I went to see the movie “Dear White People,” and yes, we have seen the same motifs in other movies, but you know this Negro Colored Black African American Afro American woman home grown in the Jim Crow south just can’t let the opportunity to respond to this cinematic treatise pass without interjecting my own thoughts…….

Oh, if the shoe doesn’t fit, there is no need to argue about its size………..

Dear White People:

You know what? Never mind…….

Never Mind that you profess not to understand the concept of “white privilege” because you have never had to consider the perks of being white in America

Never Mind that you cannot resist the impulse to touch my natural hair and exclaim at its softness much like your delight when you stroke the fluffy fur of Spot or Tabby

Never Mind that your microagressions do not endear you to that African American colleague nor are they tools of bonding

Never Mind that you do not know what a microagression might be, i.e., “You are so articulate, etal”

Never Mind that those full lips and bodacious butts you publicly prize, worship and declare your own today have long been stereotyped in “Darky Iconography”

Never Mind that you blithely appropriate bits and pieces, language and fashion, from African American culture while quite often disdaining the people of a culture genuinely home grown in America

Never Mind that your “Black Face Let’s Be Them” parties held on hallowed Ivy League Grounds are still offensive even if “you meant no harm”

Never Mind that you will not enter into a conversation about race in America because you do not feel informed enough but you will not do the study of the history of race in America in order that you might be informed

Never Mind that the idea the African American man or woman brings to fruition is ignored or deemed invalid until one of your own validates it with their participation and/or interest

Never Mind that separate is rarely equal and diversity and inclusion are not synonymous

Never Mind that your protestations about slavery in  America,”I had nothing to do with that,” are offensive and absolutely (deliberately?) ignorant of the domino effect of that pernicious institution on the black and white psyche of America

Never Mind that it’s just a movie and has absolutely nothing to do with your reality

Never Mind……..