A Read That Can Strengthen Our Community
By Elaine Meyers
The Southern Cayuga High School began a conversation when it assigned Angie Thomas’ novel The Hate U Give to the Honors English students for summer reading and reflection. The book was later adopted by the Southern Cayuga Anne Frank Tree Project for the upcoming October Community Read. With the assistance of SCCS English teacher Elishia Hoatland, two groups gathered to discuss the book.. The depth and skill of the author’s writing and character development ignited two powerful conversations.
The first conversation was with three juniors at one of the girls’ homes. I had sent discussion questions prior to the meeting and learned when I arrived that the girls had read and re-read the book, as well as talked among themselves. Like the characters in the books, these three teens had been friends since kindergarten and third grade and were involved in high school sports. We talked about the life of the main character Starr and how they related to her. They understood that close friends can be brutally honest with each other and count on each to know that even the harshest comments stem from love. They also realized that you could have racist ideas and not know it. Starr’s story made them question how often only one side of a story is told by the media. They discussed the value of social media in broadening their understanding of the reality of lives compromised by racist prejudices held by family, friends, classmates, and law enforcement. They lamented that our community provided few experiences for developing friendships with black families. “I mostly know about frustrations with racism from my reading and viewing a variety of media. I loved the movie Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda talked about the limited roles available to actors of color and his need to show that even American historical figures can be interpreted by a multicultural and multiracial cast. I just love Lin-Manuel Miranda’s name and thought that we are often taught to question anyone whose name is different. It is just another example of teaching ‘us versus them’.”
The teens discussed the need to be able to talk about racism when they encountered it. They talked about a friend who entered class one day and declared that he “hated feminists because they hate men.” The girls had a good relationship with their classmate and countered. “I think we need to look up the word feminist in the dictionary.” After reading that feminists supported social, economic, and political equality of the sexes, their friend shook his head and said he was wrong. “I asked my friend why he said it in the first placed and he said he really didn’t know. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do this with racism?” The girls realized that the anti-feminist conversation was aided by all the experience the young man had with his mother, sister and other family and friends. “How can we provide experiences with black families and leaders when our community is so white? We need these experiences to help us come together with real understanding. Having everyone read this book would be such a good beginning. It would make our community stronger.”
The second conversation was at my house with three 9th and 10th graders and Mrs. Hoatland. “I loved this book. The descriptions put you right in the lives of families that live with the sound of guns being fired and having to make choices about how to protect and feed your family when jobs are not available in your neighborhood. I also related to the idea that a neighborhood can provide the protection of home to those whose families are making bad choices.”
“I completely understood Starr’s fear and confusion when she was faced with speaking out. I feel that way when I hear comments and jokes that insult Black and Hispanic families. We need to learn both sides of a story and we have to find an effective way to use our voice.” One student talked about a story she saw on television. A mother and her young child took chalk and created a BLM (black lives matter) art piece on their sidewalk. Every night their neighbor erased the B from the sign. The neighbor explained that all lives matter. “After reading this book, I really understood the racist implication of thinking you could erase Black from all lives that matter. We need a conversation bigger than English classes. We need the entire high school to read this book and begin talking with our neighbors, friends, and family about what we learn from Starr’s story.”
The teens agreed that many of their family and neighbors, like the character Uncle Carlos in the book, who work in law enforcement promote the need for conversations that show everyone’s experiences. One of the teens, who is my neighbor, and I agreed to watch Cayuga County Sheriff Office’s event “This is What We Do…This is How We Do It” that will be live streamed at both the sheriff’s office YouTube channel and the Harriet Tubman Center for Peace and Justice’s Facebook page on September 14 at 2 p.m.
This is a conversation that is just beginning. Please join us during the week of October 5 for small group meetings to discuss the book and think about other ways to build a community of kindness, understanding, tolerance and justice for all. Books are available at the Aurora and Hazard libraries and information at sc-read.org.