Looking at the world through a myriad of lenses once again shines with importance when one examines the world through the lens of critical race theory (CRT). Race is a form of separation between people with different attributes that was created as a cultural construct. Through CRT it is understood that such categorization is used to “oppress people of color” according to Britannica, and that the laws in the United States were developed with racism engrained into them to further promote inequalities between whites and people of color socially, politically, and economically.
Racism is not only found in the blatant and harsh form. It is also found in much more discrete, yet equally harmful forms. Laws that we consider to be neutral as a society can in fact only provide seemingly equal treatment towards all people yet do not guarantee equal results. To provide examples, even though people of color are legally allowed to apply for the same jobs and loans that white people are they are more likely to be denied. According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, “With respect to housing costs, there is evidence that Black and Hispanic homebuyers have paid more than white homebuyers for similar quality homes.” Beyond that, many people of color “live in impoverished and racially segregated neighborhoods due to zoning restrictions,” according to Britannica. It is arguable that the political who zone these places do this on purpose to marginalize communities. In zones with more people of color, services such as educational and healthcare insitutions are often either not as reliable or sparser. Limited educational opportunities lead to limited job opportunities thus perpetuating the cycle of being stuck in these same areas. Not getting the health care you need can lead to an earlier death.
It has been argued by The Atlantic and Consumer Federation of America that people of color often pay more for automobiles and auto insurance as well. There is a monumental difference in how often people of color are unjustly suspected of criminal behavior and the amount of police brutality received by people of color is monumentally more than white people recieve. This results in a higher incarceration rate for people of color, and they are often imprisoned for longer. Less blatantly, microaggressions play a dangerous part in the discrimination of people of color. Microaggressions speak to a larger issue of pervasive racism even within people who claim to not be racist. They add up and can make a person feel disrespected, alienated, and undermined. Britannica states that “their (microaggressions) cumulative effect on people of color can be psychologically devastating.”
The systems in place in the United States that are imbedded with racism have been met with little effort to remove them as they have adapted to other forms of racism, like the prison system as opposed to slavery. Decreasing blatant racism in this country has always been performed by the government and the wealthy for ulterior motives. For example, Derrick Bell argues that Plessy v. Ferguson decision was overturned in Brown v. Board of Education because of “the need to improve the country’s image abroad.” For example, the image of black people in popular culture has changed throughout the centuries to benefit the motives of white people at the time. They were depicted as people content in subordination to promote the image that their enslavement was justified, and then later depicted as criminal and latent, to excuse the increased killing, incrimination, and imprisoned rates of people of color.
To consider a human being to only be identifiable through one feature, such as their skin color, does a great injustice to the complexity of being a human being. That being said, someone’s skin color is a part of who they are and should be celebrated. The shared experiences of millions of people of color speaks to a larger truth about the institutions in this country of the United States. The idea that one person can “speak on behalf of other members of their group regarding the forms and effects of racism,” according to Britannica, is incredibly powerful because it outlines the process through which individual experiences and ideas of people of color are amalgamated into a larger truth to convey a broader perspective that sheds light on great injustices toward people of color.
Derrick A. Bell said “But history shows with equal clarity, though it is less frequently acknowledged, that indications of black success and thus possible black superiority result in racist outrage. Most of the many race riots in this nation’s history were sparked by white outrage over black success.”
The movie The Hate U Give immediately begins with a father explaining to his young children that if they get pulled over, they have to act a certain way and keep their hands were the police an see them in order to be safe. This alone is enough to show how systemically racist services, such as police officers are, when the same people meant to protect you are deeply feared by innocent children. The father does not hesitate to remind his children that “being black is an honor because you come from greatness.” The limited options and harsh environments that are discussed and analyzed through critical race theory are displayed in The Hate U Give. Trying to “get out” to find a better life is a common theme when you come from a place where low income people live, but to fit in in these other environments, you have to portray yourself as more like the people from there, which usually means to act more white and more “proper,” even if the white people use slang, because as its stated in the movie, “slang makes them look cool. Slang makes me “hood.” People need to be able to be who they are without being categorized and disrespected.
Another important point is quickly touched on when the protagonist of the movie Starr does not want her boyfriend to see where she lives or meet her parents, a common thing that people of color have to deal with because they get discriminated against for things like that if they don’t “stack up” to some, excuse me, bullshit ideals of how your house and family need to look and act to be accepted into mainstream white society. Later in the evening at a house party in he neighborhood, Starr shows up and doesn’t feel like she fits in there either. She came dressed comfy and gets ridiculed for it, and also for not wanting to fight. Some people start arguing and then gun shots go off. This scene definitely perpetuates the idea that black people are violent which mainstream media pushes. People dealing drugs and getting into gunplay comes from a place of wanting a better life and trying to be safe doing it and dealing with what society gives you, but the mess it can turn into makes it not worth it.
Starr’s friend Khalil is killed by a cop who pulls them over after they leave the party that gets shot up. It’s a scene that depicts something that happens too frequently in real life. Cops go around trigger happy unjustly killing people of color. According to Howard Zinn and many other sources, cops began as a group of people tasked with capturing runaway slaves. Their very foundation is built on racism, and their actions up to the present day reflect that abhorrent behavior and mindset. Even after killing an innocent young man the officer in the movie only gets put on paid administrative leave. That right there is a reflection of systemically racist institutions at work doing evil.
Later in the film, Maverick sits down with Starr and talks to her about how “the cycle” goes. People need money because there aren’t better jobs, so they deal drugs that were put in the neighborhood by rich people who aren’t from there and don’t care about the people who live there. The people who get tasked with selling the dope fall into the trap because they think that making money that way is a way out, but then find out it isn’t. Then you get caught up and put in jail “which is another billion-dollar hustle” for the white man.
Every time Starr is asked about the instance where Khalil is shot they just ask about how he was a drug dealer and don’t even care that he got killed, like anything else matters besides that. The cops harass her father for absolutely no reason besides the fact that they are racist POS. There goes on to be many more scenes where critiquing it through critical race theory reflects the basis of the theory that racism is embedded into society and government in the United States. For me, this movie focuses too much on the results of these systemically racist systems of government we live under like the violence toward people of color, rather than the source of these systemic issues like the institutions themselves. Everybody knows about the ghetto, what everybody doesn’t know about is how it came to be like that, why there are even systems that support these hateful ways of being in the first place, and who the people are who are terrorizing these communities like most cops and politicians and many, many white people who refuse to take ownership. I could see this movie being good for white people to watch but it can be triggering to watch for ethnic people who’ve been through stuff that’s depicted in this movie.
Ruby Cayenne 