The Hate You Give
Khalil Akinyele
“When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me.
One was the usual birds and bees...The other talk was
about what to do if a cop stopped me.” p.20
The Police are an existential threat to black people along with the FBI, CIA, the KKK,
4chan and many other hate groups. Law enforcement takes its roots back to the
fugitive slave catching days where these racist would make black people, who were
supposedly free in free states, but would recapture them into slavery. This is same as
police officers violating human rights to put innocent black men in prison to be wards
of the state or slaves to the state. It also extends to the fact many racist men and
women often work in the police department. These animals will be completely fine
with killing another black human beings as long as the status quo permits them and
they can get off with it.(See comments which involve police brutality “ I didn’t see the
entire video, so I can’t have an opinion.”)
“Fifteen minutes later, I leave with police station with my
mom. Both of us know the same thing: This is gonna be
some bullshit.”p. 103
It does not makes sense for criminals to investigate themselves, yet the police
department can do that. The murder of Khalil in this book does not matter to these
people, instead it only matters that evidence provided only proves the officer is not
wrong and feared for their lives. Police officers can kill legally as long as the republican
media and jurors allow them. Look for yourself
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/02/dallas-police-officers-video-bodyc
am-tony-timpa​ as you can see the officers murdered this person but watch as they
will not serve any jail time due to pro police jurors declaring it manslaughter. I wrote
this on 8/3/2019. Now it’s 9/3/2019 and still zero justice.
“Ho-ly shit, Starr! Seriously? After everything we’ve been
through, you think I’m a racist? Really?” p.112
White people can not comprehend their own racism. It's a fact, racism is taught to
them by definition not by experience. For instance Hailey calls Khalil a criminal drug
dealer, yet cannot fathom the idea that he was put under this circumstance by not
having another way to support his dying guardian,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQo-yYhExw0​ If you read the comments you will
see how racist white people but don't realize it. For instance here is a quote from John
W “​Blacks are at the bottom of the heap in every country they immigrate to. Europe, the UK, Canada,
all have the same problems with blacks and crime. It is manifestly obvious to anyone with a grain of
common sense that the real reason is low intelligence.”
Or even the other comments which state “13% of the population commiting 52% of crime.” This
is incredibly racist because it implies that all black people are criminals.
Or even the fact Hailey is incapable of understanding that by believing anything that
is racist and not being racist is impossible. For instance here is a Hailey
https://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/racist-minecraft-african-minecraft-short/​ By
creating something racist and then say their intention is to not offend is impossible to
do.
“I want my kids to enjoy life! I get it, Maverick, you wanna
help your people out. I do too. That’s why I bust my butt
every day at that clinic. But moving out of the
neighborhood won’t mean you’re not real and it won’t
mean you can’t help this community. You need to figure
out what’s more important, your family or Garden
Heights. I’ve already made my choice.”
Lisa, p. 180
It is absolutely horrible to give up a stake or claim to a black neighborhood. ​The reason
for this is it allows white people to take said land to drive black people who live there out and
regain power in this land. For instance in Newark, there used to be more black people in 2001
than there are in 2019. The reason for this was the lower property values due to the 90s era
drug dealing and gang violence. Yet when this violence lowered, white companies raced to
capture Newark to “create jobs” where they don't hire black people(Look at the employee
data from Amazon in 2010). In fact the power shifted completely from black citizens. Black
people who owned Newark central ward land sold it off, where the “useless” land became
used for “luxury” apartments. But this is just another part of American Capitalism, where
owning land is the same as having “money.” In fact this part of the novel is so real to me
because I witnessed it in Newark. Places that were considered dangerous are now being
taken over by larger companies such as Prudential, renovated restaurants/department stores
and mega chain corporations, and this is so different from the way things were 10 years ago.
Black people are losing a long standing war when it comes to self preservation and
independent economics. It’s sad.
“DeVante. Khalil. Neither of them thought they had much
of a choice. If I were them, I’m not sure I’d make a much
better one.”p.239
Since the end of the 60s the United States Federal Government has wanted to destroy the
black community. In this time they government created the Cointel Pro which was carried
out in killing Black leaders such as Black Panther member Fred Hampton and Mark Clark.
The Government in the 70s the CIA was starting secret wars in South America and was
selling most of these drugs to black kingpins to traffick in black communities(Freeway Rick
Ross). In the 80s the crack epidemic which was caused by these trafficked drugs, allowed
police officers to make military police states in black communities. During the 90s, the war
on weed was starting to become huge. But the funny part is since the 60s white drug users
where essentially not policed for these drugs. In fact Hippies who were the most frequent
smokers of the drug were let go if caught. But in the 90s traces of weed would be equal to up
to 20 years of jail time. In the 2000s the drug continues in cities like Baltimore where violence
was so frequent and out of hand. So she is right Khalil and Devante are just teenagers who
have 40 years of Government lies and involvement to blame for their involvement in the drug
trade. In fact they are the biggest victims, they are cannon fodder for the police, and targets
for rival gangs and drug kingpins.
“But Ms. Ofrah said this interview is the way I fight. When
you fight, you put yourself out there, not caring who you
hurt or if you’ll get hurt. So I throw one more blow, right at
One-Fifteen. ‘I’d ask him if he wished he shot me too.’”​Starr, p.
290
Starr doesn’t say the entire truth to fit in with the interviewer. Rather than say “The
officer who shot Khalil just wanted to shoot a black person, rather than question why
they went back to there car. In fact, she should have said explicitly “Khalil came back
to talk to me, and the cop shot him. After he killed Khalil he didn’t call for a medic,
instead he put me in handcuffs and panicked. I saw as Khalil’s life left his body.”But
instead she tries to answer with a little remark instead of all honesty which would
have led to a more credible testimony in court.
“‘Everybody wants to talk about how Khalil died,’ I say. ‘But
this isn’t about how Khalil died. It’s about the fact that he
lived. His life mattered. Khalil lived!’ I look at the cops
again. ‘You hear me? Khalil lived!’”​Starr, p. 412
I hate this part of the novel and this protagonist. Rather than put all of her efforts in
creating an army for the oppressed, she would make a stupid speech about a life
stolen. Rather than make a speech about how Khalil will not be the only one killed my
pigs, she would instead do as MLK did and talk about love and peace. She is an idiot,
she has 100 people rallied together and instead of telling them to speak without a
present enemy and plan for the future. She feeds them bullshit. Her little speech
hasn’t made them realize political power and economic power is the only way to stop
violence. Instead it made them just protest louder which won’t stop anything. This
part was just a bullshit protest scene which led nowhere to the resolution of Khalil’s
unavenged death.
“If I face the truth, as ugly as it is, she’s right. I was
ashamed of Garden Heights and everything in it. It seems
stupid now though. I can’t change where I come from or
what I’ve been through, so why should I be ashamed of
what makes me, me? That’s like being ashamed of
myself.”​Starr, p. 441
Starr is an idiot and a huge sellout. If she just realized this then she essentially conceding that she
has been ashamed of being black for years. I don’t agree with her denying her culture and people
for years even after being trained by father. She is what is wrong with people, they will live in
denial until the time is wrong. If she would of instead stood up for Khalil by quoting laws and
asking questions, instead of being a complete wimp he would have still been alive.
“Others are fighting too, even in the Garden, where
sometimes it feels like there’s not a lot worth fighting for.
People are realizing and shouting and marching and
demanding. They’re not forgetting. I think that’s the most
important part.”​Starr, p. 443
I disagree with this entirely. The people of Garden Heights should have learned that fighting
does not mean protesting. Fighting is capitalizing and gaining wealth through land ownership,
rental of land, private sector commerce and trade, and creating a consumer base. If the King
lords would use their drug capital to go clean and instead buy the land of Garden Heights and
push other rival gangs out. They could make it more peaceful and maintain nonviolence while
renting land to large businesses. This would make cash flow through the community and lead to
partnerships and grants for the youth like Seven who want to go to college. The king lords could
also make their gang history look like nothing compared to their new reputation in the Garden
Heights community. They could also still indulge in the drug business by controlling the police
departments through funding them with donations to not search or obstruct their goals. But if
white or other out of community police officers were to stuff their noses in Garden Heights, then
they could just go missing while investigations done by King Lord police officers happen and are
forgotten. This would lead to the King Lords helping everyone in Garden heights out and using
their brand name to everyone’s advantage.
“As long as I play it cool and keep to myself, I should be
fine. The ironic thing is though, at Williamson I don't have
to “play it cool” — I’m cool by default because I'm one of
the only black kids there. I have to earn coolness in Garden
Heights, and that's more difficult than buying retro Jordans
on release day.” page 13
I have to agree with Starr for once ,because white people just aren't cool. Due to me going to a
predominantly white school, black kids are just cool by default. This is due to popular culture
being downplayed by Black American culture. The students try to act black and say the n word
,because they think its cool. But if it ever came time to be a Black person they would be
incapable of doing so. In fact, it's so hard to be black that some people try to escape it or
denounce it, like Starr in this case. I can understand her saying this because I have experienced
the lack of coolness of other races. In fact if you disagree name one thing that isn’t popular that
Black people have created. Rap, Rock, clothing, the filament in light bulbs, the cells used to find
cures for cancer, or even the way we speak. Other cultures love our culture but hate us sadly.