Violence and oppression

One of the main themes of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is violence and oppression, especially the violence and oppression that the police express towards African Americans in US society.

The entire book revolves around an incident when a white police officer shoots an unarmed black teenager during a traffic stop (Chapter 2, 67%). We also see examples of police harassment later in the story, when a patrol stops Maverick for no reason and pins him to the ground (Chapter 11, 57%). This is probably an act of revenge because Starr decided to testify against One-Fifteen. 

The general fear of the police among African Americans is also shown in several other scenes where Starr and members of her family encounter members of the police force and have to show self-control to deal with the situations. One example ...