On Friday, May 4, “Dear White People” returned for its second season. The Netflix series created by Justin Simien is based on the 2014 film with the same name. The show follows a group of black students at Winchester, a fictional Ivy League university that is predominantly white. The series uses satire and parodies to tackle issues of race, politics and cultural appropriation. Last season it was revealed that the student newspaper “The Independent,” was funded by a wealthy, racist family, which led to a protest at a town meeting and Troy (Brandon P. Bell, “Dear White People”), the son of the university’s Dean, was arrested. This season picks up two weeks after the tumultuous protest and a week after Reggie (Marque Richardson, “Dear White People”) almost gets shot by a white officer at a house party.
Like the first season, “Dear White People” does not shy away from covering controversial topics and pop-cultural references in a satirical manner. This time around, the series focuses heavily on the alt-right movement and Twitter trolls. Winchester sees an uptick in the alt-right movement on campus as seen with “Dear Right People,” a countermovement to the Dear White People radio show hosted by Sam (Logan Browning, “Hit the Floor”), the show’s main character. Throughout the series, Sam finds herself in a Twitter storm with an alt-right troll.
Although last season’s major characters Sam, Troy, Reggie and Coco stole most of the show, this season we see more character development in Lionel (DeRon Horton, “Burning Sands”) and Joelle (Ashley Blaine Featherson, “Glee”). Lionel continues to explore his sexuality after revealing that he is gay in the first season, and he finds a new love interest. He also tries to continue his investigative journalism after the school newspaper was shut down last season. Joelle continues to struggle in her best friend Sam’s shadows. However, she does manage to find love, and we see her showcase her singing talents.
Sam, Troy and Reggie are still a major part of this season. Sam is depressed and trying to deal with the fallout over the protest and her breakup with Gabe, while Troy tries to escape his father’s shadow and be his own person. Reggie tries to cope with his PTSD from the near-death experience at last season’s house party.
This season also features a few cameos with Tyler James Williams (“Everybody Hates Chris”) and Tessa Thompson (“Avengers: Infinity War”) from the “Dear White People” movie and Lena Waithe (“The Chi”). The show also hilariously spoofs popular shows like Fox’s “Empire,” VH1’s “Love and Hip-Hop” and OWN’s “Iyanla: Fix My Life.”
Simeon and his team of writers did a great job showcasing the black experience and taking on controversial issues like racism, cultural appropriation, politics, homophobia, sexism and abortion in a way that was comical yet thought provoking. There has been no word yet if the show will be renewed for a third season.
