Tragic Mulatto Character Analysis

Samantha White is portrayed as a multiracial, heterosexual female. Sam is the creator of the Dear White People radio show that she uses to call out various forms of racism and express her disgust of racial stereotypes. Although she is multiracial, Sam only refers to herself as being black while completely ignoring her white heritage. She openly expresses her blackness but is occasionally accused of overcompensating by her black friends because of this. One example of this is when Sam’s friend Gabe refers to her as a mulatto, which is a racially offensive word used to describe a person of mixed white and black ancestry. Although Sam’s character depiction is nothing like this, the “Tragic Mulatto” character portrays people of mixed-race as depressed and alone because they fail to fit in …show more content…
Born Colandrea Conners, Coco changed her first name because it sounded too “ghetto”. She is portrayed as a girl from a lower-middle class family from who desires to assimilate whiteness in order to gain recognition and respect and not be judged by her skin color. Sam’s self-published book, Ebony and Ivy, describes Coco as a “nose job”, which is a person of color who tries to blend in with white people, while simultaneously rejecting their own race. Coco’s views of race and class stem from her experiences of colorism, which is discrimination against people with a dark skin tone, typically among those of the same race. This is demonstrated by the black TV producer who would rather create a show based on the biracial Sam than the dark-skinned Coco, who then encourages her to be “more black” and stir up trouble at the college to gain more media attention. Coco’s depiction can be considered by many, especially black women, as a stereotype. Her desire to become white (changing her name and flirting with wealthy white boys) and using sex as a tool to increase her social/economic status can be seen as a set back for women of