This Is America: A Critical Look at Racial Inequality - Essay Sample

"This is America' new song is inspiring various commentaries on their significance. Donald Glover, otherwise known as Childish Gambino, released the intense music video for "This Is America" on May 5 and shocked the American individuals. It was a severely precise depiction of what life in America is for individuals of color as a racial minority (Simmons 2018).

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Various commentators such as NPR and the Atlantic have focused on the way that the ensemble scene remembers the Charleston, South Carolina’s 2015 shooting (Grogan 2019). Dylann Roof, a self-declared racial oppressor who was radicalized by Trayvon Martin’s shooting and reports of "black on white bad behavior," executed nine individuals of color during a service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. As depicted by the song, "This is America," ten members of the ensemble are shot, luckily, there was one survivor.

Though provocative and incredibly audacious, the video justly brings to light the certified thought of life in America for some, who still carry on with their life in fear while the rest of the world sweeps social issues such as racial gun savagery and capitalism away from plain view, smiling and moving endlessly from the veritable problems that face a still segregated, vicious America.

Glover's presentation as Gambino was astounding with the persuading symbolism regarding pervasive Jim Crow-like racial viciousness that still occurs in America (Cookney & Fairclough 2018). This happened inside the first 50 seconds of the video when Gambino struck a remarkable Jim Crow pose, shooting a pack headed guitarist in the back of the head. Other surprising discourse includes the understanding that kids will follow all that others may do, especially those with social effects.

Taking everything into account, the assemblage scene is similar to the earlier piece, aimed at juxtaposing positive as well as happy facets of African American culture with the savagery surrounding and impacting the black society (Cookney & Fairclough 2018). Roof and other racial oppressors may be a bit of this fierceness, yet the risk is progressively pervasive and increasingly insidious.

As opposed to putting the focus on one sad event, I acknowledge this scene is purposely ambiguous as an invitation of a wider scope of interpretations—for instance, three inside and out various interpretations, among numerous various possibilities.

Black people are being criticized (if you interpret Glover's character as a representation of minorities, which I do not) whose viciousness fails to sufficiently discriminate those who may hurt them as well as the ones that endeavour to have righteous existences, recollecting for their societies (Supratman & Wahyudin 2019).

The Black community represented by the church appears to be criticized for having their main focus on material things at a time when the society, in general, is being assaulted and oppressed.

America is under criticism (if you unravel Gambino’s character as America’s representation) for not esteeming ethnic minorities, regardless, when lives are righteous as well as innocent, just as it has been represented through their participation in church ensemble (LeMesurier 2020).

Which among these, assuming there is, are right? To further elaborate, which among these connotations did Glover plan to pass on? It is luring asking this query, and afterwards endeavour to provide an answer to it, yet I think it is a wrong question (Cookney & Fairclough 2018). Just as it has been the circumstance with unclear incentives, what the reader thinks is going on has significantly a lot that is related to their experience as well as beliefs compared to the incentive itself (Simmons 2018).

There is not enough reason for requesting what Glover arranged the section to depict. If he wanted to highlight a story that is not ambiguous, he was in a better position to do so. The vague symbols are a suggestion that he required various interpretations.

Maybe he required individuals to conduct an individual reflection on the affiliation between religion and viciousness. Perhaps he expected to invite discourse. Perhaps he just required individuals to watch his video to comprehend it repeatedly. Regardless, none of the thoughts here is the correct answer. The question remains to be whether the watcher understands. Regardless, some specific situations – the song’s name as well as the video and the lyrics – that seem to provide a suggestion that some understandings might be precise and honest than others.

“This is America’ - is an evaluation of the US, and it might look understandable to Americans. Glover’s music has some South African inspirations, and the dress seems socially ambiguous. The title provides significant information.

Individuals of color are the centre focus. The "Black" word stands out as a racial signifier in the song as it appears 28 times. Everything aside from among those instances, it interpreted as "Black men." If this is somewhat misrepresented, consider how typical it remains to be for white Americans to declare that race is not significant. Our focus should remain on shared mankind, even as individuals of shading and ladies continue experiencing unproportioned access to instruction, therapeutic services, and justice (Montgomery 2019).

In the assembly scene, similar to the prior scenes, Glover has a self-assurance as well as impetuous character. He kills numerous individuals (tallying the ensemble), and a short time later dances in front of the camera, apparently calm and relaxed.

On a demanding level, it is tough to fathom the juxtaposition poised by savagery as well as dances. I trust the character of Glover is normal and seeks to represent the US. Because of that, Glover (or non-white individuals) is not the one killing. It is not white men (Simmons, 2018). It is simply the country. It is America, with a deep history of racism and modern-day disinterest in ethnic minorities, taking the lives of individuals of color, even guiltless, church-going black individuals, and smiles as he dances, the savagery was disgraceful of notice (Braziel 2020).

Bits of this vehemence take the kind of self-perceived racial oppressors anyway. Another ruthlessness is general — schools that are racially biased, racial segregation low-pay housing, which isolates the ones living in neediness, subcultures that commend guns, and value them highly. This systemic viciousness could be as deadly as such. I trust it is a bit of Glover's evaluation.

To me, the church means the following:

•America is criticized for failing to value the lives of black people, despite most of them being innocent.

• The pro-gun hall is under criticism for allowing easy accessibility of guns, and this sends a sign that black people are not safe anywhere they go, leave alone in a church.
• It is a clear observation that viciousness is inconsistent. A man arriving at an assembly without clothes might be searching for God or even somewhere to stay. In any case, he could as well be searching for reprisal.
• Americans seem substance to consume mainstream society (as signified by the ensemble as well as his dance moves) while individuals (individuals of black color) near them get killed.

Again, it is not my assumption that the happenings above are definitive. What the watcher or peruser thinks is going on is directly related to their experience and opinions compared to the incentive itself. I am undependable from this propensity. Readers understand that the composition of my work will focus on restorative response to injustice acts as well as racial justices (Grogan 2019). I understand this work as rather my truth as well as a reality.

So, Americans should think about what they are saying, anyway doing around the adolescent, because they hold the future for what will befall our nation. Unmistakably artistic vision may be the most convincing medium to interface with a horde of individuals to get a reasonable message across, and Glover is doing great by his social ability to enlighten and spark a discussion about social issues that have been kept separate from the sight of American life for superficial capitalism.

The artistic decision of Glover to investigate social issues as politically accused as this one of boldness and sincerity allows for America to see the disgusting thought of systemic issues that have since quite a while back tortured our country yet been covered with the pleasing distractions of social trends such as move fads (Cookney & Fairclough 2018). This numbness leads to an obliviousness about the pressing concerns of issues such as racial mercilessness and gun viciousness that persists on far out of America's social surface. The limit of Glover to shed an increasingly splendid, progressively intense light on issues of the ruthlessness of life in America for African Americans, especially non-white individuals, honestly takes a touch of slack of the power that craftsmanship has in saying something and making a viable response from a colossal group (Cookney & Fairclough 2018).

The artistry of this music video shows what work artistry has in establishing a strong voice individual can identify with spark discussion and prompt progressive awareness and action. Glover serves as just a distraction for what is truly going on in the video — racial savagery and disadvantageous capitalism — and that is the point. With the amazing enormous number of shifting scenes in "This Is America," we see the intensity of artistic visual representation instead of passionate, however awkward, analysis about racial viciousness on social media in America (Cookney & Fairclough 2018). The artistry is a medium wherein anyone can construe a similarly strong message if the vision was executed well — Glover has succeeded.

Some have said this is hostile to the publicity that fosters bloodshed. Nonetheless, this is the issue that Glover is passing on in his video. Individuals are overlooking all of what is out of sight and just focusing on what's sometimes improperly in the cutting edge of discussion. The translation that this video is purposeful publicity and encourages viciousness is a deficient and incorrect understanding of the craftsmanship as a whole element, which is the issue that America faces.

Works Cited

Braziel, Whitley. Criminalizing Culture: Black Masculinity in the Era of Mass Incarceration. Diss. 2020.

Cookney, D. J., and K. Fairclough. "Childish Gambino: This is America uses music and dance to expose society’s dark underbelly." The Conversation (2018).

Grogan, Bailey E. This Is America: Symbolism and Imagery in the Musical Work of Childish Gambino. California State University, Long Beach, 2019. http://search.proquest.com/openview/f5305f43aa8000986d08d79c5284dffd/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=51922&diss=y

LeMesurier, Jennifer Lin. "Winking at Excess: Racist Kinesiologies in Childish Gambino's "This Is America." Rhetoric Society Quarterly 50.2 (2020): 139-151. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02773945.2020.1725615

Montgomery, William Francis. "Analysis and Utilization of Hip-Hop Techniques in Classical Music." (2019). https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/4946/

Simmons, Kimberly Eison. "Race and Racialized Experiences in Childish Gambino's "This is America." Anthropology Now 10.2 (2018): 112-115. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19428200.2018.1494462