The recently launched movie “The Hate U Give” is one of the most impactful and powerful movies of all time. George Tillman Jr., Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, and Robert Teitel, the producers of this movie wanted to use their platform to discuss a very controversial topic in today's society, the existence of racism in our society. The controversial topic in which is does racism still exist and how often is racism occurring.

As a young African American who is intelligent and very aware of what goes on in this world, the movie The Hate U Give had a very strong impact on me and left me thinking for days. The impact of this well-thought out and put together movie had such a strong impact on me that I had to go back and see it two more times. I watched this movie putting myself in the actors’ shoes and being able to relate to the characters very well. This connection that I had with the characters and overall story outline of the movie allowed to me to understand the movie on another level and think outside of the normal mindset of people coming in to watch it. I took so much from each scene and was able to really understand where the producer was coming from as it was very realistic to how an African American is viewed by different races in today's world.   One of the characters that stood out to me the most was Maverick, who was Starr’s dad. Her dad reminded me of mine in so many ways. Maverick talked to his three kids the same way my dad talks to my brothers and I. Each scene where Maverick was talking to his kids I saw my dad in him and took it as he was talking to me. My dad is well aware of what growing up as an African American means and understands greatly what tools my brothers and I needed growing up to be very successful in this world. Just like Starr’s father from the movie my father Robert Nelson talks to me and my brothers about growing up African American. My father tells us to believe in what we believe in and pursue any goal that we have. He's been telling us since we were young that no matter what your race is you still have the ability to reach any goal and that no one should ever be able to stop you from that. My father tells my brothers and I that our path to that specific goal may be a little more difficult than a white person's path, but that doesn't stop us from being able to make it happen. He has been telling us since we were 8 years old that “Any goal is possible for African Americans now. We have had a black president now and from Mr. Barack Obama setting the path for many, the sky's the limit.” He has also been telling us since we were kids that scenarios for us are going to be different as an African American. Scenarios such as getting a job, interactions with police, and many more. He has always preached to us about what to do when we get pulled over and that police officers are going to look at us differently. They look at us differently because regardless if the police officers admit to it or not they are often scared of us. My dad always told us to listen to every word they say and do as we are told so that we assure our safety. My father always told us growing up as African American kids our main concern should always be to do whatever we need to in order to make it home safely.

Many people are in denial that racism still exists in this world, but as a young African American growing up in this world I have seen and read about acts of racism. Sadly to say it is true that people in very high power can be racist and have jobs such as Senators, Police Officers, Presidents, Etc.

In my opinion racism is not an attribute that people are born with. In the movie one of the characters stated a quote from Tupac that hit me hard. The quote was “The hate you give infants f***s everyone.” This was one of the things that I really heard in the movie and one of the most impactful verses. To me the quote is saying that every human is born free of judgment. The judgement and racism of people in today's world comes strictly from their parents and environment/society. This hate that people are preaching to their kids at a young age carries on for that child’s entire life until something changes his/her viewpoint. Often love can change a corrupted mind.

To me racism is completely unacceptable and I personally stand for or take none of it in anyway. I believe that more people need to stand up for themselves instead of being scared and understand that racism is completely unacceptable. A recent example on how love can change racism is from my baby brother Gionni’s birth. My step mom’s parents were semi-racist and you could tell deep down that they were bothered by her dating my dad. They were one hundred percent Italian and came over from Italy so in their time period a white girl dating an African American was unheard of. Her parents ended up loving my baby brother so much and being so in love with him that he changed their perspective on life. Now her parents are able to appreciate how great of a guy/father my dad is and not judge by his appearance. As a young African American I would like to see even more change over the years and I would like to see parents in today's world preaching nothing but strictly love to the youth. Let's fill this great world with love and subtract all of the hate out of it!

By: Jaden