Racism. A word that is still ever present in our modern society. One might hope that our culture has moved on from hearing this word so often in the news. Often, the first thing you think of when you hear the word racism is the Ferguson shooting or the Baltimore riots. It is these racist events and issues that sparked the creation of Dear White People, a film set on an Ivy League campus that attacks racism and its complexities in the twenty-first century. The film was created simply for box office success, but “for the sake of something beyond itself” (Bitzer 3). The film focuses on racial ideas and how black students respond to situations. One method the film uses to attack racism is unique; enFrom the opening scenes of the film, CoCo's desire to be part of the white community is clearly established. In the first scene, we are introduced to CoCo and a reality television producer named Helmut West. Helmut is interviewing CoCo for a potential new television series. In this interview we learn that CoCo would rather live with Tisch's “rich white kids” than Armstrong-Parker's blacks; the traditional black housing. This desire to be associated with whites instead of blacks is only the first example of CoCo's characterization. Later in the interview, after Helmut comments that CoCo is from the Chicago neighborhood, CoCo again quickly denies his association with his black background and growls, "There's nothing strange about me." These two back-to-back dialogue comments quickly and efficiently characterize CoCo as someone who extremely wants to be called white. CoCo's characterization shows the extreme of black identities because, despite her skin color, she strongly desires to be white and be with white people. CoCo's dissatisfaction with her life assignments demonstrates her desire to fit in with whites. In addition to CoCo's desires, she also denies her personal connections to her black background. It is through these two moments in the film that we can see CoCo's attraction to being