Bens 1

Meagan Bens

Doctor McLaughlin

Multimedia Writing & Rhetoric

12 October 2015

Perseverance of Racial Tension in Dear White People

With the election of Barack Obama as president, people received the notion that Amer-

ica’s racial wounds have healed. Except, the idea that America is in a “post-racial” era is far from

the truth. People tend to silently “self-segregate” and associate with only those in their political,

economic, ethnic, or cultural circles. Race continues to be a cause behind violence, including the

cases between Michael Brown and Ferguson, the Baltimore protests, and the shooting at the

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina. Stereotypes are still present to-

day and they control how society treats each individual, especially African Americans. Dear

White People, the “satire of the Obama Age,” is about the racial tension between white and

blacks at a predominantly white university, which is brought to attention after a humor magazine

hosts an offensive Halloween party. During the film, the audience follows the journey of four

black students at the university amidst all the controversy. The movie Dear White People high-

lights the complexities of black identity on a college campus to disprove the theory that America

does not have issues concerning racial discrimination or prejudice.

The first character the audience is introduced to is Sam White, a girl who constantly

wrestles with her identity as a half black and half white student at Winchester University, prov-

ing the persistence of racism. As a biracial student, Sam’s struggle to “choose” a side is evident

from the beginning of the film as she immediately starts talking on her radio show, “Dear White

People.” Following the opening scene, Sam decides to run against Troy Fairbanks for house pres-

Bens 2

ident. Before voting takes place, she steps up to the stage to present her house election speech.

Right before she starts to talk, the camera focuses on her startled expression, shifts to view her

hand brush the back of her neck, and then moves to view her grab and fidget with her hands.

Since “the creation of an image through a camera lens always involves some degree of subjective

choice through selection, framing, and personalization” (Sturken and Cartwright 16), Simien had

a purpose behind the construction of the scene, in this case to strengthen his film’s theme regard-

ing racism. His goal was to highlight her physical discomfort, which sheds light into her deeper,

internal struggle. Being half white, Sam overcompensates through black activism. Her black mil-

itant persona conveys the difficulty to be a mixed-race student in a world with clear cut stereo-

types. Later on in the film, Sam is with her friends eating lunch in the Armstrong-Parker House.

Kurt Fletcher and she get into an argument concerning black treatment, and as the new head of

the house, Sam demands him to leave. She feels the need to assert her authority and stress her

black activism in this scene and evidently throughout the whole film. Sam believes she has to

lean on one extreme, exposing the racial tension on campus, alluding to the racial prejudice and

discrimination nationwide. After Sam walks out on the rally, she goes to her apartment to talk to

her white boyfriend, Gabe. The camera shifts between the conversation between her and Gabe,

and Reggie with her other black friends pounding at the door. The wall physically separates her

black friends from her white boyfriend. The choice to show the clear divide between black and

white highlights Sam’s identity crisis. Society demands each individual to choose a side, and

each side receives its advantages and disadvantages. The divide between races pictured in the

scene prove that America still contains racial discrimination and issues.

Similar to Sam, the audience immediately recognizes Lionel Higgins’ challenge to find

his true identity at the university. Unlike Sam, Lionel is not biracial and he is not heterosexual.

Bens 3

Lionel Higgins hopelessly tries to find a niche as a gay, black student, emphasizing the difficulty

to be minority in American society today. Not liking Garmin House, Lionel goes to talk to Dean

Fairbanks to switch residential halls. As Dean Fairbanks relates the university to jazz and says

“Your problem is that you got no instrument,” the camera moves to a poster which states,

“Winchester University” with “Where You Belong!” directly underneath it. The conversation be-

tween Lionel and Dean Fairbanks directly contradicts the poster. By directing the camera to the

poster, to juxtapose Lionel’s conversation, the director conveys the purpose of his film, to stress

the trouble for minorities. The director strategically chose to include this camera movement be-

cause “prolonged pans and tilts encourage viewers to engage with visual images on both a cogni-

tive and emotional level” (Lancioni 110). The audience is able to reflect and be empathetic to-

wards Lionel because whether it is high school or college, everyone experiences the desire to feel

included. The use of rhetoric stresses the concept that being black at the university makes it that

much more harder to establish his identity. The audience, as part of the majority, cannot imagine

the true pain for a black, homosexual male. The poster also jabs at universities, since the poster

preaches acceptance and community, but in reality the university is fragmented into exclusive

cliques. The choice to pan the camera during the conversation underlines one of the director’s

messages, which is that minorities still fight for equality today. Further on in the film, Lionel

makes progress finding his niche, and decides to work on an article for the school paper. As Li-

onel continues to work on his story, he walks into the editors’ office. Lionel smiles and says “Ne-

gro at the door didn’t scare you this time,” and the girl responds with “Lionel please, you are only

technically black.” Simien included this comment because he knew the audience would react to

the provocative statement. He includes the conversation to trigger thought, targeting his white

audience since the preconception of a threatening black person will mostly likely be held by

Bens 4

them. The comment emphasizes the fact that Lionel is not “black enough” to be included in the

black union, but at the same time he is not white. The director intensifies the fact that Lionel

truly does not fit into a category, he stands in the middle with no one to relate to as an outcast.

Emphasizing his challenge to identify with a group, Simien continues to prove that America still

has racial issues due to all the discriminatory assumptions, evident in his college setting.

Compared to the dynamic characters Sam and Lionel, Simien presents Coco Connor as a

static black character in his film, constantly struggling to deny her black heritage, conveying the

challenge to assimilate into a predominantly white community. To feel accepted at the Ivy

League institution and receive the same privileges, Coco desperately tries to act like an upper-

class white student. The audience is first introduced to Coco during her conversation with Hel-

mut West, a reality tv producer. Immediately, a banner appears with her name and “Colandrea” is

crossed out and replaced with “Coco.” Including the crossed out name is symbolic of her identity

struggle. Deciding to change her name, she is distancing herself from her ghetto Chicago roots.

One could argue that she merely changed “Colandrea” to a more convenient short name, but if

that was the true reason, the caption would have read “Colandrea ‘Coco’ Connors.” Instead, her

real name is crossed out, implying a deeper meaning. The director, Justin Simien, strategically

planned the caption’s structure, because according to Herrick, “Rhetors address audiences with

goals in mind, and the planning and adaptation processes that mark rhetoric are governed by the

desire to achieve these goals” (10). Simien knows that the audience will consider “Colandrea” a

black name, so crossing it out gives the audience the connotation that she is literally scratching

her ghetto past out. Her effort to conform to the white majority conveys the racial inequality still

present today. Later on in the movie, Coco is eating lunch in the Armstrong-Parker House, a

house made up of minorities. Black students are complaining about their professors constantly

Bens 5

mistaking each other for other black students, and Coco chimes in and says “but I don’t see what

the point is with blaming white folks for everything.” She does not want to put white people at

fault because she longs to be one of them. She finds it easier to disregard her heritage and shape

her identity to match the majority. While eating in the Armstrong-Parker House, Coco is the only

black student wearing white. All the other black students are wearing darker, earth-toned clothes.

The white top singles her out, further emphasizing her desire to fit in with the white atmosphere.

The dominant white culture prevents Coco from receiving the same privileges and staying true to

herself, proving that America still struggles to provide minorities with equality. Overall, Coco’s

continuous challenge to reject her black background depicts the societal issue in America con-

cerning minorities’ equality.

In addition to the static character Coco, another black student, Troy Fairbanks, consis-

tently has the same outlook on his personal identity and ideals of success. Troy conforms to his

dad’s expectations to fit into the white atmosphere, confirming the prevalence of racial prejudice

on college campuses and throughout the country. Although Troy truly wants to be a comedian,

his dad insists he becomes a lawyer, a highly regarded occupation, to defy the black stereotype.

When Troy steps out of the bathroom to get ready for “Game Night” with Kurt Fletcher and his

magazine staff, Simien manipulates the camera angle. While Sophia and Troy are talking, the

camera is pointing up towards Troy, while pointing down towards Sophie. The camera angle is

meaningful because “speakers and writers make decisions about arrangement to achieve clarity

and persuasiveness in their messages” (Herrick 14). Simien understands that looking up or look-

ing down has the well known connotation of superiority versus inferiority. Troy is perceived as

the higher individual, Sophia is depicted as a dependent, needy girlfriend. The power and feel-

ings do not reciprocate, implied from the unbalanced camera angle. The dynamic between the

Bens 6

two reveals that Troy is dating Sophia to please his father, not just for his pleasure, considering

how uncomfortable he looks during the scene. He is dating a white girl because his dad wants

him to assimilate into the white culture, reflecting the fact that whether it be relationships, major,

or interests, Troy has to prove that he can be just as qualified or even more qualified than a white

man. The attitude Dean Fairbanks and his son have towards their image reveals the racial dis-

crimination blacks continue to overcome today. With his dad’s pressure on him, Troy escapes the

his control when he goes to the bathroom to smoke weed and write jokes. Every time Troy is in

the bathroom, he is surrounded by white walls, tile, and shower curtain. He is enclosed in a small

white space, symbolizing his father’s expectations and aspirations for him. The bathroom repre-

sents his small amount of freedom, as opposed to having the free will to smoke outside in public.

Troy conceals his true desires to be a comedian, knowing it will disappoint his father. His fa-

ther’s obsession with his image is only a result of prejudice and society’s hasty, general assump-

tions concerning race. At the end of the film, Troy is at the bottom of the stairs with Coco, simi-

lar to the beginning when he was with Sophia. Coco tries to show affection, but Troy brushes her

off and says “Look my dad saw your videos and he is just a little worried about . . .” Then Coco

immediately snaps back with “About how it will look, with your campaign and all?” This ending

scene stresses Troy’s static character and how his dad still controls him. Troy is brainwashed and

all his concerns revolve around his image, doing everything he can to defy the stereotypical

black student. Dean Fairbanks fears Coco’s provocative videos will be associated with his son,

considering they comment on black stereotypes, exactly what he tries to evade. Without any fur-

ther information about his dating restraints, Troy willingly accepts his father’s orders without

question. The Fairbanks’ obsession with the world’s perception of them emphasizes the existing

Bens 7

racial presumptions. America still has racial issues today and Simien specifically incorporates

racial prejudice and discrimination into his film.

As the “satire of the Obama age,” Dear White People emphasizes the complications of

black identity on a fictional college campus to prove that America still has racial issues. The film

is filled with intentionally provocative statements aimed at racism and sheds light on the black

experience for a variety of black students. Although the movie elicits many laughs, it is revealed

to be a more serious film. Simien uses his film to explore relevant issues and to cause his audi-

ence to consider racial equality today. Considerably, the “black-themed” Halloween party is not

as far fetched as one may think. In 2001, a frat in Auburn University had a “blackface” party,

considerably one of the most offensive ones, including white hooded Klansmen and even white

students with a black painted face and noose around their necks. More recently, students at an

Ivy League school, Dartmouth, had a Bloods and Crips party in 2013. With well-educated stu-

dents perpetuating stereotypes, Americans cannot ignore the continual racial tension within the

country. From subtle to overt racism, viewers realize that America still needs to make progress

on racial issues.

Bens 8

Works Cited

Herrick, James. "An Overview of Rhetoric." The History and Theory of Rhetoric. 2nd ed. Allyn

& Bacon, 2001. 1-30. Print.

Lancioni, Judith. "The Rhetoric of The Frame: Revisioning Archival Photographs in The Civil

War." 60th ed. Western Journal of Communication, 1996. 105-116. Print.

Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.

Oxford UP, 2001. 16. Print.