Final Draft

What Is America?

       Singer/songwriter Donald Glover, also known by his stage name Childish Gambino in his song “This is America,” published on May 5, 2018, states that the topics of racsim, discrimination and mistreatment are large issues within the united states. He supports this claim by referencing black males in his song multiple times. Glovers purpose is to get people to notice the mistreatment and discrimination towards African American people in order to raise awareness and put an end to these traumatic events. He portrays an aggressive tone for his audience, which includes the listeners of  this song and others interested in the topic of stopping racism, mistreatment, and discrimination. Glover uses tone and repetitive statements to get his points across.

      One of the main reasons the song and the video were created was to address and raise awareness for the topics of concern. However, he refers to these topics through the video more than he does the song. While Glover is singing in the music video, there is more happening in the background of the video; African Americans causing riots, violence against African Americans by white Americans, African Americans being discriminated against by getting yelled at and abused, and also mistreated by police being unlawful and brutal to them. There are a few scenes where Glover shoots a person and acts like everything is fine. However, right as he shoots, there are white Americans and police running towards the bodies and African Americans running away because they are scared of what will happen. At the end of the video, Donald shows himself being approached by a mob of police and white Americans who begin chasing and harassing him just because he is an African American man. This suggests that by using pathos, an emotional platform can be portrayed by allowing the audience to recognize the terror and neglect that the African Americans were shown during this time. Pathos helps to get the emotional message across to the intended audience.

The emotional tone can be seen as a very angry or aggressive one, but can also be seen as somewhat remorseful in the video. Before this song and video were published, people knew these were serious issues, but did not understand how big of an issue they really were. Once the video was published, it opened many peoples eyes to what was truly happening in the United States and how African Americans were truly being treated by white Americans, law enforcement, and anyone who was not a person of color. The song had an influence when it was released because there was a lot of controversy on what he was portraying in the video. Many people were angered by it, however there were also many who were touched by it.

        A big advantage that Glover has regarding touching on this subject and putting it into a song and video is that he is morally and ethically liked as a person. He has possibly ran into these experiences himself in his own life. Donald wrote the song and made the video because he has seen how much of an issue this has become and how it has affected America. As a singer, songwriter, comedian, and actor, he knew he could make an impact on people if he made a statement because he is a very well known and admired person. Being a famous African American himself, Glover could have been discriminated at some of his public appearances or performances. He has most likely seen and experienced some of these acts himself in his past or present life, which can appeal to the emotional aspect within his work.

      Glover, among other African American singers and songwriters, used music as his platform to voice his opinion on police brutality and violence that he faces in American society. In the music video, he uses entertainment, such as popular dances from social media, as a distraction from what he is actually trying to portray. During this point in the video, he is creating a gateway to show that social media is a distraction from other major problems in the country. In a line of the song, he says, “Girl, you got me dancin’ and dance shake the frame.” The girl in this lyric symbolises the United States and the frame represents the bigger problems. Donald is implying that shaking the frame will disorient what is actually happening and move people’s focus away from reality. In addition, the lyrics, “This is celly, that’s a tool,” are saying that people use cell phones to record and post the abuse, racism, and mistreatment opposed to doing something to stop it: another example of people feeling the need to post these issues instead of acting upon them. This statement could also be implying that the word “celly” is a jail cell which is used to confine African Americans. Given that Glover’s video takes place in a warehouse that looks similar to a prison, this could be talking about the fact that America’s stereotype on African Americans is that they are all criminals and have either been to or are currently in jail.

      Within the video, Glover uses subtle imagery to portray this message as well. In the first scene of the video, he goes behind another African American man seated in a chair. He strikes a pose and holds it as he shoots him. The pose he presents in this scene is that of Jim Crow, a character from minstrel shows from the 1800’s and 1900’s. In these shows, white actors would wear blackface and act as African Americans depicting the stereotype that White Americans assigned to them. During this scene, a bag is placed over the seated man’s head. The bag could be symbolising the distraction and blindness people have towards the issue of racism and discrimanation in the United States. After Glover commits two shootings in the video, he hands off a gun that is wrapped nicely in a red cloth and handled with care. This is showing that America usually values firearms over people’s lives. The last scene in the video was Glover in the warehouse filled with old american cars. This could be him referencing stagnance in America: nothing has changed and people still discriminate against African Americans.

        Glover used tone and repetition to voice his opinion on large issues within the United States. The last verse in the song was, “You just a black man in this world, you just a barcode, you just a black man in this world, drivin’ expensive foreigns, you just a big dawg, I kenneled him in the backyard, no proper life to a dog, for a big dog.” In this, he is saying that African Americans are treated like nothing. Even though some African Americans have made an impact in this country, they are still confined to a life that no person should live,  regardless of skin color or race.

Works cited

Childish Gambino – This is America (official video)

Donald Glover – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

Hidden Meaning Behind Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Explained Insider –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_LIP7qguYw