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A White Mask?: Double Consciousness Displayed in The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give is the story of Starr Carter and her struggle with her identity as a black woman and what it means to her. The way Starr presents herself to different groups of people is a perfect example of W.E.B. DuBois’ theory of double-consciousness. Throughout this film, we see a lot of examples of xenophobia-related topics. These include racism, the idea of code-switching, microaggressions, white-washing and examples of white privilege. There are different layers to xenophobia within the film and the concept of double consciousness is one worth discussing deeper.

From the beginning of the film, we’re introduced very quickly to the stark contrast of Starr’s home life and how she acts at home versus her social life at school. This is a big factor for the rest of the film, which gradually begins to pick up more and more. Her character development is a result of the trauma of witnessing her childhood friend, Khalil, be killed by a white cop. She’s later faced with the challenge of deciding to speak out about what she saw when the news went public or continuing to keep a low radar. However, if she chooses to speak out about it, she’d risk her safety in the process. This need for decision causes her to begin a battle within herself, questioning if what she’s doing is right or not. In the process, she becomes complacent to a lot of behavior from her private school friends that continues to frustrate her. This ranges from small comments, known as microaggressions, to the complete erasure of how devastating the incident of the shooting was for her. All of this buildup then allows her to start breaking down the walls between both worlds, as she realizes Khalil’s murder is something she cannot stay silent about. Richard Brody, a writer at The New Yorker recognizes that this is an extremely powerful movie that highlights the importance of so many topics that at times are not spoken about enough in American society: “[i]t’s an explicitly political movie that advocates a manifestly progressive view of its subjects, but it does so with a varied emotional energy, a set of complex characters in uncertain situations, and a perspective that emphasizes the drama’s open-ended, trouble-filled engagement with society at large." The film does an amazing job at capturing every smaller plot within the movie that just ends up tying it all together in a way that truly moves the watcher.

As I stated earlier, I think Starr’s case is an accurate depiction of double-consciousness and there’s various scenes within the movie that further support this. It was first introduced to us by W.E.B. DuBois after mentioning it in his book, The Souls of Black Folk (1903). The idea behind it is that black people feel the need to alter parts of themselves to be better accepted by society. Based on their experience, they feel as if there’s a line between being a black person and being an American, and that the two can’t coexist in America’s society. It’s better explained by a paper, titled “Double Consciousness,” written by John P. Pittman. He explains DuBois’ concept by saying, “[d]ouble-consciousness is identified here as a ‘sensation’, one which falls short of ‘true’ self-consciousness, but is a consciousness of one’s self, nonetheless. It is also part of a more complex feeling of ‘two-ness’, of disparate and competing ‘thoughts’, ‘strivings’, and ‘ideals’. This is not an episodic or occasional sensation, but a fixed and persistent form of consciousness” (8). This feeling of double consciousness is something black Americans are constantly aware of and must actively monitor which version of themselves they’re putting forth.

There are different ways that double consciousness was displayed in The Hate U Give. Some were more straightforward, and others were a bit more subtle. There was one recurring example of color tones at the beginning of the movie. The first time we see it used is when Starr is speaking as a voice over as she walks us through her morning. It starts during her drive to school; the mood is very cheerful, and it gives off a very comforting “home” vibe. Then it changes when we see a camera shot of her high school. The tones which had previously been warm are now noticeably colder. Different color temperatures show us further how drastic her two worlds are and invoke moods within us while watching. Warm tones usually imply a feeling of comfort, whereas cool tones are exactly that; cold. In an article written by Samantha Dillard, titled “The Hate U Give: Meticulously Crafted Authenticity,” she explains another reason why these differences in tones were so important: “Starr’s skin, which is rich and vibrant in Garden Heights, looks almost pallid at the private school and more closely matches that of her white peers than her family” (25). This was one detail that I hadn’t even noticed when taking note of the color tone, but it did have a noticeable effect on the scenes at her high school. When watching the film, it’s almost hard to tell just how much darker her skin is compared to her other classmates because they look similar. It tells us a lot and makes an even bigger point to how well she works to actively blend in with the people at her school. This is an example of white-washing, which is another topic that the film covers. She actively white-washes herself throughout the movie with her attitude and mannerisms around her classmates, much like the film does to her using color tones.

There are a couple of things that happen as a result of double consciousness. One of these is the concept of code-switching, something that’s common within the black community. Code-switching stems from the idea that only certain language is “appropriate” to use in different scenarios. The black community feels the need to alter the way they speak in public or in a professional setting to be more socially acceptable. Otherwise, they run the risk of appearing “ghetto”which is something Starr acknowledges very early on. Her use of slang, or rather, her lack of it at school allows her to keep up the appearance she puts forth for everyone. In her words, “Williamson Starr doesn’t use slang. If a rapper would say it, she doesn’t. Even if her white friends do. Slang makes them look cool. Slang makes me ‘hood’.” When she says “Williamson Starr”, she’s referring to the version of herself that she puts forth when she’s at school. There’s also plenty of times within her own community that she doesn’t completely fit in with her peers because they have different interests and perspectives. Roosa Tornikoski explains the idea of code switching in more depth: “[a] black person trying to find their place may have to constantly be proving themselves to the white majority and their own community. They are both black and American, but the struggle of finding the perfect balance for each individual is the essence of double consciousness” (5). It appeared like Starr was in between both worlds, leaning more towards the one she grew up in but still felt slightly out of place because of the school she attended. It influenced the way people from her childhood community viewed her.

Starr’s high school classmates also play a big part in her development. They become even more fuel for her to do what she thinks is right. Witnessing it all and staying silent is her just being complacent to what she sees, much like the incident she witnessed. In order for her to feel like she’s doing the right thing, she has to stand up for everything that she’s been previously letting slide. She had previously allowed her best friend to get away with small microaggressions and held herself back from confronting them because she didn’t want to break character from the role she usually plays while she’s in school. An example of a microaggression in the film happens halfway into the film. When Starr slips up and doesn’t pass the ball when playing basketball and allows the other team to score a point, her friend, Hayley, tells her to “pretend the ball is some fried chicken”. As the film continues these microaggressions become less and less subtle to the point where they’re just completely racist.

Throughout the film, we see two different examples of white privilege being displayed. Those two are Starr’s best friend, Hayley, and her boyfriend, Chris. They both fall on opposite ends of the white privilege spectrum in the way they choose to use it. Chris’ character acknowledges that he has this privilege and chooses to use it the best way he can, in this case helping Starr. In one of the last scenes during a protest that was quickly formed after the police officer who shot Khalil was set free with no charges, there’s a short clip of Chris looking around at his surroundings. He’s right in the middle of it all and he realizes just how important the case is for Starr and it’s not something he’d ever know firsthand what it’s like to deal with. He asks her if there’s anything he can do because he wants to help. How Chris manages his white privilege is further explained by Sarah Mohamed and Siobhan Englefield: “Chris’ response, agreeing to protest, is an agreed alliance; he knows he is not disconnected from the injustice and affirms his responsibility to use his position in society to raise the voices of others” (Mohamed, Englefield, 2).

On the opposite end, there’s Hayley, whose role is completely different. Her character is there to show how white privilege manifests itself in more negative ways. She does this probably without even meaning to in the beginning because these ideas may just be ingrained in her brain, so she doesn’t think they are inherently racist. There’re condescending undertones in the things she says. While she may not be actively racist, she’s still complacent with racism and doesn’t understand the severity of the situation at hand because it’s not something that could ever directly impact her. She can’t even bring herself to sympathize with her “best friend” because she’s blind to the privilege that’s being so obviously shown. Rather, she’s defending the guilty party and actively trying to paint Khalil like the one at fault, even going as far as to say, “[s]omeone was probably going to kill him eventually” after referring to him as a drug dealer. Mohamed and Englefield observe how “Hailey does not use her whiteness as an attribute to positively help others, such as minorities, but instead she, (maybe unknowingly as someone born into the already existing system), continues to perpetuate the cycle of systematic racism and oppression” (3). She doesn’t care to stop and think about what she says and how what she says could be directly offensive to the person she’s saying these comments to, especially since in Starr’s case, she has much more firsthand knowledge of the situation. Hayley symbolizes the white people that continue to enforce the systematic oppression of this country, while acting like it’s nonexistent.

To conclude, there are various levels of xenophobia that end up manifesting in a variety of ways within this film, and double consciousness was just one of the few topics that were covered. It does an amazing job of highlighting the importance of the issues presented and drawing attention to all the other topics. It gave us a new and deeper perspective on it all.