Dear White People

Dear White People is a 2014 American satirical dark comedy-drama film written, directed and co-produced by Justin Simien. The film focuses on escalating racial tensions at a fictitious, prestigious Ivy League college from the perspective of several black students. It stars Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, Teyonah Parris, Brandon P. Bell, Brittany Curran, Marque Richardson and Dennis Haysbert. The film premiered in competition in the US Dramatic Category at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. The film had a theatrical release in United States on October 17, 2014. A commercial and critical success, the film profited at the box office and received positive reviews from many professional critics. It has also been nominated for and has received several awards. In 2017, the film was adapted into a Netflix series of the same name, also with Simien's involvement. Like the film, the series has also enjoyed critical acclaim. Plot Samantha White, a media arts major at the fictional Winchester University, causes a stir at the prestigious and predominantly white school by criticizing white people and the racist transgressions at Winchester in her sharp-tongued, witty radio show Dear White People and her self-published book, Ebony and Ivy. Tensions rise when Sam runs to become head of house of Armstrong/Parker, the historically-black house on campus. She is opposed by Troy Fairbanks, an ex-boyfriend who harbors dreams of being a comedic writer, but who is pressed by his father, the school's dean, to become a lawyer, to not give white people a chance to profile him, and to give nothing less than his best. Coco is trying to persuade a reality TV producer to do a show on her, but he would prefer to highlight the light-skinned Sam. Lionel Higgins, a black gay student, gets a chance to find his place at Winchester by being recruited by the school's most prestigious student newspaper to write a piece on Sam and the black experience at Winchester. When Kurt, a white student and son of the school's president, and his club throw a blackface party in response to Sam's outspoken show, black students appear at the party, and a brawl ensues.