Entertainment

Get Excited, 'Dear White People' Season 3 Finally Has A Netflix Premiere Date

Saeed Adyani/Netflix

School might be out for the summer, but class will soon back in session for Netflix's hit comedy-drama Dear White People. If you're in need of a new semester of proving collegiate injustice, keep calm for the return of the series before Labor Day blues settle in. When does Dear White People Season 3 premiere? Mark your calendars for early August.

Netflix announced on June 19 that Season 3 of Dear White People will premiere on Friday, Aug. 2. The news was delivered in a video recognizing Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. In the clip, Dear White People cast members debate the merits of sweet versus salty grits before the Season 3 launch date is revealed at the end of the footage.

According to TV Guide, the logline for the upcoming season reads, "New characters, new relationships, new secrets." The series' previous two seasons tackled the lives of Winchester University's students of color and their attempts to feel represented and heard amidst the campus' cultural and racial missteps. Debuting in May 2018, Season 2 particularly focused on the presence of white nationalism at the school, proving that the series isn't afraid to use its platform to tackle timely issues.

Starring Logan Browning as biracial student Samantha, Dear White People was renewed for a third season in June 2018. Back then, creator Justin Simien teased what viewers could expect in the new season, telling IndieWire, "I’ve thought as far as the initial core characters, where their arcs sort of net out, but there are always interesting new characters and people who pop in surprising ways. Winchester’s a fun milieu to tell all kinds of tales.”

Simien also teased that upcoming episodes will explore Season 2's last-minute reveal of the Order of the X, the secret society that recruited both Browning's Sam and DeRon Horton's Lionel. "I think we have to follow up what the Order of X is, what it means, what to continues to mean,” Simien told IndieWire. “The secret thing is something I want to build upon, because it is part of the fabric of the school. I don’t know that I want that to be the focus of next season, but you can’t just run away from that storyline."

Working on the series has also been a personal journey for Browning, who has spoken about being born biracial but growing up with black adoptive parents. "Playing Sam has been such a revelation for me because I've never really dissected my racial identity," she told Cosmopolitan in a June 2019 interview. "It's been a new reckoning, but at the end of the day, my identity isn't based on my racial makeup, whether that's who birthed me or who raised me. It has made me who I am though."

Any clues about Season 3's new twists and characters are under wraps for now, but expect new episodes to carry the fierce dose of intellect you'll need to liven up the sticky August heat. Season 3 of Dear White People premieres on Friday, Aug. 2, on Netflix.