[STATELY MUSIC]
♪ ♪
I'm 100% done with you.
You're done?
This was the moment?
If that's sugar, hundo P.
You don't sugar your grits?
No, I have working taste buds.
Wait, niggas are sugaring grits now?
Refined cane. What else?
Um, butter, salt, the occasional shrimp...
[KELSEY] And brie!
Ooh, and a little Gruyere.
Heaven!
Salty grits are trash.
[SAM] Co, for once, we agree.
[COCO] I think this is actually the third time,
but I co-sign the narrative.
[JOELLE] Look, y'all need to stop disrespecting grits
like they're Cream of Wheat.
[LIONEL] I love Cream of Wheat.
[RASHID] People, we must not let
our breakfast choices divide us.
[NARRATOR] Ah, Armstrong-Parker.
You may have noticed there's something different
about Winchester's historically black
residence hall.
Watch closely.
[STATELY MUSIC]
1837.
Former slave quarters Armstrong Hall
and Parker House
combine to accommodate
Winchester's influx of ethnic students,
which, at the time, meant Irish and Italian.
They lived there until sometime after the 1920s,
when they graduated
to whiteness.
1965,
Armstrong-Parker House becomes the residence of choice
for a burgeoning community
of black students,
but not everyone approves,
especially one Donald Hancock,
a student who would become a wealthy benefactor
of right-wing politicians
and Winchester herself.
Two weeks ago,
a protest, led by
firebrand Samantha White,
ends when Troy Fairbanks
vandalizes Hancock Hall.
News of Troy's outburst spreads like wildfire,
as did an actual fire,
which coincidentally started at Davis House
around the same time.
These events were assumed to be
the result of rioting after the protest,
because, you know, black people were involved.
February 1968,
with violence in the South and Vietnam,
Martin Luther King
recants his "I Have A Dream" speech,
calling it naive.
As Jimmy Baldwin said on one occasion,
"What advantage is there
in being integrated into a burning house?"
[NARRATOR] Two weeks later,
he's assassinated.
A week ago,
as displaced residents of Davis House
relocate to Armstrong-Parker,
Dr. King's words scrape at Sam's subconscious.
- Ugh. - [REGGIE] Real talk.
I use agave in mine.
Lower glycemic index and shit.
[NARRATOR] Right now, Sam finds solace
in a recent addition to A-P's breakfast menu.
It's the first time in a long time
that she's felt at home.
[TRANQUIL PIANO MUSIC]
[WILLIAM] First day of school.
You ready?
♪ ♪
[WARM ORCHESTRAL STRING MUSIC]
[OPERA SINGING ON SPEAKER]
♪ ♪
Dear white people...
♪ ♪
Dear white people,
welcome to Armstrong-Parker.
When encountering new and exotic hairstyles,
please keep your hands...
No more "don't touch my hair" quips, Jo.
It's hack.
Okay, well, how about
switch on the mic and just talk?
[JOELLE] Or maybe we could brainstorm
to something a bit more up-tempo?
[INCREASES VOLUME OF OPERA]
Or just...
wallow in existential melancholy.
♪ ♪
[JOELLE CLEARS THROAT]
What, is someone being micro-aggressed somewhere?
[LAUGHS]
[UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC]
♪ ♪
When does the constant drone of flip-flops
become background noise?
My misophonia is triggered as fuck.
Oh, misophonia?
She does braids out of Waller, right?
Look at you, making jokes.
It's a hearing condition,
and also a great name
for an Outkast album.
[COCO] So shade came from reading.
Reading came first.
[JOELLE] At least someone's enjoying this.
Bet they think she's kin to Beyoncé.
- Hello, ladies. - Hey, girl.
[JOELLE] Bet she never corrects them.
[RASHID] You are being paranoid, my friend.
Nah, man, it's a coup, trust me.
- Lionel.. - [SIGHS]
You gotta follow these clues, man.
I know you see it, Sam.
See what?
This ain't a coincidence.
Lionel does all this digging
and finds out that these Hancock fuckers
want to integrate A-P,
and suddenly, there's a "fire"
at "Davis House."
That is not how air quotes work.
- Shut up. - Do you think
a bunch of rich donors
had nothing better to do
than set Davis House on fire
just to [WHISPERED] integrate A-P?
[AL] Man, you see it.
Is it just me, or are people staring at us?
Yo, Sam, you gotta talk about this
on Dear White People.
Or, you know, talk at all.
It's been a lot of strange tunes as of late.
Thank you for your feedback.
[WOMAN] Exhale...
Now we're going to move to triangle pose to warrior...
Joelle, why is
spontaneous white yoga happening
where our study group should be?
A cultural import from Davis House.
Do you know what you look like?
It's okay. Let's just go to the courtyard.
Sam, you okay?
Yeah, good. I'll see you after.
♪ ♪
[WOMAN] There you go.
♪ ♪
♪ We've been ♪
♪ Divided by an ocean ♪
♪ Had a hundred things in motion ♪
♪ Said you barely recognize me ♪
♪ Clap ♪
[GABE] God, I fucking missed you.
[SAM] Ditto.
♪ No, I never meant to leave you ♪
♪ I was busy but I ♪
♪ Promise you the next time ♪
♪ You won't feel like I forgot about you ♪
♪ I know it's far but just remember ♪
♪ I'll be back home in November ♪
♪ I won't miss you ♪
♪ Till I see the smoke ♪
Hey, girl! Whoa... wow, wow.
[JOELLE] Wow, wow.
Bitch, am I supposed to think it was a ghost?
Bitch, I thought you was in study group.
Bitch, that was an hour ago. How are you not tired?
[VIBRATING CONTINUES]
You gonna get that?
[JOELLE] Okay, I know
you're not used to sharing a room,
but either you start putting socks on the door,
or lady-tickle yourself in the shower,
like everybody else.
[SAM] We use a public shower.
People do that?
You do that?
I know you're not throwing stones from that glass house.
I'm barefoot in there.
[JOELLE] Sam, are you okay?
You've been acting way more 13 Reasons Why than us'.
Proposal:
We agree to
never speak of this again
and I'll stuff the memory
deep into the recesses of my subconscious,
where my... brief but substantial
B2K phase is.
[CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC]
♪ ♪
Wait, were you pre-bating?
Uh, what?
[JOELLE] You know, when you
take care of yourself so you don't lose your mind
in the company of problematic dick?
I thought you were B2K-ing this.
[JO] And if I'm not mistaken,
you have a certain film class coming up
with a certain teacher's assistant.
Bitch, you was pre-bating.
♪ ♪
Hey, you want to go for a... a run?
Like white girls in TV shows
when they need a visually interesting way
to deliver exposition? [LAUGHS]
[JO] Real people can't run and talk at the same time.
Oh, my God, were you trying to shut me up?
♪ ♪
[JO] I thought our ancestors fought
so we didn't have to run for our lives.
[SAM] Yeah, actually, it's hot as fuck.
♪ ♪
[SAM] Oh, shit.
We'll do the, um...
♪ ♪
[KELSEY] Hey, girls.
Still taking a break?
Come on, we can do this!
[KELSEY] No?
No?
[KELSEY] Oh, well, that's your thighs.
Hey, Reggie.
[SAM] Reggie.
Reginald Quevenzhane Green!
We see you, negro.
[REGGIE] Hey, guys.
What are you doing?
Jogging.
Uh, I got to run to class.
Not like y'all.
I know lululemons
don't really flatter my body type.
[SAM] So Reggie thinks I'm total garbage.
Got it.
Is that why you're in the Sunken Place?
[CLASSICAL PIANO MUSIC]
♪ ♪
[JO] I didn't know it was this bad, Sam.
♪ ♪
Uh, who are all these people?
♪ ♪
Something's changed.
[SAM] Logic,
reason,
discourse... it's out the window now.
I was one of three
protest leaders.
♪ ♪
I wasn't the one who busted up a window...
♪ ♪
Or dropped a bombshell about the Hancocks,
and a fire!
A fucking fire.
♪ ♪
How do I even begin to respond to this shit?
Sam, you started a conversation...
This isn't a conversation.
I've got a wall of vitriol at my back.
♪ ♪
[SIGHS]
♪ ♪
And in front of me,
I've got a fucking boy who
makes me feel so many things at once,
I can't make sense of anything.
♪ ♪
Lionel.
What?
[JOELLE CHUCKLES]
Don't at me, but
Lionel could get.
♪ ♪
[JO] Strong, smart, affectionate...
[BOTH] ♪ Gotta be all for me ♪
♪ And I'll be too you see ♪
♪ Happily ♪
[LAUGHS]
Pre-bating ass...
[QUIET PIANO MUSIC]
Do you know there's a scientific debate
raging over the color blue?
Does it exist,
or is the brain's best guess,
identifying wave particles
beyond its observational scope?
♪ ♪
Yes.
Wait, no.
Consciousness evolved with questions
natural selection never designed it to answer,
making truth just beyond man's Darwinian limits.
Um, are you giving me advice, or...
I've had to speed-read a lot of evolutionary psych.
I can't always control how and when
the information's synthesized,
- okay? - Copy that.
So the world isn't acting the way you thought it would.
But we don't see things the way they are.
We see them the way we are.
Fuck, I'm about to ace this exam! Yes!
♪ ♪
So...
I need to take back my narrative.
♪ ♪
But how do you argue with nonsense?
Sam, you are
articulate to a fault,
but real talk,
who have you ever convinced out of their opinion?
♪ ♪
This conversation isn't about you or them.
It's about us.
To make sense out of the chaos,
to give us a reason to keep persisting.
♪ ♪
Thank you.
♪ ♪
- Love you. - Love you.
[PHONE CHIMES]
♪ ♪
All right, I gotta go.
[JO] Okay.
- See ya. - Bye.
["CHANGES" BY DEJ LOAF PLAYING]
♪ ♪
♪ And my old friends couldn't keep up ♪
♪ I'm not throwing no shots But I'ma show you my guns ♪
♪ I'ma take my chances I ain't biting my tongue ♪
♪ I'ma screamin' to the top of my lungs ♪
♪ If you ain't chasing your dreams ♪
♪ What the fuck are you doing ♪
♪ Old friends that turned into strangers ♪
♪ I've been going through changes ♪
♪ I've prayed to God and I made it ♪
Didn't you watch the assignment before class?
Just reviewing.
It's becoming a pattern, Sam.
[GABE] You just, kind of, like, you know, make it.
[GABE] You got some sort of statement?
[CLEARS THROAT]
So, um...
[PROFESSOR LANG] Um, okay. Let's go right into it.
Why We Fight.
[LANG] Impressions?
I feel like I finally understand
what it feels like to live through
World War II, right?
[WOMAN] And to think, it was documentary filmmakers
who were on the front lines
of discovering the atrocities of the Holocaust.
It made me proud
to make this my vocation.
Well, let's be clear.
This wasn't a documentary
in the modern sense.
It's...
propaganda.
I'm not so sure, right?
I mean, yes, the filmmaker's intentions are clear,
but the idea that this
shouldn't be examined
like any other modern documentary is...
misguided, right?
I'm sorry. Who are you?
Jamila. Transfer.
And every documentary presents facts
in a way that proves
the filmmaker's beliefs are true.
That's the nature of the medium, right?
Can you stop saying "right"
right before you've made your point?
It's really confusing... right?
[LANG] A debate as old as the form.
Um, Sam,
why don't you find a film
you consider truly neutral
to counter Jamila's argument?
You could use the extra credit.
[STUDENT] Shade.
[P NINNY] Yo, when I found out that my man,
Trill Stine,
was hooking up with that ho ass Sylk Weavey,
oh, I was pissed as fuck.
Sylky?
Fuck you doing in my session?
But this track right here
is so lit, I might need to have
that nigga's baby tonight.
As I've said many times before,
I am not
no lesbian.
[LAUGHTER]
- You gonna beat my ass? - I'ma gonna beat your ass.
Bitch, don't make me grease yourself.
[LAUGHTER]
[AL] This show
is my shit,
but this feels wrong.
I'm not one to judge,
but I suspect
P Ninny may in fact be a lesbian.
I will drink your bathwater.
I will eat some strawberries
off the small of your back!
[RASHID] You know, in Kenya, these shows
were our only frame of reference
for black Americans.
When I got here, I was terrified.
Terrified of black people,
or that you'd be seen as one?
Both.
This country is a mind fuck.
[P NINNY] Here's the deal.
Emmys, Grammys, Tonys,
falling from the motherfucking sky.
EGOT status.
What up, Whoopi?
[P NINNY] See, I don't need to beat this bitch's ass,
but I'm about to.
I feel conflicted as fuck.
[LAUGHTER]
[P NINNY] I'm laying down my next big single
Just got off of the roll and the hottest hip-hop drama
of all time.
[TV CONTINUES IN BACKGROUND]
Hey, Reggie.
Look at this.
This shit is coming from students.
90% of these are bots.
What about that AltlvyW guy?
Can't you figure out if he goes here?
You always take the bait.
What's that supposed to mean?
Hey.
Are we cool?
- Mm-hmm. - I need us to be cool.
- [MAN] Troy! - [TROY] Hey, what's up, man?
[MAN] What's good, Troy?
That's the guy that busted up Hancock.
[RASHID] Troy, my man. You are back from
university prison.
I had to pull a Shawshank, but your boy is free.
Wait, there's a university prison?
Yeah. It's like Oz,
but with caviar instead of errant gay sex.
Seriously, though, where have you been?
[REGGIE] Yo, you two get a room.
We already got one.
You jealous?
Actually, yeah.
You know, they got all the rest of us negroes
doubling up to make room
for the white refugee crisis.
Hey.
[SAM] How are you?
I'm okay.
And how are you? I heard
you're still getting grief over my shit.
It's all good.
I got you.
Great.
'Cause it's the best thing I've ever done.
[ORCHESTRAL STRING MUSIC]
[CELL PHONE CHIMES]
♪ ♪
["IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING" PLAYING]
♪ ♪
[LAPTOP CHIMES]
♪ ♪
[LAPTOP CHIMES]
♪ ♪
[CHUCKLES]
♪ ♪
[LAPTOP CHIMES]
[LAPTOP BEEPS]
[SIGHS]
[LAPTOP BEEPS]
[WARM TONE]
Hey, Dad.
[SAM] Kind of busy.
Sam!
Everything okay?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everything's...
Everything's fine, Samwich.
Having you been making your doctor's appointments?
[WILLIAM] Oh, yeah. Mom won't let me forget those.
Hey, quick question. Um... [SAM'S PHONE CHIMES]
How am I seeing you right now?
- It's called FaceTime, dad. - [WILLIAM] Ah.
I thought I was texting you.
[WILLIAM] I, uh, just wanted to know
when you were coming home for the holiday.
- Um... - [CHIMING]
Dad, I'm a little busy.
- Can... - [WILLIAM] I know.
I know.
Things must be crazy. You're not
fighting with the Internet again, are you?
Just some racist bots.
[WILLIAM] Race bots. Wow.
I'm not even gonna pretend to know what that means.
- [LAUGHS] - [WILLIAM] But these...
These people, they don't deserve
your time and attention.
- Okay. - [WILLIAM] And these are
the best years of your life.
Don't waste them by making things difficult.
Difficult?
Did you really just call me
to tell me I'm difficult?
No, I, uh... I tried to text you, and...
[SAM] All right, Dad.
Take care. Good night.
Okay, you too. B...
[LAPTOP CHIMES]
[LAPTOP CHIMES RAPIDLY]
["I AIN'T GOT TIME!" BY TYLER, THE CREATOR PLAYING]
♪ ♪
Okay.
Okay, it's on, motherfucker.
It is on!
♪ I ain't got time for these niggas ♪
♪ Better throw a watch at the boy ♪
♪ Had my boys in this bitch ♪
♪ Looking like a seminar ♪
♪ Who the fuck you talking to Motherfucker ♪
♪ Boy I ain't got time ♪
♪ For these bitches ♪
♪ Better throw a clock at these hos ♪
♪ Had these hos in this bitch
♪ Looking for a water hose ♪
♪ Who the fuck you talking to Motherfucker ♪
♪ Boy I ain't got time ♪
♪ Boy I need a Kleenex ♪
♪ How I got this far Boy I can't believe it ♪
♪ That I got this car ♪
♪ So I can take the scenic ♪
♪ Passenger a white boy ♪
♪ Look like River Phoenix ♪
♪ First... Nigga so you don't know ♪
♪ How that shit go ♪
♪ And my short hair ♪
♪ 'Cause you already know How slow my shit grow ♪
- [LAPTOP CHIMES] - I'm up, I'm up.
I'm up...
[SOFT SYNTH MUSIC ON VIDEO]
Hey, let's be clear.
Um, I'm no expert.
I'm not a member of any oppressed class,
but I am curious.
If racism is a system of disadvantage
against people of color,
are there ways that I,
and other white people,
support that system
without knowing it?
In other words,
am I racist?
♪ ♪
[REGGIE] Hi.
I'm Reggie Green.
[GABE] Reggie, thank you for talking with me.
You back from your clap-back coma?
Yeah.
It's Monday, BT-dubs.
I can't let this guy win, Jo.
You haven't showered in days, boo. He is winning.
Come look at this.
[SIGHS]
[JAZZ MUSIC]
♪ ♪
[CHUCKLES]
It's just like you said.
I gotta clap back
at these people
for the culture.
I fear some of the nuance of my argument
was lost in "translaysh."
He's got nothing.
[SAM] He hasn't written back in hours.
And look, I got 30 likes on mine.
♪ ♪
Hold on.
♪ ♪
A present for us both.
♪ ♪
Yep, come on. We're heading to the showers...
For business, not for pleasure.
[JO] Come on, girl.
♪ ♪
- [JO] Samantha! - I'm co...
[LANG] But back then,
you know, collaborating with the Inuits
was a novelty.
Uh, oh! And before I forget,
um, Sam, you had something you wanted to share with us?
Huh?
[LANG] The documentary
that you don't consider to be propaganda.
Oh.
Let me pull up my notes.
[LANG] Can you tell us the film?
Perhaps Gabe can queue something up for us?
You know what?
This thing is tripping!
Um...
[LANG] I guess not.
So, Jamila,
it looks like Sam
has conceded your point.
Wait.
- Uh... - [LANG] Yes?
Nothing.
Nothing. Never mind.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[JAMILA] I just... I don't have any need to...
Hi.
- Hey, Sam. - Can I talk to you?
[JAZZ MUSIC]
I wasn't saying documentaries don't have agendas.
I was just saying there are some stories
we shouldn't take for granted.
Why We Fight tells the truth
by way of leaving out many others.
Segregation in the army, internment camps.
If we take everything people say at face value,
we lose our ability to discern truth.
Okay?
Okay.
Look, why tell me this now
and not during the class debate?
♪ ♪
I wasn't about to fight with
the one other sister in the room for their pleasure.
Too trope-y.
♪ ♪
[CLEARS THROAT] Hey, Sam.
Hey.
Uh...
We haven't really talked since...
Since the last time we talked.
Yeah, I haven't had to.
Have you?
Uh...
No. Uh...
I guess not.
♪ ♪
I'll see you around.
[SAM] We both know
Gabe's doc is just to
get a reaction out of me.
[SAM] Girl, his face when I shaded him...
[JO] Yeah, he's definitely not making a documentary
to get his MFA in documentary filmmaking.
[SAM] Oh, you're on his side!
- [JO] No, I just... - [SAM] No, wait.
It's fine.
Save it for the show.
I want to have a real on-air conversation
about this.
With me?
Yes.
Like you said, I should just talk.
Well, I need someone
to just talk to.
Co-host?
Well, a little notice would've been nice
but I'm naturally charismatic, so okay.
[SAM] So yeah, I'll be
going in on the comments on Gabe's shit.
[LAUGHS] That'll prove you're over him.
Look, they're saying
he's the change.
He's making the same point as my show,
except he's white,
so it's groundbreaking.
I thought we were saving it.
[WOMAN] Why is the left allowed to dictate
who gets to be oppressed? I mean, if gays and blacks
can have a march, why can't Gordon?
[WOMAN] Why do we have to suffer just because
we were born white and straight
and... normal?
[GORDON] A straight white guy march?
Pfft. Can you imagine the vitriol?
That's oppression.
[MAN] Oppression.
These social justice warriors
and their buzzwords.
"Wage gap,"
"institutional racism"...
"Rape culture"... which is a myth, by the way.
- Right. - Why is the left
so obsessed with the idea
of a victimized woman?
The only thing libs would love more is, like,
a non-binary
queer American Indian immigrant.
Right? In a wheelchair.
With AIDS!
We gotta get one of those!
Yeah.
Wait, listen, listen.
I'm not a white nationalist, but...
It's crazy we have to qualify that.
But these inclusion and diversity programs
like BSU and CORE
are all just code for white genocide.
[GORDON] Preach, girl!
[GORDON] Okay, we're out of time.
Thanks for listening in.
This is Dear Right People,
and remember, there are only two genders...
[WOMAN] And AltlvyW,
whoever you are,
you inspire us, fam!
One day, we'll live in a world
where you won't have to hide your face.
Peace!
- Peace! - Whoo.
[LAUGHTER] [WOMAN] Great show, guys.
[GORDON] I mean, it was perfect.
That was really good.
[JO] Okay, you know what?
It's about to be Dear Fight People up in here,
because I'm about to go... all the way,
and please tell me you're about to drag
this Kirkland Signature
Ann Coulter.
Sam, what are you reading?
From campus hero AltlvyW:
"Too bad your father ruined you
by fucking a monkey.
Bet she's angry all the time too."
Fuck these people, Jo.
[JO] Hey.
[CRIES]
Sam, I know.
[SAM CRIES]
[JO] It's okay.
No, they don't get to do this, Jo.
They don't get to say this.
Do you want me to... queue up some music?
- You don't... - [SAM] No.
[JO] It's okay.
[SAM WHIMPERS]
[JO] Are you ready?
[THE ARC CHOIR'S "WALK WITH ME" PLAYING]
♪ ♪
♪ Jesus walk ♪
♪ Jesus walk with me ♪
♪ ♪
♪ I want Jesus ♪
- ♪Jesus walk ♪ - ♪To walk ♪
♪ Jesus walk with me ♪
♪ I want Jesus ♪
♪ Jesus walk ♪
♪ Walk with me ♪
♪ When I'm on my ♪
♪ Pilgrim journey ♪
♪ I want Jesus ♪
♪ To walk with me ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Walks with my mother ♪
♪ ♪
♪ He walks with me ♪
♪ ♪
[WOMAN] Whoo-hoo! [GIGGLES]
[ELECTRIC HUM]
[TRIUMPHANT FANFARE]