Yutong Liu 1

Yutong Liu
Dr. Erin McLaughlin
WR-13300-11
2/25/16
Dear White People: A Reflection on the Modern Identity Crisis in the Ethnic Conversation
Through out the history of the United States, ethnicity has always been a central topic,
and at the heart of the topic of ethnicity is the conflict between the black and white peoples.
While overwhelming pieces of literature, historical text, film, and photography paint us a
picture of black people fighting against white oppression in 20th century America, the tension
between black and white in the 21st century can no longer be treated as a single faceted
conflict between two general ethnic groups with the repaid development of modern media
and as black right reaches new heights. While the representation of black people in mass
media may still be stereotypical to a degree, there has been more diversity inside black
communities today than ever before, and these significantly different individual identities
play a huge role in the new social dynamics between black and white people. The movie
Dear White People gives the discussion of ethnicity more depth by examining the different
individual identities present inside African Americans today, and how they reconcile
themselves with the larger group identities of black and white people. It does this by
establishing four seemingly flat black characters in the setting of an Ivy League college
campus and through exploring their struggle with their own identities.
The film Dear White People is set in an Ivy League college Winchester University,
and describes the events surrounding four main characters Sam, Lionel, Troy, and Coco, all
of whom are black students. The major conflict in the film is the one between the black and
white people. This dichotomy in the film is not only obvious among the students with
supporting white characters such as Kurt, Emily, and George set against the protagonists, but

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also in the school administration and culture with Dean Fairbanks and President Fletcher, and
between Armstrong-Parker Hall (the black resident hall) and the white party house
Garmin house. The interactions of the protagonists with white people and others in their
ethnic group are used to capture their stream of identities, and eventually lead them to the
climax event of the film the black party thrown by the white party house, during which all
of them faced directly the conflict between their individual identities and the group identities
of black and white, which is the underlying conflict in the movie. In this movie review, I will
try to examine this underlying aspect of the film through analyzing each of the four
protagonists how they are built, what they represent, and their significance to the modern
conversation of ethnicity which this film takes part in.
The four main characters can be separated into two groups Sam and Lionel plus
Troy and Coco, with Sam and Lionel representing the overpowering and nonexistence of a
group identity, and Troy and Coco being opportunists using their group identity for
personal goals.
Sam and Lionel are like two ends of a pole with Sam putting the group identity she
assumed above her individual identity and Lionel not affiliating, or rather not being able to
affiliate, himself with any group identity. They depict two kinds of individuals in todays
African American community the racial activist and the marginalized. Through these two
characters, the film discusses the danger of losing ones self identity after the full assumption
of a group identity, and, at the same time, probes the importance of belonging in the dynamic
ethnic conversation.
Sam was represented as a person who strongly identifies with her own ethnic group
and wishes to stimulate activism on the topic of ethnicity, but not to lead the African
American group, which makes her motivations inherently personal. This central point was
clearly conveyed in the film via reframing of the shot. Judith Lancioni said in her work The

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Rhetoric of the Frame that In reframing, filmmakers show the audience the whole and
them particular parts (which) calls attention to a part of the whole picture that may
otherwise be missed (Lancioni 111). In the scene in which Sam was running for the
presidency of Armstrong-Parker, the camera reframed to focus on the hands hidden behind
Sams back, showing them tightening and shaking a sign of anxiety and discomfort. This
intentional reframing of the camera calls for the audiences attention to Sams reluctance to
become the leader of the black community in Winchester, while the entire scene as a whole
illustrated her activism. The election scene is the first turning point in Sams identity. After
winning the campaign she did not plan on winning, Sam assumed a position and
responsibility she did not plan on fully assuming, and the black group identity was forced
upon her previous personal identity, which can be observed through the change in her choices
and actions. Instead of being closer to Gabe the white student she was dating and liked,
Sam is shown kissing Reggie her black ally after a minor argument between them.
Reframing is again used in this scene to show the dissonance between Sams personal identity
and the group identity she assumed after showing Gabe seeing Sam and Reggie kiss, the
camera focused in on Sams confused face, which turned to Gabes direction, but was
immediately pulled back by Reggie.
Sams second turning point was when her father fell seriously sick and she walked
away from the protest she promised Reggie that she would participate in. This event evoked
the personal aspects of her identity, and allowed her to navigate back to being herself. This
change is not only shown by her subsequent actions getting back together with Gabe,
resigning as the official leading figure of Armstrong-Parker, and so on, but is also indicated
by her change in hairstyle. Images are an important means through which ideology are
produced and onto which ideology are projected (Sturken and Caright 21). One of the most
prominent imaged presented by Sam is her hairstyle, through which ideologies are conveyed.

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Sams hairstyle during and after her acceptance of the overarching community identity
resembles Rosie the riveter and signature hairstyles of black women from the 80s, such as
those from the Cosby Show, which instantly struck the audience as being a sign of a strong,
independent feminist character representing the black student community. After the rediscovery of her own individual identity, we can see that Sam let her hair down. This new
hairstyle signifies Sams change in her identity instead of being the militant leader of the
black people she was, Sam shows more vulnerability and personal emotion, while still
keeping her identification with her group.
Overall, Sam illustrates the conflict between individual identity and group identity,
and the danger of being consumed by ones own group identity becoming the slave of the
group and eventually not being able to make choices based on ones individual preferences
and characteristics. However, the film shows some optimism on this matter by allowing Sam
to recover her individual identity at the end.
Lionel on the other hand, unlike Sam, is someone who has no affiliation what so ever.
This core of Lionels personality is established through many details in the film that could be
easily overlooked. James A. Herrick said in his book The History and Theory of Rhetoric that
Regardless of the goal at which it aims, rhetoric discourse requires forethought or planning
(8). This means that every single detail in the film is part of an intentional act of character
building and storytelling. When the audience first encounter Lionel in the film, they see a
short discerption of Lionel at the bottom of the frame with the word Philosophy crossed
out, and Undeclared written next to it. This facilitates the audience to understand the
confusion Lionel has in understanding himself and his own identity. During this opening
sequence, the audience also sees a black student shoving a leaflet into Lionels chest and him
being bullied by Kurt, his white roommate, for his sexual orientation through a phone
message. These planted details show that Lionel, being undecided and gay, did not fit in at

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Garmin House representation of the white community on campus, nor was he accepted at
Armstrong-Parker center of the black student community. The lack of the ability to identify
with a group left Lionel vulnerable and marginalized.
The wanting of a group affiliation for Lionel lead to the first significant event in his
identity discourse joining the white dominant school newspaper. Shown in a scene in
which Lionel sits alone looking at the groups of students having a good time, the editor of the
Observer, George, approaches Lionel and offers him an opportunity wiring a piece of the
paper and possibly joining as a member of the staff. The marginalized Lionel grabbed this
chance immediately accepted this chance and smiled for the first time in the movie. However,
Lionel later found out that the editor never truly accepted him as a member of the school
paper and was only using him as a tool to benefit himself. This shocking discovery combined
with witnessing the chaotic expression of racism against black people at the Black Party
pushed Lionel to take up his group identity as an African American and to lead the charge
against racism, finally finding his place in his own ethnic group.
Throughout Lionels identity shifts, there is one thing that acts as an indicator his
afro. As Sturken and Caright pointed out Images present to viewers clues about its dominant
meaning (56). Lionels afro presents to the audience hints of what it represents at each stage
of Lionels identity discourse. When George tries to use Lionel for his own benefit, the scene
shows one of Georges staff playing with Lionels afro. In this case, the afro represents
Lionels vulnerability and Georges manipulation. When Reggie tries to make sure that Lionel
does not write anything bad for the image of the black student community, he mentions
Lionels afro, derisively calling it an entire ecosystem. Here, the afro represents Lionels
alienation from his own ethnic group. After Lionel finds his own place in the black
community at the end, he cuts away his afro. This signifies him gaining control over his life
and integration into his own group.

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Through Lionel the producers of the film show the importance of belonging.
Without the assumption of some kind of group identity, Lionel was marginalized and
manipulated by the people around him, and it was not until he decided to assume the group
identity of black people did Lionel find his own place in the race conversation. Here the film
addresses the critical nature of a group identity towards the establishment of a strong
individual identity.
The other two main characters, Troy and Coco, are quite different from Sam and
Lionel. Neither of them is consumed by their group identity or disturbed by the lack of one.
On the contrary, both of them are well aware of their group identity as African Americans, the
key issue is that neither of them promotes this aspect of their identity, at least not for its own
sake. Both Troy and Coco want to break free from the box set by their group identity as
blacks in order to reach their personal goals. For Troy it is a successful career path and for
Coco fame and recognition. Through Troy and Coco, the film discusses up the issue of the
opportunistic rebellion against ones own group identity.
Tory is presented as an upper class black figure son of the dean of the university,
dating the daughter of the president of the university, and running for the presidency of
Armstrong-Parker. His elite status can also be seen through his costume design - while other
characters in the film such as Sam, Lionel, Gabe wears casual clothing, Troy is always in a
dress shirt and most of the time at least wearing a nice sports jacket, if not a suit. While on
the surface he seemed to identify himself as a leader of his African American peers, Troy
never stood completely on the side of his own group, and shifts cleverly between sides to
gain the position he desires. This can be seen in the scene in which Troy uses and tolerates the
word nigger several times to gain the liking of Kurt and his staff. It is safe to say that, at
least compared to Sam, Troy has rebelled against his own group identity to gain influence in
the university. However, there is a twist to this rebellion many of Troys goals are set by his

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father instead of himself; therefore, in the middle of the film we can see the conflict between
his own wishes and wishes of his father, presented in the scene in which Troys father asks
him to give up drugs and joke writing in order to not to give the white people the
satisfaction of confirming their predisposed opinions about Troy. However, despite this
small conflict, Troy ended up the same smooth politician he was from the start of the film,
denying his relationship with Coco in the last scene, and never really putting his own group
before his personal gains as he runs for student body president. The film uses the character
Troy to represent a small group of African Americans who are potentially more well off than
their peers, and who tries to use their identities as opportunistic tools.
Coco is also represented as someone who rebels against her own group identity to
some other gain. Her major difference from Troy is that she came from a less well off
situation. Her desire to identify with rich white kids stemmed from her desire to get rid of
the labels of the hood that people put on her, and to gain recognition and attention. Cocos
role as an identity opportunist is established through her attempt to gaining fame by being
selected for a role in a reality show. First she tried to use her white washed YouTube videos to
gain the attention of the producer of the reality show. However, this move was unsuccessful
due to the lack of conflict in the character she built. After her initial failure, Coco tries again
by creating another YouTube character which gets real black. To ensure that she would get
the role, she then goes to the extreme and attempted to host the racist party of Garmin House,
yet this stretches her too far. Although an identity opportunist, Coco could not bear the sight
of blatant racism happening at the party. And while she denies being disturbed by saying
These (white) people pay millions of dollars just to be like us (black people), and they get to
be for one night, the scene later on showing her pulling off her blond weaved hair clearly
indicate Cocos critical reflection on her own actions. Dear White People uses Coco to reveal
the inner conflict inside many African Americans who hail from less privileged families

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between their desires to break free from their group identities and their innate relationship
with their own people.
One of the most important segments in the establishment of Troy and Cocos
character was when they are at game night Garmin House trying to be a part of Kurts new
staff. In this scene, Tory and Coco are connected through the editing of different shots.
Lancioni said that Viewers construct meaning from the relationship of shot to shot, and
form the rhythm of the cutting, all of which contribute to a films visual rhythms and
constitute an important aspect of the rhetoric. (109) The game night scene used oscillating
shots between Coco and Troys actions and Sams explanation of two types of black people
from her book Ebony and Ivory to create a visual rhythm that facilitated the
characterization of Troy and Coco. When Troy is using his black identity as a tool to impress
Kurts current staff, the camera shifted to a shot in which Sam explained what an Oofta is:
a person who black it up for white audiences; when Coco pretended to belong in Garmin
House by criticizing Sams show about racism, the camera switched to Sam explaining what
a Nose job is: someone who tries to blend in by marginalizing her own black identity. This
kind of editing allows the audience to better understand the identities of and similarities
between Troy and Coco, and in turn sets them apart from Sam.
The contrasts between Sam, Lionel, Troy, and Coco allow Dear White People to
discuss identity inside the group of African Americans, and show how the racial conversation
has diversified since the Civil Rights Movement because of the increasing difference and
importance of personal identity in black communities.
Although it is quite clear that a major topic of the film is identity, a counterargument
can be made stating that when a non-character driven analysis is applied, the film can be seen
as a response to recent events of racism against the black population in elite colleges such as
Dartmouth College. The film touched on this issue before the end credits, showing news

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pieces of racist parties on college campuses. Admittedly, addressing racism on college

campuses part of the film; however, it is only a superficial component. Claiming itself as a
smart satire of the Obama age, Dear White People does not stop at merely addressing racist
events, but tries to touch the core of the ethnic conversation in the internet age. Singling out
an individual by reframing a group shot as a close-up invites viewer to speculate on the
diverse ways of seeing and thinking about the subjects (Lancioni 112). The film Dear White
People singled out four black characters with district roles and identities not simply to
address college racism, but to change how people view the modern ethnic interaction, and to
allow the audience to view individuals inside the black community in a more diverse way,
which is critical to solving the problems mentioned in the above counterargument. It would
be extremely uncharitable and limiting to understand what Dear White People has to offer as
a simple reaction to news stories.
In conclusion, the movie Dear White People created four distinct and lively black
figures with its plot, smart editing, and great character design. It provokes us not only to
reflect on recent events suggesting the continued existence of racism in modern America, but
also to think of individuals from the two ethnic groups and their interactions in a more
diverse way. Instead of simplifying the ethnic conversation to racial conflicts between two
large groups, the film invites us to appreciate the complexity of the modern race problem.
Racial inclusion in the 21st century can only be advanced if this complexity that extends into
the individual level is fully recognized.

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Works Cited
Lancioni, Judith. "The Rhetoric of the Frame Revisioning Archival Photographs in The Civil
War." Western Journal of Communication 60.4 (1996): 397-414. Web.
Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon, 2005. Print.
Bell, Brandon P, Kyle Gallner, Teyonah Parris, Justin Simien, Tessa Thompson, and Tyler J.
Williams. Dear White People. Santa Monica, CA: Lionsgate, 2015.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 2/29/16.
Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual
Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.