Is “Dear White People” Appropriate?
By HAUWA INDIMI
Staff Writer
“Dear White People” is the story of four African American students at Winchester University where a riot breaks out over a popular ‘African American’ themed party thrown by white students.
The Black students at Winchester University have the same opportunities as the white students, however in any case they are compelled to manage their assumptions of how they ought to act.
At the “respectable” end is college brilliant, Troy Fairbanks, who is dating a white young lady Sofia Fletcher, and is in all regards the best picture of a helpful, non-undermining black guy.
On the other hand is Troy’s ex, Sam White (actress), a so called activist extremist who is plan is to shake up Winchester’s white student body by utilizing her radio show using the phrase “Dear White People” to issue what she recognized as problems like “please stop dancing.”
These strains reach a crucial stage when Sam suddenly dethrones Troy as student head and focused on “bringing black back.”
The movie gives a satirical look at black and white race relations on a college campus. Black students at UCLA agreed upon the message of this movie where they made a video decrying the lack of black male presidents on campus. The atmosphere was ready for such a movie.
Although the movie claims not to be on racism ,“My film isn’t about ‘white racism’ or racism at all. It’s about the difference between how the mass culture responds to a person because of their race,” said Justin Simien, director of “Dear White People.”
The constant wit between the white and black students with repeated reference to racial differences might mean otherwise; it could be racist in a world that claims racism has been overcome.
Although this movie affirms real life drama, it could be argued that it is inappropriate as some portrayals are extreme. “Dear white people, black face is not an appropriate costume, nor is it an appropriate theme for a party,” said writer, Jenn M Jackson.
Some viewers expressed how they felt about this race disparity laden movie. “As a white audience member, I missed the lesson about racism that I was looking for,” says Alex Van, film attendee. “The film seems to say, “Dear White People, some of you are idiots, rather than, ‘Dear White People,’ here’s what you can do to help. The film tried to say too much and, in doing so, said very little at all.”
