History Series / DearWhitePeople

* TokenMinority: Ikumi, an Asian-American student, joins the A-P crew in the middle of Season 1. Lampshaded by Ikumi, who introduces herself to the group as their “new catch-all Asian friend.” She gets ChuckCunninghamSyndrome in Season 2.

* PutOnTheBus: Nieka Hobbs and Ikumi do not appear in Season 2. However, Izumi does return in Season 3.

* PutOnTheBus: Nieka Hobbs and Ikumi do not appear in Season 2.

* ButNotTooBlack: {{Invoked}} by the narrator (Creator/GiancarloEsposito), who states that he was selected for the role due to his being ethnic enough while still being nonthreatening. Coco also complains of being thought poorly about by many black guys due to having dark skin, and claims Sam has "light skinned privilege" because she's mixed race. Sam retorts that no one calls Coco "half breed" or "Zebra". Joelle also deals with being seen as the RomanticRunnerUp in her LoveTriangle with Sam and Reggie, because of being darker-skinned than her.

* OverprotectiveDad: The motive behind Dean Fairbanks' strict parenting - to mold Troy into a model individual so that he won't face the same struggles his father did as a black man.

* ADateWithRosiePalms:
** Lionel in Episode 2 of Season 1 to the sounds of Troy screwing the women he has over. He finally manages to "go all the way" in the end of the episode after Troy gives him a haircut.
** Sam does in this in the Season 2 premiere too while fantasizing being with Gabe, only to have [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown Joelle walk in on her.]]

** Sam is able to break easily into ''Pastiche'''s Facebook page because their password is [[WhatAnIdiot ''pastiche''.]]

* SecretCircleOfSecrets: Winchester is apparently rife with secret societies, a common UsefulNote/IvyLeague trope.

** Chapter I of the third season has some humorous comments about the problems with Netflix shows in their third season, which they are.

* The Musical: Season 4 centers around Winchester's "Varsity Show", which is one. The season itself counts as one, with characters frequently breaking into song to describe their situation and feelings.

** Subverted in season two with Reggie trying to hack [=@AltIvyW=]'s Twitter account, requiring him to create a complex dictionary attack program that takes hours to work, then ultimately fails due to [[RealityEnsues the account being protected by two-factor verification.]]

* SimultaneousArcs: This is sometimes done to support the RotatingProganist system, often using a noteworthy event or conversation from a previous episode to establish that the next one happens approximately at the same time. Sometimes the arcs are mostly separate, and other times the follow-up may show the direct conclusion of a conversation that was only partly witnessed by the previous episode's point of view. However, by the end of each season the episodes tend to become more linear.

** The ending of the season two finale where [[spoiler:Giancarlo Esposito, [[DelayedNarratorIntroduction the series' narrator, is the one [[EmergingFromTheShadows to appear]] to Sam and Lionel at the Order of X's]] secret meeting spot.

* TakeThat: Chapter I of Season 3 features a mild one toward ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'', noting how what July (the {{expy}} for June) complains of is something many black women already had to bear. Not to mention the fact that the [[Creator/ElisabethMoss lead actress]] is part of a real cult, but doesn't notice the irony. In spite of this, Sam says that she's addicted and has watched the show religiously.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Kurt in the film was a JerkAss who frequently expressed racist and homophobic statements with pride. In the series version, while still a huge dick and the originator behind the blackface party, his overt racism and and homophobia is absent and [[EveryoneHasStandards is just as horrified as everyone else]] by [[spoiler: the campus police pulling a gun on Reggie at the party]]. He also tries to reach out to Sam to work together on a statement against the incident and in the Season 1 finale, delivers an ArmorPiercingQuestion to her about the effectiveness of her outrage-driven tactics. In Season 2, he's come around to understanding what the black students have gone through.

* EmergingFromTheShadows: In the season 2 finale, [[spoiler:this is how the narrator introduces himself to Sam and Lionel, implying that he's actually a member of the Order of X.]]

* GayConservative: [[spoiler: Silvio]] morphs into one, or really even further to the right, in Season 2.

* LovingAShadow: In the penultimate episode of Season 1, Troy calls out Coco on the fact that [[spoiler: she doesn't even love him, let alone ''like'' him - she just loves the idea of him as a model leader.]]
* LoveTriangle: Gabe is falling madly in love with Sam, but the latter later becomes close to Reggie who's been attracted to Sam from [[LoveAtFirstSight the moment he laid on eyes on her.]] Complicating it further is that Reggie himself is the object of an unrequited attraction from Joelle. It turns almost into a LoveDodecahedron when you add in that Sam dated Troy before the start of the series and Coco dates him briefly in season 1.

* PoliceBrutality: What sets up the second plot in the climax of Episode 5 of Season 1 - [[spoiler: when Reggie eventually quarrels with a white student over NWordPrivileges at a party, campus police show up with an immediate assumption that Reggie was the instigator and demand identification while virulently dismissing Joelle when she comes to his defense. Reggie's quip "Fuck these pigs" provokes one of the officers to [[DisproportionateRetribution draw his gun on him]], conjuring a scene that many people of color [[TruthInTelevision have either experienced and/or unfortunately not survived to tell the aftermath]] while the surrounding students are horrified and pleading with the officer to withdraw his firearm. Fortunately, though Reggie shakingly complies with fear for his life and does leave with it, he's understandably broken by the confrontation.]]

* ShoutOut: In the series, Coco attempts to join the black sorority Alpha Delta Rho, which is the same sorority that Whitley joined in ''Series/ADifferentWorld''.

* TokenMinority: Ikumi, an Asian-American student, joins the A-P crew in the middle of Season 1. Lampshaded by Ikumi, who introduces herself to the group as their “new catch-all Asian friend.” She is PutOnTheBus in Season 2.

** Season 2, the reveal of [=@AltIvyW's=] profile page on [[spoiler:Silvio's computer screen.]]
** The ending of the season two finale where [[spoiler:Giancarlo Esposito, the series' narrator, is the one to appear to Sam and Lionel at the Order of X's secret meeting spot.]]

A ''{{Creator/Netflix}}'' original adaptation of the 2014 [[Film/DearWhitePeople film]], this online television series follows the same basic plot, with Logan Browning as Sam White and [=DeRon Horton=] as Lionel. Creator/GiancarloEsposito provides narration at the beginning of each episode. The series starts with the {{Blackface}} party, however, then proceeds from there.

* YouJustToldMe: How Coco learned about [[spoiler:Troy's affair with Neika]].
* YourCheatingHeart:
** Professor Nieka Hobbs, who is clearly engaged to another woman, is having an affair with [[spoiler: Troy.]] Coco later feels that Troy cheated on her after finding out he was with [[spoiler: Nieka]], though he didn't feel they were exclusive.
** Sam nearly sleeps with Reggie before she's stopped by Gabe texting her. Gabe begins to fear she cheated on him after this too. [[spoiler: It turns out that she did.]]

** The third season has one of ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'' (with the Handmaids in blue rather than red), which also serves to criticize some aspects.

** Sam does in this in the Season 2 premiere to while fantasizing being with Gabe, only to have [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown Joelle walk in on her.]]

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Sam is able to break easily into ''Pastiche'''s Facebook page because their password is [[WhatAnIdiot ''pastiche''.]]

* PoliceBrutality: What sets up the second plot in the climax of Episode 5 of Season 1 - [[spoiler: when Reggie eventually quarrels with a white student over NWordPrivileges at a party, campus police show up with an immediate assumption that Reggie was the instigator and demand identification while virulently dismissing Joelle when she comes to his defense. Reggie's quip "Fuck these pigs" provokes one of the officers to [[DisproportionateRetribution draw his gun on him]], conjuring a scene that where people of color [[TruthInTelevision have either experienced and/or unfortunately not survived to tell the aftermath]] while the surrounding students are horrified and pleading with the officer to withdraw his firearm. Fortunately, though Reggie shakingly complies with fear for his life and does leave with it, he's understandably broken by the confrontation.]]

** Rikki Barnes, a Black Republican pundit in the vein of real-life black pundit [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Owens Candace Owens]]. Bonus points for the CastingGag of her being played by Creator/TessaThompson, who played the main character Sam (who has the polar opposite political views) in the film. This is then subverted as Rikki reveals to Sam that she's only in it for the money and notoriety.

** Rikki Carter = Tomi Lahren + Stacey Dash