Childish Gambino - This is America

Out of the darkness and in the nick of time, Childish Gambino rescues us and lets us know that the struggles and strife of being Black in America are not going unnoticed by the famous like Kanye would like for us to think. This is America is not only a lyrical masterpiece describing the plights in the United States, the video is artfully crafted by Hiro Murai and Donald Glover himself to jolt and awaken emotions on the topic.

What can initially be viewed as a visually confusing and chaotic piece, each nuance gives meaning to being Black in America. The lyrics say: we just want to party/ party just for you/ we just want this money/ money just for you, along with the images of a group of kids dancing alludes to the shucking and jiving that has allowed Black people to create some form of “success” since minstrelsy began. 

However, in the background, all sorts of anarchy are occurring. People are scattering and jumping to their deaths, and the images of police cars burning likely alludes to the riots of the Black Lives Matter marches. The dancing could represent one (or all) of three different ideas: 1) The children and Gambino all are clueless about the drama around them, 2) They are all dancing to distract themselves from the trauma of their situations, or 3) they are dancing for the camera or for social media video and know their dancing is a distraction or an invisibility cloak, seeing as those who don’t seem threatening will survive; none of the children were killed in the video, so whether you call this dancing cooning or surviving, it's a strategy for dealing with death.

This is America

Don't catch you slippin' up

Don't catch you slippin' up

Look what I'm whippin' up

As his hit “Redbone” when Gambino warns us to “stay woke,” the phrase “don’t catch you slippin up” is a warning of its own. It can refer to how little Black lives are worth these days in America. When discussing police brutality, many of the murders occur when the victim made incredibly minor or no mistakes at all. In March when Stephon Clark was killed while trying to explain to police that he only had a cellphone in his hand, the police believed otherwise – alluded to in the song with the lines “this is my celly/ that’s a tool.” Apparently, cell phones are weapons now, as “tool” is slang for a gun or pistol. “Slippin up” could literally lead to the end of a Black person’s life in the America that we know. And the lines “look how I’m livin now/ police be trippin now” continues the explicit reference to that same brutality.

Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)

Guns in my area (word, my area)

I got the strap (ayy, ayy)

I gotta carry 'em

Beyond the deaths of Black people in America, death by gun violence is also an important trope played out in the music video. Whether the guns belong to the police, terrorists who commit terrorist acts, or those who carry weapons for protection, guns are a mainstay of everyday life now in America and it makes life a bit scarier than ever before. American culture is becoming symbolic with gun culture. In the beginning of the video, we see Gambino shoot a hooded man in the back of the head and walk away as if he is desensitized to the act of killing especially gun death that occurs on as the result of American politics. And later we see him dance in to massacre a small choir with an AK-47, alluding to the Charleston church shooting – he once again walks away, as easily and freely as Dylan Roof did. Even moreso, each gun after it is used to murder is treated with delicacy and care, much more than can be said for the bodies of the victims that are dragged from the frame.

Many Black Americans, specifically, carry firearms for protection on a day-to-day basis. Although this may seem glorified by the culture of music we are surrounded by, it is a harsh reality for many. Gambino is alluding to America’s persistence on refusing to tighten gun control laws and necessitating gun ownership. However, people seem to remain stubborn and feel the need to carry firearms.

You just a Black man in this world

You just a barcode, ayy

You just a Black man in this world

Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy

All the cars in the video were old, unlike what we are used to with other rap music videos. The makes and models are mid to early 90s, if not 80s cars. This speaks to the whole idea that a fair number of Americans aren't driving new whips; many people are pushing boxy cars. And for those who exercise the stereotypes of buying unnecessary luxuries like foreign cars, this mentality depreciates their worth to nothing but a ‘barcode’ for corporations to market from.

In the end, still nigga. And if anyone is too blinded to see that, I encourage you to watch the video again, especially the last few seconds of it, when Childish Gambino ended up running in what seems to be a cycle that never ends.