It’s the number one song here in America, as soon as it came out. It is an event. Its title: This is America (This is America, in French). The song is by Childish Gambino. It’s actually the singer name of an actor, screenwriter, producer and director: Donald Glover.
He is one of the heroes of the new Star Wars, which comes out in France on Wednesday, May 23. He also has a series that he writes, directs, produces, in which he acts, which is called Atlantawhich has received excellent reviews and numerous awards. A series on the black youth of Atlanta, both drama and comedy, very poetic.
In short, he is someone of great talent, everyone recognizes him. But on leaving This is Americahe presents a mirror to America. And its reflection divides Americans.
The lyrics refer to the place assigned to blacks in American society, and in particular to black men. I have often spoken to you about it. Here, black men are statistically five times more incarcerated than white men. And there are more than two million people behind bars – in France, it’s 70,000.
Strong images
It’s not so much the lyrics that are controversial, but images from the video clip. It has already been viewed 160 million times in a few days. We see Donald Glover, shirtless, in an abandoned factory. He sways. A lascivious, light dance.
And brutally he pulls out a gun to shoot a handcuffed man, with a bag on his head. It’s a reference to the executions and lynchings of black people in the South for decades. A reference also to a character called Jim Crow, the 19th century racist caricature of the nearly dehumanized black man.
And then Donald Glover returns to the dance, joyful choreography, while in the background we see race riots. A gospel group sings. And again he shoots him with an assault rifle. Blood erupts on the walls. It’s reminiscent of a shooting in a black church in Charleston three years ago, by a white supremacist.
Then he returns to the dance. As if deep down America only agreed to see blacks as the spectacle of their bodiesin a consumer society, without wanting to see the anger and violence rising in the background.
Beyonce had already been controversial
A whole part of the country is saying, “Wait, this song is called This is America, but no this is not America, it is a caricature, provocative“. The disturbing question he poses is whether American society, at its core, is racist.
So Donald Glover is not the first to raise these subjects. Beyonce also made controversy about it. But it’s unexpected that such a political song, with such a controversial music video, should go number one almost instantly. And in the America of the other Donaldthat says something.
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