The country is still buzzing after the release of the music video for “This is America.” It has shaken people and started conversations about ignorance. Donald Glover created a visual roller coaster that requires multiple views to fully see what is going on.
I get it though. The video is packed full of messages and points that you might not all at once. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone thought of a new conceptive choice present. But, even if you don’t like this genre of music, watch the video, listen to the words, and maybe have your kid translate some of it for you because Glover might be right. Maybe this is America.
From the very beginning, the song gives a fun vibe and then we witness Glover shoot the man in the chair, where he firsts says, “this is America.” This is a comment on gun violence and how lightly it is being taken. Afterward, the gun is taken and held carefully in the hands of a child. Not only was the gun cared for more than the man's life, a child holds the gun.
We all have our opinions on guns, but we can all agree that no more people should die and yet, kids can still get guns, and schools can become a battlefield. Even Glover’s lyrics reflect our ideas on guns. He raps, like many others do, about what rap has been shaped into, sex, guns, and money. Guns fascinate us and Glover is making a statement about us protecting guns more than each other.
The video is also a testament to racism and the black experience in America. While dancing, Glover incorporates racially suggestive dance moves and entertained alongside black children. At the very end of the music video, Glover is running from a group of white people, some police officers. This isn’t their first appearance though. After a vibrant dance and the murder of a church choir, Donald Glover dances by cops chasing and beating protestors.
His dancing could be distracting throughout the video, especially if you watch it multiple times and look for different details. The video is a testament to our misdirection. We as a nation are distracted and to see past the dancing and heuristics to see what the world is becoming right in front of them.
Behind his dancing, cars are abandoned, riots raze, and a man kills himself. And Donald Glover is telling us “This is America,” people too distracted by bells and whistles to see the truth.
Some of said that Donald Glover is a genius. I do not know enough for my opinion to matter, but he is an amazing artist and maybe a psychic, showing us our past mistakes and those that are pending.
