WATCH: ‘Dear White People’ Netflix Trailer Accused of Racism

Netflix released the teaser for Dear White People, a 10-episode series based on the 2014 acclaimed film of the same name. Even though it lasts just 30 seconds, it was long enough to spark accusations of racism on Twitter.

The series picks up right after Justin Simien’s 2014 comedy left off. That film followed the lives of four black students at a fictional Ivy League college.

In the show, the group of Winchester University students “navigate a diverse landscape of social injustice, cultural bias, political correctness (or lack thereof) and sometimes misguided activism in the millennial age,” according to the Netflix description. “Through an absurdist lens, Dear White People utilizes biting irony, self-deprecation and sometimes brutal honesty to hold up a mirror to the issues plaguing society today, all the while leading with laughter.”

Logan Browning, Dear White People series, Dear White People racist

Logan Browning in Dear White People. (Adam Rose/Netflix)

The trailer shows a group of black students making fun of white students in blackface. “Dear white people, here’s a list of acceptable Halloween costumes,” Logan Browning’s character says. “Pirates, slutty nurse, any of our first 43 presidents. Top of the list of unacceptable costumes: Me.”

The series sparked a few claims of racism on Twitter, with some even suggesting they’ll cancel Netflix. A “#BoycottNetflix” hashtag started, but many people also included links to the trailers in their protests, and brought Dear White People even more attention. The trailer also received over 100,000 dislikes.

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Of course, others made fun of the attempted boycott.

Dear White People will be available on Netflix on April 28.

The Atlanta Black Star reported in October 2014 that the original title for the film was Two Percent, which reflects the estimated number of black students at Chapman University in Southern California. He started work on the script while a student there in 2006.

In an interview with the Daily Beast, Simien said he was inspired to work on the script again while working at Paramount Pictures’ publicity department.

In March 2010, he started the @DearWhitePeople Twitter handle and started an Indiegogo campaign to finance his script. It raised over $50,000 and Code Red Films helped finance the rest. The film, which earned Simien the Best First Screenplay Award at the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards, was made in just 19 days for “just north of $1 million,” Simeien told The Daily Beast.

The cast for Dear White People the series is:
Marque Richardson as Reggie Green
Antionette Robertson as Coco Conners
Brandon P. Bell as Troy Fairbanks
Logan Browning as Samantha White
John Patrick Amedori as Gabe
DeRon Horton as Lionel
Wyatt Nash as Kurt Fletcher
Jeremy Tardy as Rashid Bakr
Ashley Blaine Featherson as Joelle Brooks

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