Soundtrack to Impact, Vol. 6 :This Is America: The Cost of Looking Away
The Song
Artist(s): Childish Gambino
Release date: 2018
One of the most controversial songs of 2018 ran under four minutes and six seconds. “This Is America” plays like a test of whether society would unplug from racism on repeat to tune in to the reality of what goes on in front of our eyes. Donald Glover, performing as Childish Gambino, released both the song and its music video on the same night in May 2018. Within 48 hours it ignited national discourse that spanned from May all the way to the Grammys held the following year. Discourse over race, over guns, over what deserves our attention and what we allow ourselves to remain ignorant to. Because after all, ignorance is bliss, right? Wrong. And the discourse wasn’t a side effect: it was the whole message in itself.
It’s nearly impossible to discuss “This Is America” without discussing the music video that accompanied the late-night drop. The video opens calmly with a Black man, unbothered, taking a seat and joyfully playing the guitar. Gambino then approaches him from behind a pillar, dancing to the song's instrumental expressively with the exaggerated body movements and facial expressions resembling that of a Jim Crow-era minstrel caricature—a caricature once used to mock and diminish Black Americans for White amusement. Gambino then shoots him, and a gunshot echoes the soundtrack. The title lyric, “This Is America," lands on-screen the moment the body hits the floor, and people quickly rush to conceal both the weapon and the body before viewers can completely comprehend what happened. The symbolism in the introduction alone is that it doesn’t matter whether you appear to be a threat or not. The reality is in America, to be Black is to have a target on your back, even if you are simply minding your business.
Minutes later, after chaos ensues in the background, the scene then changes to a Black choir rejoicing, a visual most church-going African Americans are familiar with. Gambino again prances into the frame. He joins them in their celebratory dancing until his face drops, almost in realization. He then turns to open fire on the choir with an assault rifle, killing all ten in a split second without a single flinch or change in his expression. The resemblance to the 2015 Charleston church massacre, where nine Black church members were murdered during Bible study, was almost uncanny. As if Black joy and Black unity were threatening enough to be assassinated without reason. Again, the gun is concealed tenderly, and chaos erupts into riots with clear communal outrage overtaking the background.
Gambino resumes dancing. This is the part most viewers remember, and the harsh reality of America the song warns us about. The dance is choreographed from a collection of viral-ready dance moves positioned in front of burning cars, masked individuals, and public turmoil. The joy dominates viewers' attention while chaos lurks closely behind, mirroring what eventually follows most hate crimes in this country.The American news cycle moving on from deaths in the Black community in favor of whatever trend follows next, before a casket even closes.
But what separates this from “just” a song is that rather than only describing the injustice, it sparks the exact behavior from Black America that it’s critiquing. Momentary outrage that becomes easily distracted by hype and trends. This is the difference between an analysis and calculated activism: an analysis only tells you what’s wrong and why, while this song forces viewers to face themselves and question whether they’d remain a part of the problem or become the solution.
“This Is America” was digested varyingly amongst viewers, with the disagreement becoming a large part of its impact. Some felt the imagery stepped out of bounds, recycling real trauma for artistic effect. Others felt it hit the nail on the head, exacting the reality that Black Americans face day to day. Nonetheless, the song wasn’t built for consensus, it was built to make avoidance harder to achieve.
At the 2019 Grammy’s, “This Is America” won awards for record of the year, song of the year, best rap/sung performance, and best music video. A song based on mass shootings, massacres, and minstrelsy became the most praised song of 2018. The contradiction itself is strangely the exact point Gambino was making. Real activism doesn’t always ask you to pick up a picket sign and storm the streets or riot the storefronts. Sometimes it asks you to pay attention to harsh realities that are easier to conceal than confront and use your gift to expose them.