This is America: Sugarcoating Culture

 (photo source: "Childish Gambino's New 'This Is America' Video Mirrors the Powerful Imagery Found in Donald Glover's 'Atlanta'--Watch." IndieWire. By William Earl. <https://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/childish-gambino-this-is-america-video-donald-glover-1201960849/>. This photo is taken intact from the aforementioned source and is therefore subject to immediate removal upon notice.)

Penny Lai

     In the early May of 2018, musician Childish Gambino, the alter ego of actor Donald Glover, released a new song, "This is America," with an insightful and shocking music video on YouTube. This song and video instantly gained attention and was shared and discussed by millions of people. The song implies how America deals with gun control and racial issues. The chorus is a perfect match for the rap music it sings to; such a combination gives the song remarkable depth.
     Donald Glover is a versatile personality. He first started his acting life through making comedy videos on YouTube in the early 2000s. Although only being in his early 30's, Glover extends his talent into different areas including acting, stand-up comedy, song writing, music production, and even TV show writing and production. In the music and shows he produces, such as the number one hit, "Redbone" from Childish Gambino's last album "Awaken, My Love!," TV series "Atlanta," and his new single "This is America," Glover talks about racial issues in America. He tries to convey the message that although the racial problem is gaining attention over the years, the real problem is still unsolved, a lot of African Americans are still struggling with their identities and livelihoods. And the particular reason why this new single blew about only after a few hours of its release is mainly because of its graphic and insinuating video.

     The lyrics of the song is dark and purposeful and it flows in a joyful rhythm. The lyrics deals with how black community in America is influenced by popular culture, and its belief that being rich and having a good life is the number one priority for one's life. Therefore, for young African Americans, the fast way out of poverty is through selling drugs or other illegal acts, which further develops into gun control problems. Another issue being discussed herein is exactly the gun control issue. Easy access to guns in America has been a big controversy over the years. The problem of gun control also contributes to large-scale casualties when hate crimes are committed towards African Americans. Gun control, for some reason, seems surprisingly difficult for the U.S. government to deal with even though the solution seems pretty easy. The truth is, behind a ban on guns, benefits of gun manufacturers and their business associates are to be affected. This explains why gun control is difficult for the U.S. government and this reveals that the U.S. government values benefits for the few as a priority over the lives of many.

     In the music video, the artist dances with a group of young African Americans in uniform throughout the video. And behind them, the audience can see that there are always horrible things happening in the background. This can be taken as when dealing with serious issues, America uses entertainment to draw away the attention and to sugarcoat the facts. In the video, there are some scenes can be seen as the artist paying his tribute to some tragedies happened in the past years, such as the Charleston Church Shooting in 2015 and the Stephon Clark incident in the early 2018. Glover is not shy of acting out shooting and violence in the video, which makes the catchy and joyful rhythm seem very contradictory to what they promise. This also leaves the audiences with an even deeper impression.

     Some people are not pleased with how Glover portraits black culture in his lyrics and video. Because some think that Glover is accusing some black creators of enhancing the stereotypes of African Americans by having associations with drugs, guns, and violence. No matter what one might think this music video is trying to convey, there is no doubt that Glover forced the world to face this never-ending problem in America and rips open the ugly wound that no one wants to be reminded of with a mere four-minute video.