If you haven't been living under a rock the past few weeks, then you have more than likely seen the wildly viral and controversial new Childish Gambino video entitled 'This is America' (and if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it here). The video features Donald Glover (Gambino's given name), along with several African-American teens in school uniforms dancing throughout chaotic scenes of violence and corruption, essentially providing a distraction from what's happening around them.

While this video does feature excellent choreography and pairs very well with the undeniably catchy song, what the media is really freaking out about are the social and political messages interwoven between flashy and somewhat odd dance moves. There are countless interpretations being thrown around several social platforms as to what exactly the artistic elements in the video aim to depict.

One of the most popular interpretations is that of Glover's poses and dance moves' assimilation to Jim Crow images, which in relation to the title immediately introduces the continued themes of segregation between white and black people in the United States.

This same pose is directly followed by Glover shooting a black man (whom many have identified as bearing resemblance to Trayvon Martin's father) in the back of the head, resulting in the body being carelessly dragged away while the gun is carefully carried offscreen in a red cloth--likely an allusion to "red" America's tendency to value guns and gun legalities above human life.

All of these interpretations occur within the first minute of the video, and I didn't even cover everything. Thus, it's no wonder that the media is losing their mind over what is, in my opinion, an artistic masterpiece that utilizes the channels of music and pop culture in the best way possible.

Arguably the ultimate and most apparent theme of this video is that despite what society says is problematic, America will take distraction after distraction to ignore real problems and avoid taking action against those problems. The first time I watched the video, I didn't even realize what was happening in the background because I was too busy analyzing Glover's dance moves, which is an absolutely perfect example of America's social and political ignorance.

I believe that everyone needs to see this video. Despite the depictions of gun violence and drug use, everyone should have their own ignorance brought to their attention. The video even addresses our tendency as a society to look at life through a screen--perhaps even knowing in our hearts that racial, political, and social wrongs are committed every day--and become numbed and reactionless to the world around us.

As a white woman living in Kentucky (a well-known "red" or conservative state), I see examples of themes presented in 'This Is America' such as gun culture and racial bias/stereotyping on a daily basis. If any of the negative respondents to this video who claim that it exaggerates or misinterprets the reality of our history and society walked into a public high school in my hometown, even they couldn't deny that racism and gun violence are HUGE issues and that Glover's depiction is an accurate one.