In Netflix's Dear White People, Coco (Antoinette Robertson) has been one of the series' most despicable villains, stemming from her ambition in the movie. She doesn't seem to connect with fellow Black people at Winchester University, sticking to uppity white folks instead, as she sees them as power cards to play. However, while it seems like Coco's just a traitor at first, her past has some sympathetic threads that explain her motivations.
Coco is at war with the face of the campus' Black Power movement, Sam, hating her and other marginalized groups that seek racial equality. Coco doesn't mind them achieving success but not at her expense, especially if their initiatives endanger her climbing the white ladder. It's why she's with Troy, Dean Fairbanks' son/ She sees them as a power couple who'll be provided opportunities as Fairbanks is in with the establishment's trustees.
However, flashbacks show Coco wasn't always so conniving and bitter. She and Sam actually started off as best friends, misunderstood but trying on a mostly-white campus -- Coco's M.O. since her childhood days. She grew up poor, but even Black kids bullied her for wanting more, like being America's first female president. It's why she warned Sam that as someone who was half-white, Sam could rig the game even more in her favor. Unfortunately, this broke them as Coco partnered with superficial sororities while Sam dealt with the Black Student Union, who were more for equality.
Double booking an event in their first year angered Coco as Sam didn't want to relinquish her hold on the place, causing Coco to insult and spill all Sam's secrets. This put them on opposite ends of the spectrum, especially as Coco's scholarship -- white-funded -- meant she couldn't afford to fail. She had something to live up to, which is why she went after Troy, knowing the dean broke him and Sam up as Sam was a rebel.
Coco would use and eventually cut Troy loose when she realized he wasn't listening to his dad anymore. She forgot about romance and moved on to trying to stymie campus' protests against police brutality and innocents being murdered. Coco, as robotic and cold as ever, simply wanted to please the Hancocks, who could open political doors for her. Seeing as she found everyone in the social justice collective to be dead weight, she wanted to cut them loose ASAP.
Sadly, all this scheming cost Coco a major part of her humanity. Even if she had to manipulate things to get in with xenophobic, oppressive folks who perpetuated systemic racism, she didn't mind. Because after seeing guys like Troy and Reggie love Sam in the past, Coco knew she had to play sinister cards to fit in with these entitled folks, given the darkness of her skin. As such, betrayals became the norm for her. Coco knew that's how cutthroat politicians would operate, even if they had to sacrifice their own culture, people and identity to reach the top.
Season 4 of Dear White People premieres Sept. 22 on Netflix.
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