The Hate U Give Questions to Reflect + Quotes to Remember

The Hate U Give by Angela Thomas
 
Questions to Reflect + Discuss

• What is this movie about to you?
• What spoke to you?
• What role does family play in the movie? In what ways are unconventional families portrayed?
• How do you think Starr would define family?
• Discuss the meaning of the term “Thug Life” as an acronym and why the author might have chosen part of this as the title of the book and the movie. In what ways do you see this in society today?
• How and why does the neighborhood react to the grand jury’s decision?
• In the book/movie Starr flashes back to two talks her parents had with her when she was young. One was about sex (“the usual birds and bees”). The second was about what precautions to take when encountering a police officer. Have you had a similar conversation about what to do when stopped by the police? Reflect upon or imagine this conversation.
• What insights does this movie generate concerning the national debate over police brutality and racial profiling? Does it open new perspectives or explain any inconsistencies?
• Reflect on how you and your community discuss and address inequality.
• Starr pledges to “never be quiet.” After reading this book (or participating in this discussion), how can you use your voice to promote and advance social justice?

 
Quotes to Remember
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King Jr. (1967)
 
“I contend that the cry of "Black Power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years."— Martin Luther King Jr. (Interview with Mike Wallace, 1966)

"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?...It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity."— Martin Luther King Jr. (“The Other America,” 1968)

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”— Martin Luther King Jr (“Beyond Vietnam,” 1967)

“When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom.” — Malcolm X


“It’s also about Oscar.
Aiyana.
Trayvon.
Rekia.
Michael.
Eric.
Tamir.
John.
Ezell.
Sandra.
Freddie.
Alton.
Philando.
It’s even about that little boy in 1955 who nobody recognized at first—Emmett.”
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas