Voices as Weapons : Incorporating The Hate U Give in the EFL classroom to discuss institutional racism, double-consciousness and the importance of minoritized voices

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is two-fold. Firstly, the aim is to analyze the three aspects institutional racism, double-consciousness and importance of minoritized voices in Angie Thomas’ novel The Hate U Give in connection to the thesis’ theoretical framework, Critical Race Theory. Secondly, the aim is also to argue for the inclusion of The Hate U Give in the Swedish EFL classroom, by investigating potential pedagogical implications in connection to the literary analysis and the thesis’ pedagogical framework, Critical Race Pedagogy. Potentially as a way of hoping for social justice and change for a minoritized group of people, the literary analysis of the three aspects demonstrates that Thomas depicts racial inequality as natural and fixed within many layers of American society such as economic opportunities, law enforcement, education, identities and which voices are heard vs. ignored. Therefore, this thesis argues that Thomas’ counter narrative The Hate U Give, with its portrayal of the racially inequal American society and the effects on the African American characters, could serve as a point of departure for discussions of institutional racism, double-consciousness and the importance of minoritized voices in the Swedish EFL classroom, to raise awareness of the situation for a minoritized group of people in America and connect it to the students’ own experiences and knowledge of these aspects.