Within the past three years, Netflix has released two seasons of Dear White People. Dear White People is based off the book, which holds the same title. The show follows Sam and her friends as they navigate race and what it means to be black in a white campus and world.
The TV show is very well done and holds some truths to the nature of what's like to be black in America. Even though, some can bash on the show for its dramatization, it is true to peoples' lived experiences. There are black characters from every background and they have every question about what it means to be black. There are also characters such as Gabe, who is white and learning what his privilege looks like. Lastly, it looks at what it means to be gay in America. I suggest that everyone watch the show.
Here are 10 quotes from Dear White People that I want to clap, snap, and scream how great it is. Here are 10 quotes I resonate with in some shape or form.
1. "Dear White People, our skin is not a weapon. You don't have to be afraid of it."
2. "Gun in my face, your hate misplaced, light-skin, white skin but for me not the right skin.
3. "If only the real world has a block button."
4. "When you mock or belittle us, you enforce an existing system."
5. "Sometimes being carefree and black is an act of a revolution."
6. "Waist-thin, ass-thick is going to have to wait until America solves its race issues."
7. "If you were a cat owner and only all cats were dying in America, if someone said to you, 'All Lives Matter,' you'd be upset, too."
8. "Dear White People, you made me hate myself as a kid, so now I hate you, and that's my secret shame."
9. "How many times have we had the narrative that black men aren't good enough and that we need a white savior?"
10. "...All men are created equal... unless you're loud and black and possess an opinion, then all you get is a bullet."
I know that for some these quotes seem aggressive or too straight-forward, but they are the truth of many lives. This show starts a conversation that is worth having.
People need to understand the privilege they have and how to use it.
Americans need to be willing to listen to the pain of minorities in this country.
As Grey's Anatomy's Maggie Pierce once said, "I-I don’t speak for all black people. I am not the spokeswoman. No one is." But this show gives a phenomenal insight into what it's like.
