What is America?

“This is America,” written by Childish Gambino, contains themes of gun violence and historical racism towards African Americans in the United States. The song begins with traditional South African music that is quickly interrupted by an abrupt gunshot sound, then the song transitions several times between more typical rap music and gospel choir singing. The song creates new meaning of the African American experience in the United States through the practice of expression and an engagement with a greater conversation about black lives and police brutality through intertextuality.

Historically, African Americans have been denied the chance to tell their stories; instead, media images portray them as caricatures or stereotypes. This song, however, was created, produced by, and features many African American artists thus giving them a platform to tell their uniquely African American experiences in a way that is unprecedented.

In “This is America,” Childish Gambino addresses gun violence and racism against African Americans and other issues most people would rather not talk about. Rap and hip-hop are hugely influential in American pop culture, however, when it comes to defending black lives and talking about police brutality, there is a huge pushback by a lot of Americans including the same fans who listen to Childish Gambino and other rappers. The line “we just want to party, party just for you” is Childish Gambino’s way of pointing out how American society only accepts and admires African Americans when they’re providing some form of entertainment.

The addressing of these issues leads to a practice of expression in identity politics because Childish Gambino introduces new meaning as to what it means to be black in America. African Americans in “This is America” are portrayed as gun-carrying drug dealers, a stereotype that is not a good representation of the diversity within the black community, however Childish Gambino uses these stereotypes in his song to point out their negative and damaging nature. In this way, Childish Gambino is creating the possibility of an identity beyond stereotypes for African Americans.

Childish Gambino also uses intertextuality to clearly establish the song within the very topical conversation about the experiences of African Americans in the United States specifically in terms of police brutality. The song doesn’t mention police brutality by name however uses implicit references such as the line “police be trippin’ up.” This is a reference to how police have shown discrimination towards African Americans that has resulted in police officers using excessive violence where it was not warranted.

Another use of intertextuality is the line “this a celly, that’s a tool.” This is an implicit reference to a case of police brutality from March of 2018; Stephon Clark was shot and killed by police who thought he was armed with a gun (“a tool”) when it was only his phone (“celly”). This could also be a reference to cell phones being tools with which people can combat police brutality because the idea is that most police officers stop unlawful acts if they know they’re being recorded.

The intertextuality within this song situates it in the larger, distinctly American conversation about the status of African Americans as second-class citizens in the United Status and the consequences of this. This song along with other similar media messages demonstrate an active effort on the part of people within the black community to create a positive social change and elevate their status in the United States. The gunshot sound in the beginning of “This is America” almost seems like Childish Gambino’s way of telling people to wake up and stop naively believing that everything is fine in America.