Netflix’s ‘Dear White People’ Defies Conventions in More Ways Than One

Char Little

The success of the 2014 film “Dear White People” was enough to turn it into a series on Netflix, and it’s safe to say the show met expectations in its first season. To say it tackles racism on a fictional Ivy League campus only scratches the surface of what viewers who tune in will see in each episode. While that is certainly the premise, considering the series opens with a Blackface party on the Winchester College campus, it dives much deeper than that as Sam (Logan Browning), the face of the “Dear White People” radio show on school grounds, is seen sleeping with one of her White classmates. It’s only a matter of time before this is exposed and her fellow African American classmates see her as a hypocrite considering she is the most vocal, publicly anyway, when it comes to speaking against her White counterparts.

Still in the meantime, her secret lover and boyfriend, whose name is Gabe (John Patrick Amedori), already wants to go public with their relationship and unbeknownst to her, he wins that battle. The show continuously uses scenarios like this to send a message that despite the title, it’s not as racist as many have already perceived. It’s portrayed again when Gabe tries to join Sam’s world at a Black Caucus event. Things couldn’t have gone worse as he goes head-to-head with a guy, Reggie, who is convinced Gabe doesn’t understand their struggle. But this is certainly something that interracial couples face in reality. The run-in isn’t enough to shake Gabe and Sam’s relationship. But it does rock it quite a bit.

The opposite race isn’t the only group that Sam and her friends at the Black Student Union are up against this season. She goes head-to-head with another group called Coalition of Racial Equality (CORE). These are only two of the four Black student causes organization on campus, but the other two don’t seem interested enough in a battle; at least when it comes to trying to prove which group is the best.

And a reporter from the school paper, “Winchester Independent” could go from being an unnoticeable underdog to one of Sam’s biggest opponents, or supporters, with the right dose of confidence.

But other than her dating life, she is slated to uncover even more revelations like being the one who sent out the invites to the black face party to expose racism at a new level on the campus. It doesn’t look like she plans on stopping anytime soon.

“Dear White People” season one is premieres April 28 on Netflix.