Childish Gambino’s Anti-Blackness Explained 

I remember his anti blackness for years in fact almost the entire cast/crew member of ATL have been involved in some anti black behavior. Brian tyree Henry spreading false info on the ATL trap museum on the kelly clarkson show with a very elitist, anti black tone, lakeith tone deaf comments on takeoff’s murder, Zazie Beetz openly playing stagecoach Mary in the harder they fall the list is endless I always said shows like ATL and insecure are for folks who grew up being token black friends and grew up to have resentment for inner city black people

If a BW said anything like what he said on stage about her "preferences" she would've been exiled with no question.

It was the "skip, skip, skip" for me 🤣

I really like the cadence of your speech. It’s such a lull like I feel more relaxed & able to focus on what you’re saying without losing focus which is something I’m prone to like maybe it’s neutralizing the hyperactive adhd side of my adhd/autistic mind because of this polarization. You’re quite insightful & I have been enjoying your videos even though I’m a fairly new subscriber.

I don't even get the vibe he is into light skin black women or black women of any skin tone so I think the redbone song is pandering. Based on dating history he seems to prefer Asian/white women.

Ew his 2012 stand up comedy 🤮

I’ve never liked him, I remember some anti-black things he’s said/done previously so I’m glad you made this. He’s a fool. I love your channel! 👍🏿🙌🏿

I personally think it's a weak point to investigate what childhood crush brole who's heart to justify their mysogyny. The feeling of superiority men have for women don't always stems from being victimised themselves and seeking revenge. They just observe there is a class of people below them, that you can get away with disrespecting

If anyone asks why I don’t like that man (ppl are always surprised??) I’m referring them to this video

So many African American men do the same thing. I don't understand why he's being singled out.

I like Donald Glover as an artist a lot, but his anti-blackness is such a turn off. I watched his earliest stand up and was shocked he became aroused from a white woman calling him the Nword. I could tell from that alone he has a lot of internalized racism. I don't believe his choice to marry a White woman was purely out of love, people choose their romantic partners for all kinds of reasons, many of which can be toxic. I think he sees a white partner as a sign that ''he's made it". I was also disappointed to see his disrespect towards Black women, especially since Black women have done a lot for Black men historically and currently. It's such a shame and sets a very bad example for young Black men who follow him. It's also worth noting that the only consistent love interest he has on Atlanta is a light-skinned, mixed Black woman. I really hope he changes and comes to term with this, but he doesn't seem to care now that he's a major star.

I'm African and I liked African American shows but withdrew over the years because of the portrayal of black women. It's constant, the black women have to be ghetto-minded (nothing wrong with being poor but everything wrong with that type of mentality) and problematic. You must remember, the majority of people in the world are Asians, they believe in putting their best foot forward and would never constantly portray themselves poorly. White women are already the standard of beauty throughout the world, black African women are constantly portrayed as beautiful, stupid, timid, hardworking and impoverished. I would love AA to shift from dipicting, particularly, dark skinned women so poorly. It's making everyone in the world look at us with suspicion and is spreading prejudice about us while they make money from damaging our image.

I need him to leave BW out of his new shows and ALL future project. I don't care WHO he's with, HE NEEDS THERAPY!

Interesting point Julian, did not know his history as a witness SURVIVOR. I would like to think some of it is a persona but to many patterns alight. Anti black and colorist in this day and age? When your brand is built on black identity politics? Seem disorienting and inconsistent... Thanks for sharing, now I'm more aware.

Wow I knew Childish Gambino was anti-Black but I didn't know he took it too far especially when it comes to Black women. Of course I am going to rewatch the video again 😭 cause I watch the video lateeeeee but I know you definitely did your research purrrrrrrr

This was another great video. I won’t call myself a fan of Donald Glover himself but I really enjoyed ATLANTA. To me I liked how it showed multifaceted representation of Black men: Ern (DG-awkward Black boy/geek), Paperboy (Brian Tyree Henry-hustler turned rapper), and Darius (LaKeith-alternative, creative free spirit). Each man showed different aspects of themselves and grew over the seasons. Sadly, Black women’s depiction wasn’t as well crafted except for Van since she was a principle character. With that being said I do feel DG has expressed anti-Black beliefs over the years and I feel he has internalized these beliefs. It’s weird that he joked about dating the “Black women” of other races but dislike actual Black women smh. Nevertheless, I don’t want to write him off completely because I feel he may change in the future.

The wild thing is Donald’s anti-blackness and specifically misogynoir will not impact his reputation or career. Black men can be pro-black all the way to extremely anti-black and still be accepted and successful. It says a lot. The fact he used the word “afraid” to regard his relationship with Black women TO ME means he’s more afraid of confronting his discomfort and even disdain towards Black women. His infamous Atlanta episode is such an offensive, horrible and racist portrayal about Black women and their attitude towards Black men dating white women.

He's so cringe. I went into this video knowing about the race play quote and that was enough for me... But that Atlanta clip is insane. I was gonna get around to watching the show but now I think it's gonna be a firm never from me. As a black woman I didn't feel like that was comedic at all???

you ate DOWN with this one.

First time viewer. Good stuff! Got here through SD Signifier.

That was the cutest little “hey” in the beginning of the video lol🥹

Ty for making this Love the way u express urself

I wonder if people miss the anti blackness in his music because it isn't like gangsta rap "I wanna light skin thick redbone" type shit

I’m always going to have love for Gambino . “Coming into his blackness “ . I get what you’re saying but I’d much rather someone come into their blackness WHILE they’re still relevant rather than turn their back on us completely, like SOOO many successful black artists do . This also came out at a time when we were literally being targeted by EVERYONE. You can’t be black yourself and “pander” to the pro black narrative it’s what he always was , whether he distanced himself or not . And looking at who he was and knowing my culture and how we alienate our own , you can’t expect someone that you exclude from the culture to come to your rescue and defend you when you were NEVER there to defend them . He should be at the center of the culture for his diversity but instead we’re throwing him away AGAIN for being “cringe” and uplifting serial killer rappers as the pinnacle of blackness . I respect everyone’s opinions but we really need to do better and drop the whole “weirdo” sh** . Cause tbh that’s kinda pandering to white people tbh . Cause all they see is we don’t like him and they shouldn’t either

26:40 I think argument that blames all of this on his experiences as an “awkward black boy” are partially invalid because that still doesn’t justify self hate. I grew up the awkward/weird black girl and got rejected- sometimes even violated by (black) men but that doesn’t change the fact that I’d still date one and still have crushes on them. I still desire a connection with my racial/ethnic group and would prefer to be around them, just a more open-minded kind. It’s also invalid when you consider the fact that white/Asian/non-black women probably rejected him as well but he still desires them, possibly because he craves their validation and acceptance instead of his own.

Omg Julian, I love your humor 😂😂🙏🏽🤣💖

Y’all make me sick constantly coming for bro’s neck over stupid shit. It’s like a brother can’t have too much success because after awhile his own people will start to turn on him. Donald has never once stated he hated black women yet that’s what he’s constantly labeled as. Speaking from personal experience, when you grow up as that weird/geeky black kid you don’t always get love from black women cuz you don’t necessarily fit the societal norm that’s been established for us and that’s sad but it’s the truth and after while when you get attention from other races you start to feel more comfortable, even “loved” or desired it’s just human nature but that doesn’t mean it’s had to create a hatred for your own kind. I don’t have any hate towards my own. I love my brothers and sisters and I strongly believe Donald does too. His eccentric behavior is often misinterpreted but I’ve never gotten anti-blackness from anything he’s said or done. People were still dick riding Kanye after he said slavery was a choice and fully endorsed Trump but y’all get up in arms and ready to cancel Donald over a few comments taken out of context? Just think about it.

Zazzie Beatz's character Van is also biracial. It comes up when they go to the German festival in the Helen episode of season 2. Van used to go to that festival every year as a child and speaks fluent German because she's half German. Zazzie Beatz's father is German. They incorporated it into her character.

I'm excited for this one!!

It’s so disappointing to hear about the problematic parts of Donald Glover. I’ve been a fan of his work since I was 11 (I’m turning 20 this year), and I didn’t really notice the anti-black sentiments in his early work like Camp or the 2011 EP. He fetishized Asians a lotttt back then, I didn’t really understand how bad this was until 2019 fr. I’ll always love his work, but I always have to look at it with a side eye nowadays. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on his new series Swarm. I thought it was well written and intriguing, but with what I know now about his depictions of black women, I’m kinda scared to even say I enjoyed it. Especially with the main character (a brown skinned woman) being a serial killer, while her sister (a lightskin woman) is almost a holy martyr type character. The dynamic is uncomfortable if you think about it too much smh

Opened my eyes fr🙏

I comment as sacrifice to the Automated Instruction deities, Algorithmia. And yeah, great vid. Thank you.

Wow, now I need to rewatch that music video. I like the song still tho. Talking about “This is America”

Your video was really good I'ma have to subscribe thanks man!

So I rewatch the video and I still stand on what I said Lmao he got an issue with Black women and its showing :)

great vid 🎉

Sounds like you're just nitpicking smh

i'm not sure if you're still reading the comments on here, but i hope you do read this one coming from a longtime fan's perspective and as a black person. as a fan of donald and his work and still admiring his creativity (because the internet is still my favorite album of all time); i cannot defend his antiblack behaviors in his earlier parts of his career, especially in his early mixtapes and stand-up comedies. there's a multitude of reasons why i hate camp but one of them is that his resentment towards black ppl is very prevalent. i can completely sympathize with being ridiculed for being a black nerd in a white suburban area or being called an oreo in high school. i feel like a lot of black kids have gotten that treatment, me included. especially back when donald was younger. but that's why we have black clubs and black friend groups. he probably never had one or he never opened up to a black friend group. i do remember him in a stand-up comedy saying that he was the only black kid in his school that was predominantly white. obviously, all of this is not excusable, but it does make sense why he is the way he is. he wants that validation from white people which is very depressing, because it's basically mental slavery. he's restricting himself from the culture and because of that, he writes black women like stereotypes and him releasing this is america and not talking about the actual details behind it. like, i get him not talking about the music video in the interviews because they're surface level issues, but some of these issues aren't surface level and they need fleshing out. i really hope you don't find this as me defending him as a fan, because i'm really not. i just wanna talk about these things as a fan of his work but also hate the way he views black people. great video btw and i hope you'll have a great week. :)

So glad I found your channel ❤ love hearing your well researched and nuanced take as a black man.

I remember being a fan of Donald when he was on the show community. Where he really lost me was that clip in Atlanta with the black women being a stereotype and thats when i was really over it. Like i just exhausting at this point. Even with black directors we can’t get a break. 🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️😮‍💨

Hope the trolls in the comments know they are giving julian more engagement 🤣🤣🤣

i’m new here, hi! i loved the video and i wanted to point out another thing about the this is america video. at one point in the video there’s a black choir singing and DG shoots them with a gun. a few years before the video was released, there was a 2015 mass shooting in south carolina where a white supremacist (Dylan Roof) killed 9 church members. from what i can remember from the backlash the video got was people felt like the shooting scene in the video was tone deaf after what happened in south carolina and in light of other events regarding white supremacist violence against black people. people said he could’ve made his point without depicting more violence against black people (i.e. shooting the guitar player and the choir in the video). side note: i was a fan of atlanta especially the darker episodes but at times some of the episodes felt like “Introduction to Black Culture For White People 101” where the storyline and characters seemed one-dimensional, cringey, (basically like a minstrel show for white people to laugh at instead laughing with).

What they’re really doing is fetishizing light skinned women. Not praising them light skin black women are just as dehumanized as dark skin black women in that sense.

I don’t think he is totally anti black but it is clear from his work that he has issues with black women. It is very obvious.

that first jazthefeminist quote is exactly how i’ve felt about glover for years. it just seemed like such a conspicuous shift in focus to Blackness in his work that *just so happened* to coincide with the period where conversations about Blackness and Black identity started becoming mainstream public discussion in the late 2010s. his earlier work was just so stark in contrast that I really couldn’t see it as anything other than cashing in on the moment tbh

Something about him always rubbed me the wrong way and it didn't help when I found out that he was married to the palest looking white woman be could find and acting like he was all about his skinfolk. Men like that don't deserve respect imo so I'm glad I never engaged with his art in any form.

I only watched this because I FW Donald and understand why he is how he is, I don't believe he is anti black and although I disagree with your video.... great vid nun the less

the song was so throw away ish to me that I never thought about its effects on all people. but yeah this is spot on.

sadly, I don’t think he needs black ppl’s support anymore.. that’s the whole point of selling out

Looks like he definitely went to school with a lot of yt people. I use to like one of his songs in high-school and then I saw his stand up comedy and was like yea not for me. Then he kept doing weird stuff, like 14:50- he writes this stuff!?😬They watched that scene & said "yup, perfect!" ??

The types of things I'm hearing that makes him "anti-black" are silly at best. There is no one way to be black and there are not one set of ideals that makes one 'authentically' black. This way of thinking is damaging to black ppl as a whole and serve no purpose other than furthuring a narrative that controls blacks. Youre trying to dismantle a successful man with the cheapest and easiest tactics to use. Attack his race. None of what's being said is being applied to any other successful black person. So why this man?

TEA ☕

Yeah, he's not anti-black. He's just inconvenient for a community that rejected him, then embraced him once he blew up, and then had some issues with certain opinions he has.

Bro you’re such a genius doing an entire research piece and promoting content you deem as anti black.

Chicken brain delirium...

Hire someone to read these bios on your behalf.

👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Lol at “skip skip skip”😂

I'm totally rediscovering Donald Glover as an artist, and I now question my taste/interest. Should of ignored my former friend when she first introduced him to me, i probably wouldn't follow him or be too aware of his work. Also don't feel so bad anymore for leaving the "Because of the Internet" vinyl at a former date's place 😅

I’m not even black, but I’ve got autism and swarm made me take notice. They are trying to say she is autistic. It’s hard enough to get diagnosed as a female so insurance covers us, can’t imagine trying to deal with that ish as a BW. Bruh out here adding to the stigma. I hate cancel culture, but I’m going to talk my shit. Great channel btw.

It was always something about him… I was never drawn to… now this video explains it 😅

Glad I’ve found this video. This was really entertaining and informative, I have always liked most of gambling’s music due to nostalgia and good vibes but he seems like a seriously problematic weirdo… this is why I don’t support most celebs also im a teen, and your new sub :)

It's giving self hatred💅🏾

If you don’t like Redbone, your taste is questionable at best

Why you talk like that? I cnt even take opinion seriously

👀

I watched this all the way through…the mental gymnastics is sooo crazy. Nothing he said is offensive or deliberately disrespectful to the black community. You can’t expect every black person with a platform to be this perfect example of what you think “blackness” (anti or pro) should be. Way bigger (and actually anti-black) things in the community to talk about and deplatform than questionable behaviors of an artist.

I am tired of these traitors

I don’t see the hard evidence that he’s “anti-black women”.

He calls himself childish and acts like one too in his old age 😂😂😂

The same people here talking about pandering from Childish ,that are so pro black won’t mention anything about Cardi . Like no one notices ANYTHING about how much credit Cardi gets for doing literally nothing for our culture but she’s everyone’s favorite . And what has she done for the culture ? But childish gets sh** on ? . For “pandering” to his own ? How can you pander to ur own community ? It doesn’t work that way. He put on for us at a time when things were going his way . How many black artists (music, actors , etc) have turned their backs on us when they were successful , Childish went the complete opposite direction .

He literally says in his song 'Fireflies', that his black classmates used to call him oreo and a bundle of sticks so is there any surprise as to why he dislikes his own race? He's a black nerd, and most black nerds go through this identify self hate spiel because they feel like they don't fit in with their peers and that causes resentment. Why do you think most black nerds like Asian or white women?

i cant believe he hates black people

I see why donald glover has a problem with y'all

Donald Glover is definitely that nerdy, awkward black boy that was always considered lame and corny by the black girls he grew up with/went to school with. The 'being afraid' that you are sensing could be the fear of rejection from black women. I've dated several BM that were like this. Subconsciously, I think he wants to be with a BW, but is afraid of rejection because of his past experiences. So he went into the direction were there was a chance of the least resistance, WW.

I heard stories about him and like his stuff but I never knew he was anti black like this… It’s a shame he’s like that.. you can like who you like but to keep downing black women I’m not feeling that at all. Not all of us are like that where we are loud, over sexed or whatever else they think black women act like… you could get a vibe from a guy when you walk in and you are saying hi or smiling and they have an attitude or ignore you… it’s uncalled for. I think I’m some black men minds they feel like they have to throw black women under the bus for white media just to get ahead in HollyWeird. He’s full of sh*t because I was picked on too by black kids.. I was quiet.. I got into rock music and I didn’t care.. does that make me hate black people.. no I hate bullies and ignorance. He just has issues with himself. Keep your black dollars out of his pockets.. I refuse to support anyone who has such a crappy mindset about his own people. Because guess what.. the minute you slip up in the white media your whole career is over and they will cast you out.

Did y’all see the 2episodes on 30 Rock with BLACK FACE???!!!!!😮 he wrote for that show. He a koon

This is a quality video and I enjoy looking at it from your prospective but i have a hard time agreeing considering you haven’t even watched Atlanta and because of the fact that some of your claims are clearly reaches and misinterpretations of what he produces/says. Most of the stereotypes used for “comedic effect” are actually commentary on how people really act. This isn’t anti black, it’s showing us our flaws from other perspectives so we can reflect on it and the reason you’re offended is because you think people dont act this way when they really do. I come from a family of 90% women and they agree that women and men both act like this. And you just assume glover hates women but there are just as many black male stereotypes , white people stereotypes , and other stereotypes in his content but you chose to pick out specifically the female stuff because of a story of bad experiences he had? That is 100% a reach. You are enough to you opinions and criticism but you cant just paint someone as something bad just because you dont feel the same way as them and as a result, purposely chose to misinterpret his content just to fit your narrative. Aside from all that i did truly enjoy watching the vid and im glad its doing well keep up the work 🙏🏽

L you a lame I ain even gone bother explaining 😂

I met him at an airport back in 2016, my little sister (12) asked him for an autograph, and he refused. Said he didnt have time to sign things for some dark girl and walked away. smh.

I gotta play your videos at 1.25x 😭😭 u talk slow den a mf. Good video tho

Dude, why are speaking this way??☠️. I had to put it in 2x😬

wtf

Hella suspect

Interesting video. Couple points. Yes I do agree that DG works to be within the white gaze and thrives to be in that spotlight. I don't think that's debatable. The rest of the video though seems to be you constantly saying its not about his interracial relationship, while constantly bringing everything back to him being in an interracial relationship. I think his inability to write black women well into his shows is more to do with a lack of women on the writing staff. White men can't write white women. Asian men can't write Asian women. I think it's more men not being able to write women as more than a prop than Donald being unable to write black women. And this is while acknowledging he loves to stereotype black people to deliver a very pointed message that's relatable to white people. I guess I wonder if this is a critic you would lay at dave Chappelle's feet too, word for word, or if we reserve this especially for Donald glover.

Matriarch Afro shines

You have the ability to criticize him, but that doesn’t make it right. It is disgusting to try to control who it is that someone chooses to be with. Your blackness is not something that is a choice, it is a description that is forced on you by society. I find it funny that that people, with a good amount of European blood in them, arguing about who is acting black. 😁

Is he tho look at what he produces for the world and music tf the man like what he likes why is that a problem a black man has no abligation to settle down with a black women why does race get in the miggle of love and why is he comming into his blackness he was born into it hes done so much for free for the black community yall getting mad at a man you dont know he was born black but unlike alot of us fellow black people he had the oportunity to experience culture and different people bc he has lived a wide life hes traveled educated nerdy even and we know how the black community likes to ostracize black people that fit this narative but now when hes embracing the black thats always been in him and he has shown throughout his work...y'all question his blackness again when did any of of y'all acknowledge he was black to begin with.... now when he's open eyes and waking people up you wanna take his black card...I'm just saying.... we picky ...as a black man that fits Gambino's vibe I've seen first hand just how aliened y'all treat us but don't let us try to help or do something THATS IN OUR "ROOTS" and now when trying to hard... using blackness... faking....ect. like be accountable for y'all's misconceptions he has literally said it all in music interviews.... this isn't even new to him he has had his blackness question his whole life by his own people at what point do we stop GATE KEEPING and just let the brother in...he's a win to have.... but y'all wanna throw him off the bus like Rosa parks ... imagine if she gave up her seat y'all need to chill

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🤢 🤮 being pink on the inside

seems a bit dramatic

I went to school with him. You guys have no clue and couldn’t be way off.

Donald Glo we doesn’t owe black women anything….. ANYTHING. They aren’t even his fan base.