This is America: Oppression in America in Glover’s Music Video
A common topic we see in our society is the debate of gun control in America. It has been an ongoing argument due to the mass of shootings in schools, churches, nightclubs, etc. The number of shootings has only been increasing over the years. The music video, “This is America” is written by Childish Gambino or else known as Donald Glover. This music video gives you a lot to interpret. The music is very catchy while the lyrics speak out on how our culture in blind when it comes to the prevalence of gun violence. Through a rhetorical analysis of Childish Gambino’s song “This is America,” he is guiding our attention to an ongoing situation that we tend to do nothing about if it doesn’t directly involve us.
In the music video, Gambino keeps the setting an empty warehouse. You start off seeing an African American man walk to an empty chair and guitar. As he sits and starts playing the guitar the camera pans to Gambino. Gambino starts to dance and eventually reaches the man sitting in the chair but now the man has a bag on his head and the guitar is no longer in his hands. Gambino soon pulls out a gun from his back pocket and shoots the man in the chair in a pose that looks like Jim Crow; a racist theatre persona started in the 1830s. Then a man reaches out with a red rag to retrieve the gun from Gambino’s hand. This symbolizes “red” (Republican) politicians, in particular, seem to value their gun rights more than lives lost. Gambino is then joined by school children dancing joyously. Gambino continuously builds the music video to show the audience what our culture struggles with seeing. This dancing that continues to happen with Gambino and the school children is used as a focal point to show how social media blinds us from the real problems by feeding us entertainment and useless trends.
Gambino released this music video in May of 2018. When asked why he made “This is America,” he responded saying “I just wanted to make, you know, a good song. Something people could play on Fourth of July.” Glover’s music video tells a history of black oppression in America (from Jim Crow to police brutality) and depicts America’s false promise of freedom. The idea of “This Is America” being an anthem for the Fourth of July, a holiday celebrating America and its values, only makes the lyrics and video’s imagery more urgent.
