Theme of Poverty in The Hate U Give (Book Analysis)

The Hate U Give, a fictional story written by Angie Thomas, is about a teenager named Starr Carter who witnessed the shooting of her childhood friend, Khalil Harris by the hands of Brian Cruise, a white police officer. This book deeply explores distressing and controversial topics such as racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter social justice movement. However, I believe there is another underlying theme that contributed to the creation of this book: poverty and economic disparity can influence an individual's social status and/or acceptance. 

In the story, Starr attempts to maintain dual identities, the Garden Heights Starr and the Williamson Starr. She demonstrates the idea that her family's economic standing of poverty determines her acceptance and status at her school, Williamson Prep, which is a predominantly white private high school in an upper class neighborhood. During school, Starr creates an alternate identity, which she refers to as Williamson Star as a means to find social acceptance by her peers who reside in the upper class neighborhood.

Her identity as Williamson Star, she masks any hint of her racial/cultural identity, economic background, and residential community. For instance, Angie Thomas states on page 71, “That means flipping the switch in my brain so I’m Williamson Starr. Williamson Starr doesn’t use slang--if a rapper would say it, she doesn’t say it, even if her white friends do. Slang makes them cool. Slang makes her ‘hood’. Williamson Starr holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she's the “angry black girl.” Williamson Starr is approachable. No stank-eyes, side-eyes, none of that. Williamson Starr is non confrontational. Basically, Williamson Starr doesn’t give anyone a reason to call her ghetto.” Furthermore, during a heated conversation at school between Starr and her two friends Maya and Haliey on page 113, it states, “If it’s revealed that I was in the car, what will that make me? The thug ghetto girl with the drug dealer? What will my teachers think of me? My friends?” These two quotes demonstrate that Starr was ashamed of revealing her economic background and other life events that have shaped her identity because she fears being judged negatively by her white peers at her school. The reason that Starr didn’t want other people to know about this real life identity is because she didn’t want to be connected with common negative and racist stereotypes about poor black Americans being affiliated with drugs/drug dealing, alcohol, gangs, crime and poverty. 

Many low income students attending prestigious ivy league schools experience similar situations as Starr. According to Jenny Anderson, “At Ivy-plus colleges, those elite institutions that propel people to greatness and equalize disparities, more than two-thirds of the students are from rich households and fewer than 4% are from poor households.” Due to the extremely small number of poor students, it is hard for them to fit in and be accepted. Therefore, they have to conform to expectations and norms by pretending to have the same economic status as their peers. One low income ivy league student, Camilo Maldonado states, “Being poor when surrounded by people who aren’t poor, ultimately forces you to come up with lies or excuses as to why you are too busy to join for costly outings. Mostly, out of fear that they won’t want to be friends if they know the truth. I also had a healthy dose of shame, as if it were my fault I was poor.” Like Starr, Maldonado felt the need to lie about their financial situation, so he would be welcomed. Also, according to my father’s experience he was raised in poverty by a single parent in South Central Los Angeles and he shared that he had to often hide from his friends and other peers because he was poor. He expressed that he was bussed to an affluent middle school in Brentwood called Paul Revere Middle School where he never shared with his friends that he did not have a father or that he was the only one in his circle of friends whose family did not own a car and took the city bus a method of transportation.  My father rarely discussed where he lived because he did not want to be associated with gangs, violence and poverty for fear of losing friends or being judged. People thought that he would be devoured and trapped in the cycle of poverty, but he proved them wrong when he graduated high school and went to UC Berkeley. Although these negative stereotypes of poverty about minorities are inaccurate, they often shape who they are as a person as they struggle with trying to be socially accepted. 

Starr’s second identity, Garden Heights Starr, almost has to gain her coolness back because she attends an all-white school which paints her as ‘poor, but privileged’. According to Harvard, the privileged poor are “poor kids who went to private high schools, usually well resourced.” “Kenya begged me to come to this party for weeks. I knew I’d be uncomfortable as hell, but every time I told Kenya no she said I act like I’m ‘too good for a Garden party.’ I got tired of hearing that shit and decided to prove her wrong,” (Thomas 11). Also on page 11, Star says, “I have to earn coolness in Garden Heights, and that’s more difficult than buying retro Jordans on release day.” It is obvious that Starr isn’t really present in her community, so it is difficult for her to fit in. She attempts to conform to Garden Height’s culture by partying, even though it can be dangerous. Also Starr prevents herself from ‘talking white’, so that she won’t be affiliated with her white peers. 

In conclusion, Starr struggles to blend in with both of her worlds, Garden Heights and Williamson Preparatory. Although people like Starr hide their social and economic standing, they should instead embrace their differences as their life experiences have shaped their identity, which can ultimately have profound positive impacts on people and society as a whole.