Hush

The incident that propels Hush is the Raymond Taylor shooting and Jonathan’s subsequent testimony. What do you think leads Officers Randall and Dennis to shoot an unarmed Black boy on sight? What does the shooting say about the kinds of stereotypes and biases that exist in the novel’s world (and the real world), as well as the way the police are trained to work? Hush was written in 2002, but have things changed in America since then? How have they remained the same?

Teaching Suggestion: Hush is instigated by a case of police brutality: Raymond Taylor is a Black teenager who is shot and killed by white policemen, despite the fact he was cooperative and unarmed. The prevalence of racial biases and stereotypes in American society is one of the novel’s themes. However, the context of police brutality is not just created by systemic racism, but police training which primes some officers toward violence in the face of even the slightest danger. A discussion on both topics may help students understand why racial killings continue to occur. Further discussion on social norms like the “Blue Wall of Silence” could also highlight the importance of awareness and public discourse.