Thug Life: The hate U give little infants fucks everybody : Rasism och polisvåld i samtida afroamerikansk ungdomslitteratur

This study examines how racism and police brutality are illustrated in The hate U give and Dear Martin, which are two bestselling novels that emphasize the importance of resistance, and willingness to fight back against abuse of power and the oppression of African Americans in the US. Through the use of critical discourse analysis, power structures and race relations in the US are analyzed by means of postcolonial and power theory as well as by means of narrative theory. Moreover, the textual elements that are of importance to the analysis are the study of characters, motives and themes, specifically how the characters are affected by harmful stereotypes and forced into silence by the legal system in an attempt to justify police brutality. The analysis presented here indicates a colonial discourse, where the power structures in America are designed to work against African Americans. The characters’ actions and reactions to police brutality and oppression are therefore of importance in my study to depict how the novels creates a meaning for resistance and for finding a way for “the other” to be heard. My conclusion is that the characters’ voices are their weapons against police brutality, abuse of power, and oppression. To fight with one’s voice is to prove the stereotype, “thug”, wrong about African Americans, a stereotype that is often used by the police and the media to justify police brutality