Donald Glover, commonly known as Childish Gambino, released a music video titled This Is America, where he creatively portrays many violent and often overlooked issues taking place in the United States. Since the release of this video, many people have been trying to decipher the multiple messages embedded within this piece of art. Here is a list of theories taken from the video along with a link to view it.
1. The gun violence commentary
This part of the video take place at 0:55. After Gambino shoots a man in the back of the head, the gun is placed in a red cloth and carried away by a man dressed very nicely. While this is happening, the corpse of the man is dragged off by two men carelessly. This can be seen as a representation that many people in the U.S. care more about guns than the lives lost from them, such as the Douglas school shooting or the people that fall victim to police brutality daily.
2. The reference to Jim Crow
Right before the instance mentioned above, Childish Gambino makes an awkward body movement before shooting a black man with a cloth over his head. His stance resembles the well known performance titled "Jump Jim Crow", which depicted a white man dressed up and making fun of a disabled African American. He continues to do these dances and movements throughout the video.
3. The charleston shooting imagery
In 2015, white supremacist Dylan Roof murdered nine African American in hopes of starting a race war. Immediately after this crime, people were claiming that Roof suffered from a mental illness and did not believe he was trying to start a race war. He was then captured unharmed. In the scene of the music video, Childish Gambino dances into a room of an all black choir then quickly turns to shoot all of them. Right after the shooting, people in the background start running in, and Gambino walks away unharmed.
4. Revelations 6:8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. - Revelations 6:8
In this scene, death is depicted as the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper is riding a white horse, which is followed by a police car. The police assumed the position of Hell in the Bible verse. This is to be looked at as police brutality in America. While this is taking place, Childish Gambino is dancing with a group of kids who seem to notice nothing that is going on in the background. This shows that youth is often blinded by the issues in society by pop culture. It can also be interpreted that many white people want appropriate black culture, but not stand up to the racial injustices that they face.
5. Recording police brutality
The lyric that is playing during this scene says, "this is a celly, that's a tool." Although police brutality is extremely unfair and heartless, we have the power of our cell phone at our fingertips. Our cell phones can be used as a "tool" to expose the truths of the injustices placed by police.
6. The reference to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting
At 2:44 in the video, seventeen seconds of silence is observed in respect to the seventeen lives lost during the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. There is also seventeen kids in school uniforms carrying the guns off, dragging a body off, holding their phones, walking behind Gambino, dancing, and gethering around the car.
7. The recent lynching in Atlanta
Near the end of the video, the scene pans out to what resembles Childish Gambino being lynched. On April 27 of this year, there was a black man found hanging from a bridge in Atlanta. This is proof of the racism still living in the United States.
8. Covering up the importance of suicide
What many people did not notice during the video, was the quick suicide taking place in the background. During another one of their dances, a man jumps off of the ledge in the background. Mental health is not taken as seriously as it should be, and suicide is quickly forgotten and overlooked.
9. The plight to overcome racism
In the last scene of the video, Childish Gambino is being chased through a dark room. This is an example of white supremacists obsession with black men and trying to gain power over them. It also resembles a scene in the movie Get Out, which tackles racism in the U.S.
Donald Glover did an extremely good job on this video by acknowledging the overlooked racism and social issues in America today. This is a video that can be broken down and analyzed in many different ways, but it still carries a strong message. Please take the time to view this video and keep in mind this is a reality that many people have to face on a daily basis.
