The Hate U Give

by

Angie Thomas

Khalil Harris Character Analysis

Starr’s childhood best friend, Khalil is a teenager from Garden Heights who is shot and killed by One-Fifteen, a white police officer, during a traffic stop. Dismissed by many in the media as a “thug,” “gangbanger,” and “drug dealer,” Khalil’s death becomes a catalyst for protests against racial injustice throughout the community. He and Starr were extremely close as children, sharing their first kiss and formative years together in Garden Heights, and Starr feels extremely guilty for losing touch with him before his death. Khalil often has to take care of his mother, Brenda, who is addicted to drugs, and grandmother, Mrs. Rosalie, who is going through chemotherapy and lost her job because of it. Though Khalil’s motivations for selling drugs remain unclear for much of the novel, DeVante eventually reveals that he refused to join the King Lords gang and only sold drugs to repay Brenda’s debt after she stole money from King, the biggest drug dealer in the neighborhood.

Khalil Harris Quotes in The Hate U Give

The The Hate U Give quotes below are all either spoken by Khalil Harris or refer to Khalil Harris. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Police Brutality  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Listen! The Hate U-the letter U-Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. T-H-U-G L-I-F-E. Meaning what society give us as youth, it bites them in the ass when we wild out. Get it?

Related Characters: Khalil Harris (speaker), Starr Carter
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

But I swear I wanna cuss Khalil out. How he could sell the very stuff that took his momma from him? Did he realize that he was taking somebody else's momma from them? Did he realize that if he does become a hashtag, some people will only see him as a drug dealer?

He was so much more than that.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Brenda Harris
Page Number: 64
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

The drug dealer. That's how they see him. It doesn't matter that he's suspected of doing it. “Drug dealer” is louder than “suspected” ever will be.

If it's revealed that I was in the car, what will that make me? The thug ghetto girl with the drug dealer? What will my teachers think about me? My friends? The whole fucking world, possibly?

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Hailey Grant, Maya Yang
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Drugs come from somewhere, and they're destroying our community," he says. “You got folks like Brenda, who think they need them to survive, and then you got the Khalils who think they need to sell them to survive. The Brendas can't get jobs unless they're clean, and they can't pay for rehab unless they got jobs. When the Khalils get arrested for selling drugs, they either spend most of their life in prison, another billion-dollar industry, or they have a hard time getting a real job and probably start selling drugs again. That’s the hate they’re giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That’s ‘Thug Life.’”

Related Characters: Maverick Carter (speaker), Starr Carter , Khalil Harris, Brenda Harris
Page Number: 170
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

[Tupac] explains Thug Life like Khalil said he did. The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. ‘Pac spells out “Fucks” because that kid is looking dead in his face. When Khalil told me what it meant I kinda understood it. I really understand it now.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris
Page Number: 205
Explanation and Analysis:

“That's the so-called gun,” Ms. Ofrah explains. “Officer Cruise claims he saw it in the car door, and he assumed Khalil was reaching for it. The handle was thick enough, black enough, for him to assume it was a gun.”

“And Khalil was black enough,” Daddy adds.

A hairbrush. Khalil died over a fucking hairbrush.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Maverick Carter (speaker), April Ofrah (speaker), Khalil Harris, One-Fifteen / Officer Brian Cruise
Related Symbols: Khalil’s Hairbrush
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:

“I've tried to forget it, but I remember everything. The shots, the look on Natasha's face. They never caught the person who did it. I guess it didn't matter enough. But it did matter. She mattered.” I look at Ms. Ofrah, but I can barely see her for all the tears. “And I want everyone to know that Khalil mattered too.”

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Natasha, April Ofrah
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“I knew that boy. Watched him grow up with you. He was more than any bad decision he made,” he says. “I hate that I let myself fall into that mind-set of trying to rationalize his death. And at the end of the day, you don’t kill someone for opening a car door. If you do, you shouldn't be a cop.”

Related Characters: Uncle Carlos (speaker), Starr Carter , Khalil Harris, One-Fifteen / Officer Brian Cruise
Related Symbols: Khalil’s Hairbrush
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

Hailey hands me two pictures. One is Khalil's thugshot, as Daddy calls it. One of the pictures they've shown on the news. Hailey printed it off the internet. Khalil wears a smirk, gripping a handful of money and throwing up a sideways peace sign.

The other picture, he's twelve. I know because I'm twelve in it too. It's my birthday party at this laser tag place downtown. Khalil's on one side of me, shoveling strawberry cake into his mouth, and Hailey's on my other side, grinning for the camera along with me.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Hailey Grant
Page Number: 339
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Hate U Give LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Hate U Give PDF

Khalil Harris Quotes in The Hate U Give

The The Hate U Give quotes below are all either spoken by Khalil Harris or refer to Khalil Harris. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Racism and Police Brutality  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Listen! The Hate U-the letter U-Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. T-H-U-G L-I-F-E. Meaning what society give us as youth, it bites them in the ass when we wild out. Get it?

Related Characters: Khalil Harris (speaker), Starr Carter
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

But I swear I wanna cuss Khalil out. How he could sell the very stuff that took his momma from him? Did he realize that he was taking somebody else's momma from them? Did he realize that if he does become a hashtag, some people will only see him as a drug dealer?

He was so much more than that.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Brenda Harris
Page Number: 64
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

The drug dealer. That's how they see him. It doesn't matter that he's suspected of doing it. “Drug dealer” is louder than “suspected” ever will be.

If it's revealed that I was in the car, what will that make me? The thug ghetto girl with the drug dealer? What will my teachers think about me? My friends? The whole fucking world, possibly?

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Hailey Grant, Maya Yang
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

“Drugs come from somewhere, and they're destroying our community," he says. “You got folks like Brenda, who think they need them to survive, and then you got the Khalils who think they need to sell them to survive. The Brendas can't get jobs unless they're clean, and they can't pay for rehab unless they got jobs. When the Khalils get arrested for selling drugs, they either spend most of their life in prison, another billion-dollar industry, or they have a hard time getting a real job and probably start selling drugs again. That’s the hate they’re giving us, baby, a system designed against us. That’s ‘Thug Life.’”

Related Characters: Maverick Carter (speaker), Starr Carter , Khalil Harris, Brenda Harris
Page Number: 170
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

[Tupac] explains Thug Life like Khalil said he did. The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. ‘Pac spells out “Fucks” because that kid is looking dead in his face. When Khalil told me what it meant I kinda understood it. I really understand it now.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris
Page Number: 205
Explanation and Analysis:

“That's the so-called gun,” Ms. Ofrah explains. “Officer Cruise claims he saw it in the car door, and he assumed Khalil was reaching for it. The handle was thick enough, black enough, for him to assume it was a gun.”

“And Khalil was black enough,” Daddy adds.

A hairbrush. Khalil died over a fucking hairbrush.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Maverick Carter (speaker), April Ofrah (speaker), Khalil Harris, One-Fifteen / Officer Brian Cruise
Related Symbols: Khalil’s Hairbrush
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:

“I've tried to forget it, but I remember everything. The shots, the look on Natasha's face. They never caught the person who did it. I guess it didn't matter enough. But it did matter. She mattered.” I look at Ms. Ofrah, but I can barely see her for all the tears. “And I want everyone to know that Khalil mattered too.”

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Natasha, April Ofrah
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“I knew that boy. Watched him grow up with you. He was more than any bad decision he made,” he says. “I hate that I let myself fall into that mind-set of trying to rationalize his death. And at the end of the day, you don’t kill someone for opening a car door. If you do, you shouldn't be a cop.”

Related Characters: Uncle Carlos (speaker), Starr Carter , Khalil Harris, One-Fifteen / Officer Brian Cruise
Related Symbols: Khalil’s Hairbrush
Page Number: 256
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

Hailey hands me two pictures. One is Khalil's thugshot, as Daddy calls it. One of the pictures they've shown on the news. Hailey printed it off the internet. Khalil wears a smirk, gripping a handful of money and throwing up a sideways peace sign.

The other picture, he's twelve. I know because I'm twelve in it too. It's my birthday party at this laser tag place downtown. Khalil's on one side of me, shoveling strawberry cake into his mouth, and Hailey's on my other side, grinning for the camera along with me.

Related Characters: Starr Carter (speaker), Khalil Harris, Hailey Grant
Page Number: 339
Explanation and Analysis: