I’ve just read the book that all white people living in
America in the year 2018 must read. Must.
The book is The
Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
She tells a story of a young, unarmed black man shot and
killed by a police officer in the inner city.
This is a story of a quest for justice when the unthinkable
happens. But it is much more than
that.
This is the story of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray and
Philando Castille and so many other unarmed black man killed by the law
enforcement. As the book shows (not
tells), not all police officers are racist.
Not all police officers killed unarmed black youth. Many, maybe most, want to ‘protect and serve.’ But black people in the city have way too
many bad encounters with the police.
This book shows how one such bad encounter looks from the perspective of
communities are majority black.
This story gives the white reader a glimpse into a world
he/she cannot understand. I have not
lived in the inner city. I have not
lived in communities like the one Thomas has created. If white readers would just take the time to
read the story, enter this world, fall in love with the protagonist Starr, the
witness to the shooting, and see the humanity of the community we brazenly
dismiss as the ‘hood,’ our perspective would quickly change and our attitude
along with it.
Thomas educated the white reader (the white person
willing to be taught) by showing, not telling, what the inner city, mostly
black world is like. I am grateful to
her for doing that. I am also grateful
to my friend Deidre Riggs who insisted I read this book. Now, I pass that insistence on to you. Read it!
Then, join in the struggle for equity and justice.
Thanks, Rob.
ReplyDelete