Hello and welcome to the first TV Tuesday of 2021! Today I’m going to be talking about the first season of Netflix’s Dear White People.

Dear White People is definitely an important watch and really hones in on college life and the micro aggressions that happen that go unnoticed.

This show takes place at a white predominate school, Winchester. The story begins when a Black Face party is thrown by white people. When word spreads to Black people, they aren’t happy and want it shut down… which in the end is what happens; the cop are called the party is shut down.

We later learn that it was Sam White, a biracial girl known for her radio talk show “Dear White People” who hacked in and sent the invites. The party had already been flagged but she went ahead and sent them out. Her fellow peers can’t figure out why she did it and she said it’s simple, she wanted to see if white people would actually still go through with it, and they did.

I like the way the show introduces us to all the main characters. Each character gets their own episode so we really get to learn about them and who they are.

The first episode we meet Sam. She’s loud, she’s proud and she’s bold. She’s willing to stand up for her rights and the rights of her fellow Black people. She has no problem telling anyone off and I like that about her.

It’s interesting to watch her with her group of friends because they think she can come off really strong and because she is lighter skin some of them feel like she can get away with more.

Then when they find out she’s dating a white guy, well things hit the fan fast, but it does blow over. For the most part, I like Gabe; he’s a good guy with a good heart and his intensions are in the right place.

This is also the episode we learn about the party.

Oh, I have to take a sidebar before I continue and say that this show had way more sex in it than I thought it would, and if you were to ask me, more than necessary. But in the case of Lionel I think it worked well.

The next episode we meet Lionel Higgins he’s so soft spoken, keeps to himself, doesn’t want to bother nobody… yet he’s on the paper. I think for character growth that’s great for him because it will let him explore and grow into himself that way.

He doesn’t think he’s gay, but when the editor of the paper calls him gay, this has him rethinking everything. The editor asks him to go to a party with him and that’s where Lionel finds himself almost having a three-way but it helps him put into perspective his sexuality. He now can full commit to having a crush on Troy, which I think is really cute.

He’s also working on covering the Black Face party and he’s the one who makes the discovery that Sam leaked the invite. He lets Sam tell everyone because he knows it’s her truth to tell, not his. I really like Lionel for that.

The next episode focuses on Troy Fairbanks. Personally, I don’t really like Troy; he’s got this hoity-toity chip on his shoulder because his father is the dean of the school. We learn that he has never been able to stand up to his dad, and you’d think as a Black man, he would have his son’s back and want to deal with the racist issues that are brought up, but instead he’d rather sweep it under the rug and kiss up to all his white colleagues – I hope as the show goes on we learn a little more about his father.

So Troy has grown up at the school and has been raised to become student body president. I do like that he lets Lionel come with him to campaign, I thought that was sweet. But even Lionel doesn’t know what he’s going to write about because to every group Troy meets he says the same thing “your concern is on the top of my list”, well great, but that’s just talk and how can every issue be top of the list?

I feel like he walks around just getting people to like him with his words.

The next episode focuses on Coco Conners, and I believe she’s dating Troy, I say believe because it looks like Troy has a few lovers.

Coco used to be best friends with Sam, they roomed together and they had each other’s backs. The two of them are the ones who started “Dear White People” in their dorm room. But when Coco decides to start going to other clubs and Sam doesn’t approve because they are essentially Black people acting white, Sam can’t understand why she would want to be a part of their group. Coco tells her that she’s not looking for her approval and they get into a massive fight and Sam moves out.

I am glad that they could come to some sort of agreement and not hate each other all the time.

The next episode focuses on Reggie Green. I will admit I didn’t really care for Reggie at first. He was always hanging onto Sam like his life depended on it and I just found him really clingy. To be honest, that was how the show portrayed him in the eyes of Sam; it’s funny how perspectives work like that. But when we finally get Reggie’s episode, I’m like, no I actually like him as a person. He’s sweet, he’s thoughtful and just a good guy.

Is he hung up on Sam? Hell yes, we spent a lot of his episode with him moping around thinking about what she’s doing with Gabe. It’s Joelle that gets him to snap out of it and as a group they go to a party hosted by a white guy.

I also want to add we’re introduced to Rashid this episode, he’s a student from Kenya who points out to them that Americans love to complain about everything and just his little mini rants are great.

At the party everyone is having a good time, they play this trivia game, everything is going well… until it really isn’t. They’re all dancing and singing to a song when the ‘n’ word comes up and Reggie asks his, who he thought, friend to not say the word. The guy can’t understand why he can’t say the word, why he feels he needs to sensor himself. Reggie asked nicely he didn’t want to get into it, but these guys start getting upset, thinking that Reggie is calling them racist, when he never did, and a fight breaks out.

The campus security show up so fast and want to see Reggie’s ID. Reggie asks why he doesn’t want to see the white guys ID that’s when the security guy pulls out a gun and asks Reggie again for ID. That escalated so quickly and what’s unfortunate is that it happens in real life all the time just this way and for what purpose? To show power? I don’t even have words for it, it’s just so wrong.

Obviously Reggie is so shaken up. When the episode ends and he’s in his room crying while Sam is trying to talk to him; it’s just a heartbreaking an gut wrenching scene.

Now the group is fueled by this to make a stand. They want to talk to the Dean, but he’s not willing to talk to the group unless Reggie shows up, and Reggie doesn’t. He needs time to grieve, and I get that. I find it was interesting that Gabe’s white friend, who Sam finally gets to meet, has to tell her that. She’s a sociology major and she makes a good point, that he doesn’t have enough time to process his emotions because this has already gone viral and they’ll move on in the next 24-hour news cycle.

Sam still makes a plan to get their voices heard at the prep rally, but she also goes to visit Reggie first.

The two of them end up going to an open mic where he does spoken word and boy is it beautiful. I think even Sam falls in love with him a little bit because the sexual tension between them at the end of the episode, wow!

Then in the next episode when Gabe notices how Reggie and Sam are together he starts to picture all these weird porn-like fantasies in his head of the two of them… it’s weird. You can tell that Gabe is seriously insecure about his relationship.

And poor Joelle has to hear about it. This girl is caught between two boys who both love Sam, and all Joelle wants is Reggie… I don’t think that’s going to happen, unfortunately. That’s when Gabe spills the beans about the call to the cops.

So, we find out who called the cops that night… it was Gabe. Honestly, I was a little shocked, I thought better of him because when we find out, in my head, my first reaction was ‘why would you do that?’ but then I thought about it and I think I understand. Gabe, using his white gaze, privilege, call it what you will, was trying to defuse a situation by doing what he thought was right, which as a white woman writing this, I get where he’s coming from BUT what Gabe wasn’t thinking of was who was at this party, who would be affected. He used his white judgement for Black people and that doesn’t works out, as we’ve seen time and time again. So, if I’m being honest I’m mad at Gabe, but sadly not surprised and I think that’s where Sam is with him too. She thought he would be different but instead he proved that he’s not. It’s a mistake hopefully he’s learned from.

We then go back to Lionel and Troy. Lionel wants to write a piece on Troy, but his editor doesn’t want him to, he wants Lionel to cover the parade. So what does Lionel do… spends the day with Troy and writes a very big expose on Troy.

I wanted to yell at the TV to Lionel that he deserves someone better than Troy, Troy is just using him… but unfortunately when you have a crush and that crush wants to hangout all the time the need to say yes all the time is very hard to break from.

I want to say the same to Coco, she’s clinging onto Troy like her life depends on it… and at some moments we’re left to wonder, does her life depend on him? I think, and even Troy brings it up, that she just likes the idea of Troy and what he represents, what he can provide for her, but she doesn’t actually like him as a person. I think Coco has gotten very caught up in her imagination of him and the whole White House dream. I like in the end how she says she hopes she makes it to be the second Black women president because it shows that she’s doing this for her and not because she needs a man to get to her dreams, you dream girl!

Wow, do we have a lot to unpack.

There is going to be a town hall, a town hall that Sam plans to protest because she knows if they don’t speak up, nothing is going to get done. When Troy finds out that the biggest donators, the Hoppins, will pull their 10 million and cut A-P house – a house/residence that is only Black people. In order to keep that from happening he needs to stop Sam.

So we learn that Troy’s father is trying to work from the inside out and thinks change and justice will happen that way.

Well, when the town hall starts Troy finds himself outside the entire time, firstly because there’s an “all lives matter” protest going on before Sam even arrives. When she does, this only adds fuel to her fire.

Meanwhile, inside Coco is running the show getting people she knows will ask safe questions so that it will end the town hall faster. But when Lionel gets the mic, oh man does he drop a BOMB! He outs the Hoppins and exposes how much they spend on things and how much they really think Black lives are worth. He makes sure to have it blast to everyone’s phone.

Troy is so mad he smashes a window, then gets arrested, which I’m still shaking my head at. The way his father came out running “don’t shoot; that’s my son” I felt for him, and that’s the first show affection we’ve seen towards his son.

Now we’re left wondering what is going to happen. What are going to be the consequences.

To end it off, Gabe ends it with Sam claiming he doesn’t think a relationship should be “this hard”. Reggie claims he’s over Sam, which gives hope to Joelle, and the editor who Lionel works for kisses him – honestly that last one shocked me the most, they be cute.

This show packs a punch and I’m hoping it will only get better.