice-system
I think this book is foreshadowing, if you will, to the events of 2020. Multiple black people are shot and killed for doing absolutely nothing. Jogging, sleeping, breathing, etc.
Here is an article with the video of the pastor who ran with a tv to prove that racism killed Ahmaud Arbery.
https://www.insider.com/white-man-carried-tv-while-running-arbery-killing-vide-2020-5
The novel has taught me that it is important to speak out against all forms of racism, including passive because as shown by Maya, passive racism becomes passive-aggressive to just aggressive. It taught me that more than one person needs to speak out and it cannot just be from the harmed group themselves because as proven for the past 400 years, nobody is willing to listen to the marginalized group shout that they are marginalized. People with privilege need to step in, and they need to not be "saviours". It is not about "saving the race", it is about making all races equal. It is about giving all races a platform for their voices, their cultures, their histories, and it is most importantly about not getting defensive when being called out. I honestly think that when it comes to racism, I learned most from this novel to relate to the real world (aside from a literal black killing by a white police officer), between the interaction of Hailey and Starr. Hailey was very racist, and not just to black people but to any non-white people. She made inappropriate Chinese jokes to their other "best friend" Maya. The girls never confronted Hailey because they were all "friends" and it can be hard to call friends out. I have learned from this novel and from the issues in 2020, that no matter who it is, even if it is yourself, call out racism. Call out friends, family, co-workers, superiors, companies, etc.