The C.O.W.S. | Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give | Part 2 #AntiBlackness

The Context of White Supremacy hosts the second study session on Angie Thomas's critically acclaimed young adult novel, The Hate U Give. Penned in response to the 2009 police slaughter of Oscar Grant, Thomas's work "debuted at the top of The New York Times's Young Adult best-seller list, and has drawn ecstatic praise from critics, librarians, book sellers and prominent young-adult novelists," says The Times's Alexandra Alter. The book received such immense admiration, it's being transformed to a major motion picture starring The Hunger Games's Amandla Stenberg. The first week's session described Starr, a scholarly black teen and the main character of the book. Starr and her black friends sneak into a party with drugs, alcohol, drinking and profanity. After watching gun shots and brawls at the party, Starr and her friend are stopped by an enforcement official. A conflict ensues and the White officer kills Starr's black male companion, Khalil. Readers are informed that Starr has already lost a childhood friend to gun violence. The violence, narcotics, and expletives made Gus question whether this book is the typical "young adult" offering from adolescent minds.