I am fully aware that race is an EXTREMELY sensitive subject in our culture - but if we aren't able to talk about it, we won't be able to move past it.
Dear White People, is a documentary series that shows the experiences of African American students at predominately white institutions culminating in a blackface party. Dear White People, if you didn't know, is not a documentary series that is pointing the finger at white Americans and blaming them for racial inequalities. If that is what you took from the documentary - you should probably re-watch it and take a deeper look. The 30+ second trailer causes an uproar online with hundreds of thousands of post, comments, and shares. Many people saw the trailer and described it as promoting and glorifying "anti-white" racism and aggression towards white people. Again, if this is what you took from the documentary - you should probably re-watch it.
This documentary details the lives of several African-American students who were enrolled in a fictitious PWI (predominately white institution). Dear White People illuminates the double standards that are traditionally seen between differences races and explains away their insanity. The end of the series shows party where the students show up in black face. When watching the series, one of my white friends was not sure why this was such an important issue and why I was upset watching it. Black face, historically, is when white actors would not let black actors on television and so they had to portray them in films. From these blackface portrayals, viewers began to see distorted views of black people - erasing culture and dehumanizing a race in the process. Misrepresentation and misunderstanding are the biggest problems of race relations in our culture.
African American students who attend predominately white institutions can identify with the different experiences shown in the documentary. One of the main points of the documentary is to show the experiences of students of misrepresented and marginalized groups and how they interact when the larger group does not see them. This movie is about the people who are "Chronically unseen in the culture to feel seen" - Justin Simien. Individuals who are not a part of these groups can extend empathy to try to understand the experiences of those who consistently deal with this. We need to seek to understand and show compassion instead of searching for answers and judgment. As we began to see each other as people and not as stereotypes, then we can start to move forward with race relations.
Ways to Move Forward
* Seek understanding not answers
* STAY WOKE
* Correct your friends if they aren't WOKE
* Forget Assumptions and Find Answers
* See people not portrayals
* Watch and share the Dear White People
I'm just here to help humanity with Humility.
- Minimal J
Share This Article
