The Hate U Give (Englisch)

Natasha

Natasha was one of Starr’s close friends during her childhood in Garden Heights. We do not know much about Natasha, except that she was tragically killed by a drive-by shooter when she was only 10 years old (Chapter 3, 16%). Starr watched her die, and this incident made her lose some of her faith in the Garden Heights neighborhood. It also made her parents decide to send their children to Williamson, a school in a much safer area (Chapter 3, 42%). 

Natasha’s narrative purpose in the story is to illustrate the danger of growing up in a poor area like Garden Heights. Another purpose is to highlight the extreme differences between the life experiences of Starr and her privileged friends at Williamson, whose childhoods have been much more sheltered. This becomes clear when Starr finally opens up to Chris about her other life, as she begins the tale with the story of what happened to Natasha. 

Sekani Carter

Sekani is Starr and Seven’s little brother, and the youngest sibling in the Carter family. He does not play a major role in the storyline, but generally acts as a bit of a comic relief character (see Humor). Later, he also serves as a symbol of the childish innocence that can be lost all too quickly when one grows up as an African American in a dangerous neighborhood. 

We see this loss of innocence most clearly when Maverick decides to give Sekani the talk about how to behave when encountering the police, even though he is still just a small child:

Sekani’s [...] nodding along to whatever Daddy’s saying but looking sad. Reminds me of the time Daddy and Momma had the talk with me. Guess Daddy decided not to wait until Sekani’s twelve. (Chapter 11, 93%)

The fact that even an African American child as young as Sekani has to be given careful instructions about how to behave in front of the police is meant to emphasize the idea that systemic racism in the police force is so widespread that even children cannot feel safe.