<em>Atlanta</em> Confronts the Spectacle of White Ignorance

. So proclaims a drawling, drunk white man to his Black fishing buddy in the opening scene of ’s long-awaited third season. They sit in a small skiff floating on a lake at night. The vibes are eerie. The pair, dressed almost identically, are unfamiliar to viewers and are left unnamed. The show’s central cast, led by the cash-strapped and fumbling Earn (played by creator Donald Glover), is nowhere in sight. The plot, in this scene and for most of since its first episodes: Race is a performance, one as horrifying as it is hilarious. “With enough blood and money,” the anonymous man says, “anyone can be white. It’s always been that way.”