Other characters

The music video for “This is America” by Childish Gambino features a cast entirely made up of black people, including Childish Gambino himself. This underlines the video’s themes. 

The black school children that dance with him are also a central part of the music video. They are dressed in outfits that resemble school uniforms, which, in the context of the video, brings to mind school shootings in the United States. They are joyously dancing African dances and, like Gambino, they do not react to the chaos around them. 

When Gambino makes a gun gesture with his hands, the students’ expressions quickly turn horrified and they run away from him (02:43), which is another hint to the topic of school shootings. 

The school children can also be seen carefully handling Gambino’s guns after each shooting and wr...