Believing in the fair treatment of others and advocating for the disenfranchised does not get diluted because you have entered into a relationship with someone of a different race. It does not mean that you love your black parents any less. It does not mean that you care any less about how other people who look like you get treated. Being black in America and being in love with a non-black person does not make you immune to the negative effects of race. So why the social drag and backlash for “Woke” rapper, who was being commended and praise just two seconds ago?
Donald Glover, popularly known by his rap ego, Childish Gambino released a “woke” social commentary that had the entire Internet consciously examining the juxtapositions of firearms and black males, tragedy and complacency. His Video for new song This is America displayed intentional acts of violence as the world around just keeps on moving. There are references to torture, Jim Crow, Parkland, fear, and society’s uncanny ability to casually move on after tragedy has momentarily rocked our world. This can be seen as the camera briefly pans across a group of cell phone users tapping and swiping their screens as calamity persists around them.
The Youtube analysts came in full force with theories, and conspiracies about the seen and unnoticed details of the most “woke” music video trending on all social media fronts, including mainstream America news outlets. Donald Glover was introduced to those who had not heard of Childish Gambino as not just any music and television treasure but a voice for the lynched and forgotten. So, why in the world are people suddenly looking a Glover with a tilted head and squinty eye?
Mr. Gambino is expecting a baby with his long time partner, who happens to be white. 2018 has not made some of us any more forward thinking. This young man nearly shook up all of the Social Media-verse with a four-minute video and now some are turning on him because he is in an interracial relationship. Should that matter? Some say, it absolutely matters. It turns out that you might not be able to be pro-black if you date outside of your race. This is untrue.
When you are black in America, you are simply Black in America. It may read like a puzzle to some, but to put it in an oversized nutshell. There are experiences that black people share whether they were born with silver spoons or wooden spatulas. The looks a black person may receive after the sun has set, walking in an affluent neighborhood, trying to buy prom outfits at an upscale department store or maybe they are just waiting in a coffee shop trying to close a deal. The black experience is not a monolith, but 99% know what race based discrimination feels like. It stings. It stings until it doesn’t and for some that sting becomes numb. For others that sting burns until the pain can no longer be contained, and they are labeled Angry. That anger does not fade because you fall in love with a white woman or decide to explore romance outside of your race. You do not become any less black for producing mixed race children. Black is still black in America.