Racial discrimination is a long-standing problem in the United States. Racism goes back a long time and started with slavery and then continued with the Civil War. After the war, the racist legacy of slavery persisted, spurring courageous resistance movements including the Underground Railroad, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Selma to Montgomery March. Black leaders, artists and writers help shape the character of a nation. In 2017 Angie Thomas publishes her debut novel The Hate U Give (2017) with racism and courage as its main themes. In the novel, Thomas describes the social aspects of racial discrimination by virtue of police brutality against minorities and activism against injustice that still exists in American society today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Many law-abiding minorities experience discrimination based solely on skin color due to the failure of authorities to practice what they preach. Even after gaining civil rights, police brutality and discrimination based on skin color still exist in American society. Washington shows continued police brutality against people of color when he writes, “Another 22 years later, riots in Ferguson, Missouri, erupted following the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer” ( Washington). State and federal authorities subsequently declined to file any charges against the officer. This led to riots in the area. In fact, the novel The Hate U Give portrays police brutality and discrimination based on skin color, where an unarmed, black teenager Khalil is shot by a white police officer and Khalil's childhood friend, Starr Carter , is a witness to it. Thomas conveys that the case was conveyed favorably to the police officer when he writes, “They didn't say he was unarmed” (Thomas 104). For several days after the incident, Khalil is portrayed as a drug dealer and is not known to be unarmed. Minorities in American society still face discrimination based on skin color. In today's day and age, many young people are taking the initiative to address concerns about discrimination and police brutality against Black people. Robinson demonstrates that discrimination against minorities has triggered protests and riots when she writes: “Demonstrators protest the fatal shooting of an unarmed man in Sacramento on the street, Black Lives Matter has supported protests against police violence and shaped the principles of the most recent protest movements". (Robinson). Holding rallies creates awareness and draws attention to an issue, which in turn helps resolve the issue in a civil manner. In fact, after the grand jury decided not to press charges against the white police officer, demonstrations and protests took place in Starr's neighborhood. In the novel, Thomas shows that the people are not satisfied with the decision made by the grand jury when he writes, "The king lords in bandanas and the garden disciples in green bandanas stand in a police car in the middle of the street singing 'Justice for Khalil.' The people gathered around the car recorded the scene with their cell phones and threw rocks at the window” (Thomas 393). Social movements create social change. They attempt to create a change in society and the way people think. Many social movements nowadays are led by younger generations to bring about changes in society and,.