Dear White People sheds light on racism on college campuses

By Sophie Newman, Arts and Entertainment Editor     10/28/14 4:05pm

Dear white people. With so much meaning behind these three tiny words, Dear White People has the potential to move in many directions. Director Justin Simien, a Houston native, must have agreed, working an impressive array of characters and subplots into his first film. Although the character development is not extensive and the plot not entirely smooth in execution, Dear White People is undoubtedly an important film. In an era in which films that bring up the issue of racism tend to be dark, depressing and difficult to watch, Dear White People attacks the issue from a completely new angle — humor. But the film is much more than a satiric attack on racist white college kids — it is an exploration of identity, activism and acceptance. 

The film follows the lives of four students at Winchester University, an Ivy-League-type school on the East Coast with few black students. First, there is Samantha (Tessa Thompson) — formidable, funny and invariably well-dressed. Samantha is the host of her own witty radio show, “Dear White People,” whose first broadcast reads, “Dear White People, the minimum requirement of black friends needed to not seem racist has just been raised to two.” Immediately, Sam comes off as bold and unafraid to speak her mind, a trait that is both her weapon and enemy at various points in the film. Troy (Brandon Bell), the son of the dean of undergraduates at Winchester, is the popular college president who aims to please his demanding father. Coco (Teyonah Parris) wants to be famous above all else and refuses to be defined by her race, going out of her way to isolate herself from her black peers. Finally, there’s Lionel (Tyler James Williams), the gay black kid who doesn’t feel like he fits in anywhere. 

Racism takes many forms in Dear White People, not just in obvious ways, although these do happen, but also in more subtle ways. The most blatant example is an argument between Sam and Kurt (Kyle Gallner), the ignorant, privileged white boy and son of the president of the university, over whether he and his friends can eat in the historically black dorm. While this incident is an explicit attack, racism also appears in subtler ways and even in positive contexts. In one instance, a girl tries to complement Coco on her hair, making the horrifying pitfall of asking, “Is it weaved?”, a comment which Coco later addresses in a blog post: “It’s weave. Noun. Present tense.” Case two: Troy’s white girlfriend makes a comment about her boyfriend’s penis size in relation to his race and is confused when he is offended, saying she thought he would enjoy the compliment.

---

---

The issue of identity and how black students feel as though they must “pick a side” is probably most vivid in Lionel’s case. Being black and gay, he doesn’t feel like he fits in with the white homosexual students or the black activists. In one scene, in which the BSA questions him about his refusal to join, he comments, “I listen to Mumford and Sons and watch Robert Alton movies; think I’m black enough for the union?” Race and identity emerge again when Troy asks Lionel, “Is it harder to be too black for the white kids, or too white for the black kids?” His reply is simple yet poignant: “Both.”

But if the issue of racism at Winchester wasn’t clear before, the final scene, in which white students throw a black-themed party (this is loosely based on true events), drives the point home. Sam decides to take a new approach to her activism here, a much more subtle one, while Lionel takes a more active one. At this point, the movie completely transforms — witty comments and jokes seem distant now, and the audience must face the harsh reality of racism that is offensive, scary and disheartening. The slow-motion shots and lingering cinematography make this scene especially uncomfortable and important in demonstrating that racism is still alive and well, even among bright and future-driven students. 

The movie hit a soft spot for me here — if it hadn’t made me think critically and seriously before, it certainly had my attention now. Answering the “Who am I?” question is challenging enough for college students, but Dear White People shows how this already difficult journey can be even further complicated by racism. I think it’s important and humbling, especially for us as students at a top university, to think critically about these issues and remember that the conversation about racism is far from over. In fact, with Dear White People, it may have only just begun.

---