Vladyslav Bilyy 1

Professor Fields

English Composition 2

11/05/18

“This is America”: A Moment in History

Never has there been a music video quite as important, as heavy, and as honest as

Childish Gambino’s “This is America”. It erupted onto the internet mere minuets after

Donald Glover’s (Childish Gambino’s real name) Saturday Night Live appearance. It’s

messaging has left many in awe with its cleverness, not just in lyrics, but also in visual

symbolism. Also, as an activist against racism and a man who wears the sometimes

pejorative title “social justice warrior” proudly, this spoke to me. The complexity of the

song is such, that to really grasp the concept in its raw form, one must watch it at least

three times. Once to watch Gambino’s dancing and listen to the lyrics, a second time to

keep your eyes firmly on the background of the piece, and third to put it all together. The

true genius of the music video is that it never gets too convoluted in its message about the

current state of racism in America today.

By just addressing all the visual references, one could fill up an entire notebook

and all their meanings would surely fill two more. The video begins with a peaceful intro,

and Childish Gambino dressed in nothing but a pair of pants. It’s worth mentioning that

the absence of his shirt in this song is intentional just like everything else. It is meant to

make the viewer relate to him and see Gambino as human and not a larger than life

rapper that the hip-hop culture all too often portrays artists as. Its important to appear

relatable here, so the listener can see him as not a rapper but a representation of the

oppressed.
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As the viewer progresses a few seconds, they see a man with a sack over his head

playing a gentle melody on his guitar. Moments later, Gambino assumes a very awkward

pose with a gun and shoots the man in the head as the beat changes to a very heavy

melody that starts with the lyrics “This is America.” After this he hands the gun to a man

off screen, who takes it in a red velvet handkerchief. The artist continues onto the next

frame. In this scene, there are a few massive references. First of all, the strange pose

taken by Gambino as he executes the guitar player is that of the incredibly racist

historical mascot Jim Crow who assumed that very same pose in caricatures. Jim Crow

was a mascot for the racial segregation of black Americans in the late 19th century, and

Jim Crow laws were enforced all the way up to 1965. The second reference in this scene

is a subtler one, in the sense that one has to be quick to catch it. The viewer see’s

Gambino place the firearm in a beautiful red cloth, as the man whom he shot lies lifeless

on the ground only to be dragged off screen by his legs. This is a clear message about

America’s emphasis on caring about firearms over the lives they take.

As it progresses we see Gambino dancing in an erratic fashion with a massive

smile on his face. This is not subtle, and it is almost frightening after what the artist just

did on screen. The attitude here is meant to make it seem like nothing happened, and

serves as a distraction from the truly terrible things happening in the video. The

connection here is that, while these violent things happen in real life, the media tries to

distract Americans from them. Following this eerie madness, the audience reaches what

is considered to be one of the heaviest hitting scenes in a music video chalk-full of them.

Gambino happily dances into a room full of choir singers as the song tries to return to a

peaceful tone, only for him to catch an automatic rifle thrown to him off screen and mow
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Professor Fields

English Composition 2

11/05/18
down every singer. The song changes here again, with the line “This is America”

repeated. The reference here is to the actual massacre in 2015 at the Emanuel African

Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina,

where Dylann Roof, a white supremacist murdered nice African Americans during a

prayer service. Here the artist uses subtle details, like using a choir dressed in religious

garb, to allude to a real life event, versus just using violence to pursue a cheaper message.

From here Gambino resumes his overly happy persona and frantic dancing. This

time however, if audiences keep their eyes off the intended distraction they will notice

fires, and riots happening behind him. The most haunting of the background chaos is the

appearance of a pale horseman, which is a biblical reference to the horsemen of the

apocalypse, the white horsemen (Death) being the first to arrive. The ending of the song

seems to be open to some interpretation. In the final scene, viewers see Childish Gambino

running away from a lynch mob of white faces. Some believe this is meant to be a slave

running through the woods, others the continued existence of white supremacists. Since

the artist is keeping the meaning of his song to himself, viewers may never know. Despite

the obvious messaging of most of the references in the music video, it is truly genius that

there is still a plethora of allusions that are left to the interpretation of the audience.

Lyrically, the piece is just as complex. TheAtiface.com, helped immensely at

picking out and understanding some of the integral parts of the song. During the peaceful

portion of the song in the beginning listeners hear the choir start the song with “yeah,

yeah, yeah, go, go, away” in a hypnotic repetitive way as if the listener should just go
“This is America”: A Moment in History 4

away and not pay close attention because there really isn’t a problem. This further

reiterates the distraction theme of the piece. The peace in the beginning of the song

represents the façade that America tries to be, and post the first gunshot, the fantasy is

broken with the reality, ergo “This is America.”

The next lyric that really caught my attention is Gambino’s rap verse, “Look at

how I’m livin now, police be trippin now, yeah this is America guns in my area, I got the

strap, I gotta carry em”. This is a blatant commentary on police violence in the black

community. It is also a suggestion that he must carry a gun due to this kind of

environment of oppression.

This truly sorrowful and meaningful music video truly did cause massive waves,

however, the only way one can gauge its reception is by looking into the songs accolades.

Billboard.com reports that Childish Gambino’s project hit fifty million views on

YouTube in only a few days, which is a statement about the reach of the video.

Furthermore, According to Forbes.com, “This is America” earned Platinum certification

selling past the requirement of one million by three hundred thousand after only one

month. It is extremely rare for any song or album to sell that much that fast. It also was

number 1 on the Hot 100 in May. We can’t truly find how effective the song is with its

message, but at least we can look at sales figures to get some idea of the reach of his

video.

The concept of using music to spread political and social messages is nothing

new. In fact Matthew Worley author of “Does it threaten the status quo?” Elite

responses to British punk, 1976-1978, states that punk music was the real birth of pure

political protest in music (Worley). Punk’s messaging was raw and blatant and one could
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hear it clear as day in the music. Worley States that punk music was the moment of music

rebellion that challenged the status quo (Worley). As horrible as it is, I think the dark

picture painted by Donald Glover is unfortunately the status quo, and “This is America” a

direct challenge.

While not as in your face, music has always commented on the social and

political environments. In fact, in Michael Eric Dyson’s I Know What I Mean?:

Reflections on Hip-Hop readers can see the history of an even earlier protest in arts in the

black community. The Black Arts Movement in 1965 was a highly influential

organization that held the belief that artists shouldn't consider themselves serious artists

unless they were concerned about the social struggles for self-determination and political

liberty of the people (Dyson). Furthermore, the book reinforced that Childish Gambino

isn’t the first to have such blatant messaging in his songs about important political

matters. In fact, he is the perpetuation of the great “woke” (Social and political

commentators through rap) rappers that came before him. Rappers like, Public Enemy, 2

Pac, Common, Nas, Tribe Called Quest, and so many others fell into the category of

using their platform to make political statements (Dyson). One could make the argument

however, that none have had as clever of a music video in how it almost assumes a

personality of its own.

Some arguments have been made into the sheer violence of the song, and this is

nothing new either, both the complaint and the subject. In Eithne Quinn’s Nuthin’ But a

“G” Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap we hear much the same
“This is America”: A Moment in History 6

complaints about gangsta rap. While some of the music may be more about acquiring

wealth, most is simply about the real life the artist lives and witnesses. For many people

in economically poor neighborhoods, the things people like Ice Cube rapped about was

akin to real life, violence and all (Quinn). Yet, the complaints still came in about the

music glorifying violence or it being needless in the music. It's a misunderstanding on the

listeners (or viewers in the case of Childish Gambino) part, of what the music is really

trying to do.

“This is America” will hold its place in history as a great act of protest amongst

the greats that came before it. Glover is not the first to say something, nor will he be the

last. Yet, he has raised the bar greatly in terms of quality of commentary and the use of

visuals in his music video to express a change that needs to happen in American society.

“This is America” succeeds in using its visual tools, and messaging because of Childish

Gambino’s understanding of the hatred and violence that is being perpetrated against the

black population. It is truly heartwarming to see the success the video has had, because it

means that the message is not only being circulated but also passed on and spread.
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Professor Fields

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11/05/18

References:

“Childish Gambino – This Is America (Official Video).” The Artifice,

1 July 2018, 7 November 2018.

Dyson, Michael Eric. "Track 3) "It's Trendy to Be the Conscious MC": Culture, Rhetoric,
Crack, and the Politics of Rap." Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop. New
York: Basic Civitas, 2007. 89-118. Music Online: African American Music Reference
Database. Web.

Khal. “The Real Meaning Behind Childish Gambino's ‘This Is America.’” Complex,
Complex,
1 June 2018, 7 November 2018.

McIntyre, Hugh. “Childish Gambino's 'This Is America' Has Already Been Certified
Platinum.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine,
31 May 2018, 7 November 2018.

Penrose, Nerisha. “Childish Gambino's Record-Breaking 'This Is America' Video Hits 50

Million Views in Mere Days.” Billboard, Billboard,
9 May 2018, 7 November 2018

Quinn, Eithne. "Chapter 2: Gangsta's Rap - Black Cultural Studies and the Politics of
Representation." Nuthin' But a "G" Thang: The Culture and Commerce of Gangsta Rap.
New York: Columbia UP, 2005. 33-57. Music Online: African American Music
Reference Database. Web.

Street, J., Worley, M., & Wilkinson, D. (2018). ‘Does it threaten the status quo?’ Elite
responses to British punk, 1976–1978. Popular Music, 37(2), 271-289.
doi:10.1017/S026114301800003X