Concrete Rose - By Angie Thomas

 

    Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas is the prequel to The Hate You Give, in which follows Maverick Carter's life as he becomes a teen father. While also trying to navigate life as a young black man who is a part of "thug life" which in the book "The Hate You Give" the term 'thug life" stood for 'The Hate U Give Little Infants F—ks Everybody. ' T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E. Meaning what society gives us as youth, bites them back in the butt when they wild out.” Both books symbolize poverty within black communities and the toll that gangs have had within these communities plus the generation cycles of welfare dependency and other government assistance that society set's up for POC groups. Within the book, we get to understand that being part of the "thug life" isn't because you want to be in a gang but it's the total opposite. For example, Maverick's family has been gang-affiliated since his father and because of that fact, Maverick is a generational gangster which means that since birth he has been expected to be a part of his father's gang. Gangs are a big part of corrupting our black youth. Statistically speaking law enforcement agencies report a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latino and African-American/black gang members compared with other races/ethnicities. The statistic states that 46 percent Hispanic/Latino gang members and 35 percent of black people are gang members compared to the 11 percent white people who are gang members.

     With race poverty being a heavily debated topic in which statistically speaking by race, the highest national poverty rates were for American Indians and Alaska Natives 27.0 percent and Black people or African Americans at 25.8 percent and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders had a national poverty rate of 17.6 percent according to the United States Census. These statistics alone show that as a society we make it easy for children in lower-income households to turn towards gangs as a safety net and as a source of income. We need to do better because while we watch our youth disintegrate and self-destruct because of systems that are set up to make them fail. We continue to try and take race and or ethnicity out of the topic of conversation but as these statics show gangs, poverty and generational wealth, heavily impact minority groups compared to white counterparts and instead of trying to hide that fact we need to find the solution and tear down these systems that still follow old traditions and we need to rebuild those systems so instead of them being used as weapons towards minorities they can be a tool in which they can use to succeed.