Neika Hobbs, Dear White People

Neika Hobbs (Nia Long)

In episode 3, regular male character Troy, who was campaigning for student body president at Winchester University, was introduced to Neika Hobbs, an African American Studies professor and student body liaison, and her partner, Monique. Neika claimed she and her partner didn’t want to get married because “we want to enjoy our love pure and untouched by heteronormative culture”.

Neika Hobbs and her fiancé Monique. Dear White People / Netflix

A few scenes later, it turned out Neika had been having an affair with Troy for 2 years. They had sex and spent the night together and when almost caught by a student the next morning, in between various excuses Troy added “she’s a lesbian”. At the end of the episode, Troy received a video of him having sex with Neika.

Neika and Troy, episode 3. Dear White People / Netflix

Neika and Monique appeared again in episode 8 where they ran into Troy and his roommate at a bar. After Neika blatantly flirted with Troy, they left and Troy talked about it with his roommate:

“But she’s faculty! And she has a fiance! And she’s gay!”
Troy: “No she’s not when she’s with me”

Neika appeared again in episode 9 at a fundraiser, telling Troy that she and Monique set a date for the wedding and adding that was “what a grown up relationship looked like”.

Neika is a minor guest character, who only appeared in 3 episodes, and although she was repeatedly referred to as a lesbian (and she is one of the few black lesbians on TV), her screen-time  was about her affair with a man.

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Appearances:

• 3 episodes.

Female love interests:

• Monique (Zee James, guest, 2 episodes, off-screen relationship)

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

Male love interests:

• Troy Fairbanks (Brandon P. Bell, regular, 10 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Male love interest after being identified as a lesbian? Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.