What "Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself" Means And Hakeem Jeffries' Statement About Byron Donalds' "Jim Crow & The Black Family" Remarks

C-SPAN, Jun 5, 2024  #cspan

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL): "It has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow. That's an outlandish, outrageous, and out-of-pocket observation...How dare you make such an an ignorant observation. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself."

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a video of United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries providing a statement in Congress about Representative Byron Donalds' June 4, 2024 Trump campaign remarks to a group of Black men in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that included comments about Jim Crow and Black families. Hakeem Jeffries' statement includes the saying "Check yourself before you wreck yourself".

This post also presents an excerpt of a newspaper article about Byron Donalds' comments about Jim Crow and Black families and provides information about the meaning and early published use of that "check yourself before you wreck yourself" saying.

The content of this post is presented for political, socio-cultural, and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to C-Span for publishing this video and thanks to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his statement. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.

-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/06/byron-donalds-gets-disrespectful-with_11.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Byron Donalds Gets Disrespectful With Rev. Al Sharpton While Trying To Defend His "Jim Crow And Black Families" Comments"

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TRANSCRIPT\OF THIS CLIP
This is the complete auto-generated transcript of United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democratic- New York)'s congressional statement about this statement from Representative Byron Donalds (Republican-Florida).

I added punctuation, capitalization, corrected spelling errors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHquX0OFf5k&t=1s
"Mr. Speaker, [it] has come to my attention that a so-called leader has made the

factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow.

That's an outlandish outrageous and out of pocket observation. We would not better off when a young boy named Emmitt Till could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow.

We were not better off when Black women could be sexually assaulted with without consequence.  because of Jim Crow.

We were not better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence because of Jim Crow.

We were not better off when children could be denied a high quality education without consequence because of Jim Crow.

We were not better off when people could be denied the right to vote without consequence because of Jim Crow.

How dare you make such an ignorant observation.

You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

I yield back [my time]."
-snip-
What is ironical-although I'm sure that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was aware of this, is that the saying "Check yourself before you wreck yourself" was popularized by the Ice Cube's hit 1992 Hip Hop record "Check Yo Self". And Ice Cube is now a public supporter of Donald Trump. 

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EXCERPT ABOUT BYRON DONALDS' JIM CROW AND BLACK FAMILIES REMARKS
From https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/byron-donalds-defends-comments-jim-crow-fiery-exchange-joy-reid-rcna155969 


June 6, 2024, By Zoë Richards

"Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida on Thursday defended comments he made this week that invoked Jim Crow — a period of racial violence and segregation — as an era when “the Black family was together.”

"I never said that it was better for Black people in Jim Crow," Donalds, a Florida Republican, told MSNBC's Joy Reid during an interview with "The ReidOut" on Thursday night.

The comments came after Donalds, who is sometimes mentioned as a potential running mate for Donald Trump, drew outrage after saying at a campaign event in Philadelphia for the former president on Tuesday that fewer Black families were fractured during Jim Crow.

“Don’t try to impose the fact that the marriage rates were better in the — higher, higher, I want to be clear — higher in the Jim Crow era to mean that I think Jim Crow is great," Donalds said. "That is a lie. That is gaslighting. I would never say such a thing."

At Tuesday's event aimed at outreach to Black voters in battleground Pennsylvania, Donalds, a Trump campaign surrogate, suggested that by embracing Democrats, circumstances have worsened for Black people. He pointed to programs enacted by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s that included expanding federal food stamps, housing, welfare and Medicaid for low-income Americans.

“You see, during Jim Crow, the Black family was together. During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively,” Donalds told the audience Tuesday."..

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WHAT "CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF" MEANS
 (with information about early published examples of that saying) 

Pancocojams Editor's Note: These statements about which use of this saying came first aren't necessarily correct.

These sources and quotes are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Source  #1
From https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/check_yourself_before_you_wreck_yourself
"check yourself before you wreck yourself"
(colloquial) Consider the consequences of your actions before you end up in trouble."
-snip-
"Check yourself before you wreck yourself" is from African American Vernacular English.

****
Source #2
From https://www.quora.com/What-does-check-yourself-before-you-wreck-yourself-mean-What-are-the-origins-of-this-phrase
1.Jon Pennington, 2015
"The original version of this phrase from the 1970s was “check it before you wreck it” which was used as a slogan by Nationwide Saft-Breaks Centers in order to encourage people [to] get their brakes on their cars checked by mechanics before causing an auto wreck."

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2. Dennis Mulgannon, 2017
"Originally Answered: What does the phrase "check yourself before you wreck yourself" mean?

It is a variation of the old saying: Look before you leap. As in, don't dive into the water unless you know you won't hit your head on a rock."

**
3. Dennis Mulgannon, 2017
"The oldest example I’ve seen is in Dion and the Wanderer’s Two Ton Feather which was released in 1966.

CHORUS:

And I say jump back, baby, jump back, baby
Check yourself, don't you wreck yourself
You know it may look like I'm crazy, baby, but I know better
Don't try to hand me no 2-ton feather

What he means with “check yourself, don’t wreck yourself” is take a step back and reconsider your actions before you get yourself in trouble."
-snip-
Dion was a popular White American Pop singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A lot of his song material was from the African American culture.

**
4.  Bot, May 2024
"Check yourself before you wreck yourself" is a popular saying that is often used to advise someone to think carefully about their actions or behavior before they end up in trouble or make a serious mistake. It essentially means to pause and consider the consequences of one's actions before proceeding.

While the single version of the song (also titled Radio Remix "The Message") has been censored, the longer, uncensored version of The Message remix is featured on Ice Cube's Bootlegs & B-Sides album and was later released on his Greatest Hits album. The clean version of "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" appeared in the soundtrack of the movie Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

The phrase originated from a song called "Check Yo Self" by the American rapper Ice Cube, released in 1993. The song's lyrics contain the line "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself," which became a well-known catchphrase. The message behind the phrase is to encourage self-awareness and caution to avoid negative outcomes or consequences.

Over time, the phrase has become a common expression used in various contexts to warn someone to be mindful of their actions and behavior to prevent undesirable outcomes. It is often used in a lighthearted or humorous way to remind someone to reconsider their choices before proceeding.

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Source #3
From - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_Yo_Self
" "Check Yo Self" is the third and final single from American rapper Ice Cube's third solo album, The Predator (1992). It was released on July 13, 1993 by Priority Records, and features New York City rappers Das EFX. It topped both the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts while also reaching number 20 on the Hot 100 chart.[1] The song retains two main versions, the original and a remix which utilizes the same beat as Grandmaster Flash's "The Message", titled "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)". The original mix includes a sample from the intro of the Beastie Boys' track "The New Style", which uses the phrase "check it" throughout the chorus.

While the single version of the song (also titled Radio Remix "The Message") has been censored, the longer, uncensored version of The Message remix is featured on Ice Cube's Bootlegs & B-Sides album and was later released on his Greatest Hits album. The clean version of "Check Yo Self (The Message Remix)" appeared in the soundtrack of the movie Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."
-snip-
A lot of online sources erroneously credit the saying "Check yourself before you wreck yourself" to Ice Cube. It is correct that Ice Cube's 1992 record "Check Yo Self" popularized the African American vernacular saying "Check yourself before you wreck yourself."

Warning- Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self" record contains a lot of profanity, sexually explicit lyrics, references to violence, and the "n word".

****
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Visitor comments are welcome.

Byron Donalds Gets Disrespectful With Rev. Al Sharpton While Trying To Defend His "Jim Crow And Black Families" Comments

Politics with Tabitha, Jun 9, 2024 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a vlog by "Politics with Tabitha" about Congressman Byron Donalds (Republican- Florida) getting disrespectful with MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton while Donalds tried to defend his comments about Jim Crow and Black families.

This post includes an excerpt of a newspaper article about Byron Donalds' comments and a portion of the transcript of this showcase vlog. A few comments from this vlog's discussion thread are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for political and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Politics with Tabitha for this vlog and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/06/what-check-yourself-before-you-wreck.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "What "Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself" Means And Hakeem Jeffries' Statement About Byron Donalds' "Jim Crow & The Black Family" Remarks".

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ARTICLE EXCERPT
From https://www.yahoo.com/news/byron-donalds-implied-black-people-154840769.html "Byron Donalds implied Black people were better off under Jim Crow. So we checked." by Michael Harriot, Fri, June 7, 2024 at 11:48 AM EDT

 ..."On Tuesday, [Congressman Byron] Donalds [Republican-Florida] appeared at two Trump campaign events organized to “garner the Black male vote,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. During the “Congress, Cognac and Cigars” gathering, Donalds explained how Black people benefitted from institutional racism.

“During Jim Crow, the Black family was together,” Donalds explained to the crowd at the white-owned business in one of the “whitest and most conservative” parts of the city where Donalds and his GOP colleagues unsuccessfully asked elections officials to toss out Black voters’ ballots. “During Jim Crow, more Black people were not just conservative — Black people have always been conservative-minded — but more Black people voted conservatively. And then H.E.W., Lyndon Johnson — you go down that road, and now we are where we are.”

Pressed by CNN host Abby Phillip on Wednesday, James Crow Jr. doubled down on his remarks. “All I was doing was referring to the time periods,” the American apartheid advocate explained. “Frankly, what that is, is about the empirical fact that before the Great Society before Lyndon Johnson’s policies, there was more Black families united. The marriage rate in Black America was significantly higher before the Great Society. The period of time that coincides with that, obviously, is the Jim Crow era.”

What was Jim Crow?

After the 1876 presidential election, 15 white men gathered in a room to figure out a solution to the first Stop the Steal Movement.

Known as the Wormley Agreement or the Compromise of 1877, five Supreme Court justices, five senators and five representatives awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for ending the Reconstruction Era. The concessions included a specific accommodation that the federal government would stop forcing former confederate states to recognize the constitutional rights of Black citizens. Legislatures in Northern and Southern states immediately created a series of racially discriminatory policies that became known as Jim Crow laws.

For 100 years — from the end of race-based slavery until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – every Black person in America lived under this constitutionally enforced, government-approved system of white supremacy. Because of Jim Crow, the Black codes created after emancipation were now the law of the land. Segregated schools were mandatory under Jim Crow. Under Jim Crow, it was perfectly fine to disenfranchise Black voters and ban non-white people from living wherever they wanted. Jim Crow excluded Black taxpayers from using facilities built and maintained with their tax dollars.

And according to Byron Donalds, Black people thrived.

Were Black voters more conservative?

Most Black people couldn’t vote under Jim Crow. According to the U.S. census data, between 1880 and 1960, the majority of Black Americans lived in the South. Specifically, they lived in states that disenfranchised African-American voters, which is why the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s preclearance requirement banned these states from changing their voting laws without permission from the Department of Justice. It is literally impossible to know what the majority of Black Americans wanted under Jim Crow if they couldn’t vote.

Even if one counted the votes of the Black people who did vote, there was never a moment in the history of this country when the majority of Black voters supported conservative politics. Shortly after the Civil War, Southern Republicans started the anti-Black Lily White movement to prevent Black voters from gaining control of the party. Meanwhile, conservative Democrats didn’t even allow Black people to attend the party’s conventions in an official capacity until 1924. Although a majority of Black voters supported Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential campaign, it wasn’t until 1948 that most Black voters (77%) considered themselves Democrats. By then, white voters had fled the Democratic Party, precisely because the party was no longer conservative.

So, when Donalds said, “Black people voted more conservatively during Jim Crow,” either he was lying or he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Did Black families fare better?

First, let’s look at wealth.

In 1900, white households had about nine times the wealth of Black households. This disparity in wealth essentially remained unchanged throughout the Jim Crow, according to “The Wealth of Two Nations: The U.S. Racial Wealth Gap, 1860-2020. In 2022, the average white family had $100 for every $15 held by Black households. And while the Black-white employment gap began during the Great Depression, which coincided with Jim Crow, this still doesn’t tell the complete story.

Under Jim Crow, tax dollars from Black families were used to fund segregated education systems that increased the generational wealth of white families. Take Jim Crow South Carolina, for instance, where Black citizens made up 48.9% of the population in 1940. Because the state constitution made integrated schools illegal, Black K-12 schools were worth an estimated $12.9 million while white schools were worth nearly five times that number."...

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EXCERPT FROM THE "POLITICS WITH TABITHA" TRANSCRIPT
This is an excerpt from the auto-generated transcript of this vlog.

This excerpt starts at the beginning of this vlog and includes no time stamps. I added punctuation, capitalization, and corrected spelling errors. I also identified which of several people were speaking the statements that are quoted in this excerpt.

Corrections are welcome.

[Politics with Tabitha] 

"Hey guys. Okay so I just got to show you something because I feel some kind of way about it and uh let me see if you do too.

Um, Congressman Byron Donalds, the Florida Congressman, uh has been making the rounds particularly to Black hosted programs. He went on Abby Phillip. He went on The Reidout um to defend his comments in Philadelphia before a gathering of  Black Magas uh, in which he, you know, smoked a cigar had a cocktail and waxed on about Jim Crow which he mentioned three times in order to say that, you know, during Jim Crow the black family was together.  I mean they were in deep poverty and facing apartheid and lynching and couldn't vote at all. But, you know, they were together and somehow
managed to vote conservatively which couldn't happen because Jim Crow...

You know the comments I'm talking about..."

[Byron Donalds]

"See during Jim Crow, during Jim Crow the Black family was 

[Someone in that room says "That's right".] 

During Jim Crow more Black people were not just conservative- cuz Black people always have been conservative minded- but more Black people voted conservatively and then H.E.W. Lyndon Johnson and then you go down that road and now we are where we are"...

[Politics with Tabitha]
"So he's, you know,  been making the rounds because he's just been getting cooked roasted by everyone from, you know, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, to the NAACP, to Cherylyn Eiffel, to Nicole Hannah Jones.  Michael Harriet took him to school on the Grio. He's just been getting fired up by everybody... just roasted mercilessly because of what he said>

What he said was so offensive that just, you know, everybody's been taking him down for it. But, um, I want you to listen to his self-defense on Politics Nation hosted by uh the Reverend Al Sharpton. Take a look...

[Rev. Al Sharpton]
"We're going to talk about the era congressman. And you named a race based law then you cannot take race out of the fact. 

Jim Crow was a law against black people. You weren't just talking about the era of Dwight Eisenhower and and and Harry Truman. You named Jim Crow. There's only one way you could deal with Jim Crow and that's by race/

I mean look, look. You and I have mutual friends. People say you're a straight shooter. I.. I.. we may disagree on politics. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. But look, you were born in Brooklyn. You went down into the South, went to Florida State [university]. You have an interracial marriage. You [are] a congressman of a district that's not a Black District. I mean how can you even live with yourself acting like Jim Crow was a good era or better era for Blacks?

What happened to you?"

[Byron Donalds]

"Okay, that's real cute. That's real cute. I did not say that.

I'm not..That's against me because right now you're lying about what I said.

I did say Jim Crow. I did Rev. ...

That's not to say that it was better.  I never said that. Those words never came out of my mouth.

When are you going to get that through your skull and everybody else's skull?

I never said that and the difference between me and what you said.

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

"You said it was better for us."

[Byron Donalds]

"I'm not going to let Crow bring [?] lying. Look at my words okay."

[Politics with Tabitha]

"Now first of all, Rev. Al can handle himself and defend himself. He does not need me to do that. Let me just be clear. And he did that. He handled it very well and handled it, you know, handled Byron Donald's elevated tone quite well. But, um, hang on a second. Who you talking to, Congressman?

First of all, you are speaking to a man -Reverend Al Sharpton- who was born during Jim Crow. He was born in 1954 okay. Um and who came up in the King movement as just a kid. He started off like 9 years old. As a nine-year-old kid preacher when Dr King was alive and active. And then came up under the Reverend Jesse Jackson who was an aid to Dr King. So this is a man who in New York fought the northern version of Jim Crow in which black people were subjected to not only relentless police brutality but also citizen brutality. We're talking about regular citizens -white citizens feeling free to kill, chase down and kill, chase into traffic and murder Black folk...

[...]

Okay, we're talking about the Central Park 5 situation. We're talking about you name it. Reverend was fighting the northern version of Jim Crow as a civil rights leader. So Congressman, you are speaking to not just an elder but a civil rights leader in our community disrespectfully and in that heated tone on His show. You came into His house and spoke that way. 

He [Byron Donalds] called him a liar. He told him he needs to get it through his skull...
Bro,  who you talking to?!

It could not be clearer that Byron Donalds does not represent a majority Black district because no black politician could get reelected in a majority Black district speaking to an elder and a civil rights leader the way he did disrespectfully like that."

[...]

..."the first time he was on the Reidout he sat next to me and I wanted to get to know
him a little bit. I asked him some questions about himself. I know that Byron [is] from Brooklyn. [He] was born in East Flatbush where I was. He has a Jamaican mama who he talked about in that video as well his single mom is Jamaican. My..my late great mom was from Guyana so I know how he was raised I know his Jamaican mama does not approve of him speaking to an elder and a civil rights leader that way he did cannot be possible. And he is so lucky he doesn't represent a majority Black district because there wouldn't be a reelection like that.

What he was doing was trying to show his belly to Donald Trump in hopes Donald Trump would pick him for vice president. Yeah he's going to pick you, brother, the same way they were going to pick you to be Speaker of the House.  And that PR lynching Congressman from Texas admitted afterwards that they only nominated you because the Democrats nominated Hakeem Jeffries and they wanted their own Black nominee. And they did it strictly because of that, not because you were qualified.

So they gonna pick you for VP the same way they were going to pick you to be Speaker.

They had no intention of doing that. And Donald Trump has no intention either. But he [Byron Donalds] ants to show his belly to White Maga Republicans and also to join in their hatred of the Great Society, of LBJ's Great Society because how dare an American president put a floor under Black folk who had suffered from hundreds of years of slavery followed by 100 Years of Jim Crow?

And, by the way, those LBJ programs also put a floor under white rural folk but nobody ever
talks about that"...
-snip-
"Reidout" is the title of the weekly political series that is hosted by Joy Reid.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD

Unless otherwise noted, these comments are from June 9, 2024

1.@Michelle-qy9jm
"I’m a Jamaican and I’m very ashamed and disappointed that this fool is representing us. Vote him out"

**
2. @markelbrooks
"It truly saddens me how willing some folks are willing to sellout the same community that raised them. Always remember, tools are used until they’ve served their purpose. Then they are discarded for the next."

**

3. @ShamikaCrouch
"Thank you!  What's worse is the audience agreeing with this foolishness."

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4 @ToxcynArcade
" @markelbrooks  If trying to get black families back together and to get off government assistance is selling out... man do you have problems. Probably hurts you to see a smart black man from Brooklyn make it to Congress while everyone else is still collecting EBT. Instead of upliting the community you wanna tear down anyone who makes it out the hood and play victim."

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5. @markelbrooks
"@ToxcynArcade  why is the conversation always focused on black people when the same issues are found in poor white communities also. We act as if these issues are exclusively black. These same social policies aided EVERY poor demographic not just blacks. His comments in Philadelphia are ignorant of the reality at best."

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6. @bijounoir6562
"He better run all the way back to the Jim Crow era and look for his damn mind. How dare he call Rev. Al a liar and disrespect him on his own show. Disgusting!!!!

We were raised to respect our elders, and that's in every black family, in the USA, the Caribbean, or Africa. Shameful and despicable attitude!!

Bryob Donalds, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Just saw his last nane. There's definitely something in a name".

**
7. @YOUR-WORD-IS-YOUR-BOND
"We all aren't the same people... don't clump us all together like that."

Reply

8. @bijounoir6562
"@YOUR-WORD-IS-YOUR-BOND  My apologies! My intention was not to lump all blacks as one, but I strongly believe that there are more similarities than differences. Once again, mea culpa!!!"

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Reply

9. @YOUR-WORD-IS-YOUR-BOND
" @bijounoir6562  Okay! Please research before believing that... I get what you're saying..."

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10. @cjenkins6587
"Donalds was so disrespectful and trifling."

**
11. @bbrown5463
"Byron is LOST!!! LET HIM GO!!!!! JUST LET HIM GO!!!"

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Reply

12. @sc-bj2fs
"EXACTLY."

**
Reply

13. @karoltowns8384
"Agreed. Some people are not trying to be saved. Sad but true."

**
14. @lynnec6325
"Donalds needs to apologize! He was super disrespectful."

 **
Reply
15. @amoijoy573
"He won’t."

**
Reply
16. @juanitawarren2565
"@amoijoy573 unfortunately"

**
Reply
17. @hollywood1765
"he has no respect for us .  He sees us as less than. Forgetting that he himself is black."

**
18, @angelaraines8732
"Please stop entertaining the clownishness.  Donalds is an absolute shame because under Jim Crow, his marriage would not have been possible.  Americans, we deserve better"

**
19. @kennethreed7913
"Congressman Donalds. My message to you is simple. Don't pitch if you can't catch!!"

**
20. @rievans57
"Okay.  Byron sounds like a 5 year old at a daycare."

**
Reply
21. @soniapinkney1342, June 10, 2024
"Bingo !!!!"

**
22. @audreyhickson7895
"Why hasn't he been on Right wing media as much as the black journalists  can I  call him what he is?"

**
23. @keshiaperry8428
"Symone Sanders called him out for his disrespect on her show today. I agree. He was so disrespectful to Rev. Al."

**
24. @limbiclove9487
"Joy just killed him softly with her voice. Thanks Tabitha. Byron better not go visit the part of Brooklyn he was born in. And Joy is right that Byron's mom would not condone the way he talked to Rev. Sharpton."

**
25. @e.obrien8421
"I truly respect rev Al Sharpton,he’s done the work. He’s always been there to protect the rights of people and he will always stand up to people like Byron Donald."
****

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Selected Comments From LyricalHub's Vlog Post - "The REAL Meaning of Childish Gambino's Video "This Is America"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series that focuses on the official video of Childish Gambino's 2018 Hip Hop composition "This Is America".

This post showcases 's YouTube vlog (video blog) about the official video of Childish Gambino's 2018 Hip Hop composition "This Is America". Selected comments from this vlog are included in this post. Note that this vlog shows only a few photographic scenes from that video and those scenes don't focus on the graphic violence that is shown in that song's official video.

This is only one of a number of videos that provide some explanations about the official video of Childish Gambino's "This Is America".

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/05/childish-gambino-this-is-america-video.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I showcases the official video of Childish Gambino's "This Is America". The lyrics for this song and notes about genuis.com.'s video and lyrics are also included in this post.

genuis.com's page about Childish Gambino's "This Is America" also provides some notes about that video.

Part II showcases a vlog about Childish Gambino's "This Is America" with particular focus on the official video of that 2018 Hip Hop composition. Selected comments from that vlog's discussion thread are included in this post.

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The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Childish Gambino (Donald Glover, Jr.) for his creative legacy. Thanks also to LyricalHub and others for sharing explanations about Childish Gambino's "This Is America" Hip Hop composition and its official video.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: The REAL Meaning of Childish Gambino - This Is America Will Shock You!



LyricalHub, Published on May 7, 2018
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video log, with numbers assigned for referencing purposes only. All of these comments were published between May 7 and May 9, 2018. I've included additional explanatory notes for certain terms that are mentioned in some of these comments.

[UPDATE: Additional comments added May 10, 2019.]

1. One of One
"This videos great man. I picked up everything you did as far as messages go except for the end where Gambino is running away from something. To me it seemed like he and everyone else was running away from the darkness behind them. I think ultimately the message was something like.. the scene of America is guns & gun control taking precedence over the lives taken by law enforcement & civilians alike - Americans are glued to entertainment & allow themselves to be distracted by anything pop culture (especially black pop culture) - if we don't wake up soon, there will be no America & we'll have to face this darkness we've been running from. But we won't be able to outrun it if we let it get to that point. Anyway, awesome video again man. Hope to see more."


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REPLY
2. Corrine Lewis
"i love everyone’s deeper interpretation of it especially yours."

**
3. Chico Williams
"Everything on point, definitely the meaning behind the video shout out to Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino showing the life going on today"

**
4. Katie Johnson
"for some reason hearing you say "i don't wanna get too political" while analyzing this video was just too ironic"

**
5. NIKKI NIKKI NIKKI
"I felt like everything was ok if he kept dancing (tap dancing ) but as soon as he stopped is when "America" starter started chasing him.."
**
REPLY
6. Hannah Stern
"I didn't catch that but your analysis is perfection!!!"

**
REPLY
7. Ishmael
"NIKKI NIKKI NIKKI I missed that. Excellent observation. There was so much going on that that went completely over my head."

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REPLY
8. Mont 3000
"NIKKI NIKKI NIKKI I would say buck dancing but yeah."
-snip-
from https://www.ncpedia.org/buck-dancing "Buck dancing is a folk dance that originated among African Americans during the era of slavery. It was largely associated with the North Carolina Piedmont and, later, with the blues. The original buck dance, or "buck and wing," referred to a specific step performed by solo dancers, usually men; today the term encompasses a broad variety of improvisational dance steps."...

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REPLY
9. Kai Mendez
"Great point👌🏾"

**
REPLY
10. Paige Washington
"Get it boo! You brought it together for me"

**
REPLY
11. Paige Washington
"Now tell me why the joint first. Enlightenment? Then he stops dancing? Lol makes sense now"
-snip-
In this comment the word "joint" refers to the point in the video when the character played by Childish Gambino stops to smoke "marijuana" ("reefer").

**
REPLY
12. Mia England
"Paige Washington when he pauses he does it for 17 seconds for the 17 victims of the parkland shooting"

**
13. Kassie S
"Yes! I didn't think about that. Spot on."

**
14. sweety sweet
"Why is he shirtless"

**
REPLY
15. ToneBeMe
"To represent the slaves"

**
REPLY
16. Natasha Burton
"Filming from the back a lot shows that America benefitting from the work from the backs of slaves .. it’s why he’s shirtless throughout"

**
REPLY
17. Mutima H
"Jim crow stance and i think some of the dancing is referencing "slavery of the mind".
-snip-
Read the note under #21 for information about "Jim Crow" and "Jim Crow laws".

**
18. Jairus Poellnitz
"what about the pants aren’t they confrederate army pants"
-snip-
"Confederate pants" refer to the style of pants that soldiers in the Confederate army wore during the United States Civil War (Apr 12, 1861 – May 13, 1865). Although some people disagree, the general consensus is that the main reason why the Confederate army fought the Union army was to maintain their way of life, and in particular to maintain slavery.

**
REPLY
19. Hannah Stern
"VERY interesting, but I think they may be more referencing the light coloured clothes that slaves would have worn in the fields. That's why he's not wearing a shirt, I think. But I'm interested in your interpretations."

**
REPLY
20. John Leonardi
"1 day ago
I took it as slavery as well.
This is a very powerful video that will be studied for future generations"

**
REPLY
21. Jordan Chappell
"To be honest his pants reminded me of the style of pants that were commonly worn around the era that the jim crowe laws were around."
-snip-
"Jim Crow laws"= "Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted by white Democratic-dominated state legislatures in the late 19th century after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued to be enforced until 1965. They mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of the former Confederate States of America, starting in the 1870s and 1880s, and upheld by the United States Supreme Court's "separate but equal" doctrine for African Americans."... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws

**
22. Courtney-Ann W.
"I think some of the dances done by the students refer to the sarafina movie"

**
REPLY
23. Edna.M.M.
"Courtney-Ann W. I was thinking that as well. I think people have forgotten about that movie (more like a documentary tbh)"

**
REPLY
24. wilhelmina tetteh
"Courtney-Ann W. yeah. I think So too"
-snip-
Here's information about the Sarafina Broadway show and movie:
"Sarafina! is a South African musical by Mbongeni Ngema depicting students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to apartheid. It was also adapted into a 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Leleti Khumalo. Sarafina! premiered on Broadway on 28 January 1988, at the Cort Theatre, and closed on 2 July 1989, after 597 performances and 11 previews. The musical was conceived and directed by Mbongeni Ngema, who also wrote the book, music, and lyrics. The play was first presented at The Market Theatre, Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 1987. The cast included Leleti Khumalo as Sarafina.

Leleti Khumalo received a Tony Award nomination, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, as well as a NAACP Image Award for her Broadway theatre portrayal of the title character. The production was also nominated for the Tony Award for: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography, and Best Direction of a Musical.

The show presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on 16 June 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the schoolgirl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when policemen shoot several pupils at the school. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of the second act." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarafina!_(musical)
-snip-
The students in the Sarafina Broadway show and movie wore uniforms just as the students in Childish Gambino's "This Is America" video did.

**
25. Alyse Underwood
"It's being said that, the man playing the guitar is Trevon Martin's dad."

**
REPLY
26. Corrine Lewis
"Alyse Underwood ty that’s what i’ve been wondering kinda the most amongst all other things"

**
REPLY
27. Benzi Musiq
"If this is true this video just went another level of deepness. Wow"
-snip-
According to this CNN article- https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/08/entertainment/trayvon-martin-father-this-america/index.html - the man near the beginning of Childish Gambino's "This Is America" video is "Calvin C. Winbush II, a Los Angeles-based actor and musician who goes by "Calvin the Second" professionally" and not Trayvon Martin's father.

However, I think that it's likely that that actor/musician was chosen for that part because he closely resembles Trayvon Martin's father.

**
28. Michelle Wright
"I noticed all the symbolic hints he gave us. This was powerful. Wake up America"

**
29. SnoopDogg6110
"The 80s 90s car with LAPD symbolizes the 1992 LA riots with chaos and looting."
-snip-
"LAPD" = Los Angeles Police Department; "LA" = Los Angeles (California)

**
REPLY
30. BluDrop5
"SnoopDogg6110 Good one!"

**
31. Bridgette smith
"what about the jim crow pose he did in the beginning. Edit : nevermind commented to early.. Thought you were gonna go in order"

**
32. Yağız Saidoğlu
"The people around him was symbolising the children I think. They are following him without any question."

**
33. BSWs Wxrld
"There was a part when he was dancing he said I’m so faded, I on Gucci , I’m so pretty( or something close to that). I think he’s saying we’re so focused on bein pretty, wearing Gucci and being faded rather than the issue that occurs and permeates in society today."

**
34. Kennett Rivera
"This is speculations not the real meaning"

**
REPLY
35. TheZombifiedFairy
"The real meaning is unknown to all but Mr. Glover until he explains. Until then it is art and art has many interpretations, and this is one of them."

**
36. Lizzy V
"Why is he shirtless?"

**
REPLY
37. Hot Potato
"Lizzy V I believe it's a reference to slavery, and it also might tie into the exploatation/fear of the African American body"
-snip-
Read the comments presented earlier in this compilation about this subject. I included examples from both of these two sub-threads to show how YouTube commenters often repeat the same questions, perhaps because they don't read comments that were published before theirs.

**
REPLY
38. sam mayne
"Distraction as well."
-snip-
One of the early comments by LyricalHub (this embedded video's blogger) is that the dancing in Childish Gambino's video served to distract viewers from all the other things that were occurring in that video.

**
39. Erin McMahon
"What about his eyes getting really big?"

**
REPLY
40. Azizi Powell
Showing wide eyed, bulging eyed Black people is a characteristic of Black minstrelsy, Broadway, and Black movie industry’s racially demeaning “coon caricature”. One Black actor who epitomized that coon caricature had the stage name “Stepin Fetchit”. Here’s an excerpt from https://ferris.edu/jimcrow/coon/ :
[Stepin] “Fetchit became identified in the popular imagination as a dialect-speaking, slump-shouldered, slack-jawed character who walked, talked, and apparently thought in slow motion. The Fetchit character overcame this lethargy only when he thought that a ghost or some nameless terror might be present; and then he moved very quickly indeed. (p. 89)

Fetchit was the embodiment of the nitwit black man. As with the Zip Coon and Urban Coon, this old-fashioned coon character could never correctly pronounce a multisyllabic word. He was portrayed as a dunce. In Stand Up and Cheer (Sheehan & MacFadden, 1934), he was tricked into thinking that a "talking" penguin was really Jimmy Durante. Fetchit, scratching his head, eyes bulging, portrayed the coon so realistically that whites thought they were seeing a real racial type. His coon portrayal was aided by his appearance. According to Donald Bogle (1994), a film historian:

His appearance, too, added to the caricature. He was tall and skinny and always had his head shaved completely bald. He invariably wore clothes that were too large for him and that looked as if they had been passed down from his white master. His grin was always very wide, his teeth very white, his eyes very widened, his feet very large, his walk very slow, his dialect very broken. (P. 41) “
-snip-
The coon caricature's eyes were wide and bulging because that character was depicted as being childlike and afraid of things that reasonable adults wouldn't believe in (for instance ghosts) or be afraid of.

It also occurs to me that the "wide eyes" might be a "politically incorrect", stereotypical way of depicting someone (of any race/ethnicity) who is mentally ill. Therefore, that facial expression in Childish Gambino's "This Is Your Life" video may symbolize how America treats people who are mentally ill, and may also refer to the issue of people who are mentally ill having access to guns.

**
41. talkn with trini Stara
"Heed the message(s), not the messenger 😉"

**
42. jayepea81
"They are more concerned and paying attention to our cultural dancing than they are to the important matters that they ignore and push in the back ground. Just keep dancing. We are entertainers to American but not humans with rights or importance. That's what I took from the video. And even the kids just video everything but it doesn't matter"

**
43. Ms Synchronicity
"When your truly woke, this is the artistic result"

**
44. Marie White
"We've been asleep for too long now."

**
45. Jaeia Gibbs
"Stay. woke."
-snip-
In the context of these comments, being "woke" (and not being asleep) means to be alert to and vigilant toward social justice issues, particularly as they refer to Black and Brown people. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/05/what-stay-woke-really-means-definitions.html for a pancocojams post about the vernacular meaning of being "woke" and its opposite meaning "being asleep".

**
46. dallas adderly
"why r u playing gods plan in the background"

**
47. Marissa Gates
"Your opinion on the "this is a celly, that's a tool" had some really good points but he was definitely talking about stephen clark with that line."
-snip-
"Celly" here refers to cell phones (cellular telephones). I don't think that the term "celly" is widely used except, perhaps, in Hip Hop culture.

**
48. Angel Sweet
"There was also a scene in which a man jumps from the roof (suicide rates)"

**
REPLY
49. Romeo Robinson
"Yea I saw that and gasped 😂😂"

**
REPLY
50. Rhon Cartmell
"Wow. .I missed it"

**
REPLY
51. Camille Williams
"I noticed that the last time I watched"

**
REPLY
52. Queen Nonya
"Angel Sweet Did he jump or was he pushed? I have to watch his video again."

**
REPLY
53. Jamie Ambrose
"Looks like he was pushed"

**
54. Morgan Chevis
"Kinda missed the part that the ppl dancing with him are Kids meaning the generation can not wake up due to these distractions thus stopping from making a change my opinion"

**
REPLY
55. moval moval
"Yes. The kids are following us....so if we stay sleep...they are learning to stay sleep also."

**
REPLY
56. SouthernNYCga
"OR that black children learn to cope with trauma by dancing through it. Cause what else can they do?"

**
57. Edgar Garcia
"Yes I feel like he’s also putting the new gen rappers on the spot because all they promote is violence and drugs etc. instead of promoting change with the huge platform that they have. Like the line “hunnid bands hunnid bands hunnid bands” alluring to the song gucci gang, which all lil pump promotes is gucci and “I’m so pretty” and his newest single “Drug addict” literally says “All my friends are drug addicts (or something like that) so yeah I feel like that’s something nobody has talked about, This is America song and video is awesome"

**
REPLY
58. Shawnee Scorpion
"SouthernNYCga, ‘Dancing through it” also can be used in a Rhetorical sense."

**
59. Lyndell Chambers
"Dancing was definitely a distraction. I missed everything in the back!!! That’s crazy!!!"

**
60. CAAARRRLL
"I just love his facial expression when he dances"

**
REPLY
61. fake Apple Store
"Yeah made the video artsy."

**
REPLY
62. Alec Truelove
"That's also from a Jim crow propaganda poster."

**
REPLY
63. Cecile Estelle
"Yeah it feels like a comment to the viewer (especially when you listen to the lyrics playing over that scene) that Black people are NOT here just to "party just for you." It's definitely a rejection of the continued culture of minstrelsy that is sometimes expected of Hip Hop artists. There's some comments on this issue in episodes of Atlanta as well."

**
REPLY
64. Fi Dixon
"They're Uncle Rukus (Boondocks). Google It."

**
65. Ebony Love
"The faces he made (especially in the beginning) represented Uncle Rukas - the blk character that loves white ppl more than his own."

**
REPLY
66. ewgamingspies
"OMG! It's true! Uncle Rukus always had this "unique" facial expression"

**
67. S M.
"Did anyone notice the brown and white chickens?

**
68. Risky
"it's a coon chicken inn reference"
-snip-
I think "inn" is a typo for "in". An "in reference" means an "inside joke" (a joke whose real meaning may only be caught by people within a certain population or group; in this comment, the commenter is implying that only (or mostly) Black Americans would understand the hidden meanings of the coon/chicken reference.

**
69. Yade N Adamma
"Unrelated, but the older girl (dancer) is Rwandese and the choreographer of the video ✊🏾 🇷🇼"

**
70. Missy Miles
"The dances in the video are moves that are popular in Africa"

**
71. Ladiluv
"Every new dance , Murder is Still happening Etc ❗❗❤"

**
72. Berardo Manzi
"I think that the "smartphone part" has another meaning. The guys do records, but they have white clothes on their mouths. It can mean many things: "You think about recording violence, but you don't protest about it" "

**
REPLY
73. theosaka69
"Berardo Manzi Yes! The essence of World Star HH!"

**
74. mr spacley
"America is a giant warehouse"

**
75. qasdad qaweqeqsdas
"I think there's also a meaning in why the dancers all are kids and wear uniforms. I think Childish Gambino want to criticize the youth of America whose blind/living in an illusion with the way hedonism is advertised by artists/musicians, and not realizing that their surrounding is falling apart."

**
76. LovelyLady Carter
"Respect bro✊🏽not just for the break down but for getting it💁🏽‍♀️like really understanding the truth behind it all 💯👌🏾🙌🏽👏🏽thank you💋"

**
77. Eddie Landeros
"The color of the cloths that take the guns are red which could represent a few things: red being the color of power, the color of blood to hide it when it's wiped, and the color of the Republican party that is more known for keeping the right to bear arms even after tragedies occur."

**
REPLY
78. JASDKA1
"WOW!"

**
REPLY
79. Kassie S
"Interesting theory. 👌"

**
80. LovelyLady Carter
"Respect bro✊🏽not just for the break down but for getting it💁🏽‍♀️like really understanding the truth behind it all 💯👌🏾🙌🏽👏🏽thank you💋"

****
This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Childish Gambino - "This Is America" (video, lyrics, selected notes from genuis.com about the meaning of this video)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that focuses on the official video of Childish Gambino's 2018 Hip Hop composition "This Is America".

This post showcases the official video of Childish Gambino's "This Is America". The lyrics for this song and notes about genuis.com.'s video and lyrics are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/05/selected-comments-from-lyricalhubs-vlog.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases LyricalHub's Vlog post entitled "The REAL Meaning of Childish Gambino - This Is America Will Shock You". Selected comments from that vlog's discussion thread are included in this post.

****
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Childish Gambino (Donald Glover, Jr.) for his creative legacy. Thanks to all those who were involved in composition and this video. Thanks also to genuis.com for the transcribing these lyrics and sharing notes about the meaning of these lyrics and this video.
-snip-
WARNING: This video contains two very violent scenes of people being killed by gun fire.

****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: #10 ON TRENDING
Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)



Donald Glover, Published on May 5, 2018

“This is America” by Childish Gambino http://smarturl.it/TcIgA
Director: Hiro Murai
Producer: Doomsday with Ibra Ake and Fam Rothstein of Wolf + Rothstein
-snip-
Statistics: as of May 9, 2018 at 2:12 PM
#10 trending [Twitter]
total views - 51,577,818
total likes - 1.9M
total dislike -89,000
total number of comments: 199,041

****
LYRICS AND NOTES ABOUT CHILDISH GAMBINO'S "THIS IS AMERICA"
From https://genius.com/Childish-gambino-this-is-america-lyrics

This Is America
Childish Gambino
Produced by: Childish Gambino & Ludwig Göransson
Album: CG4*
This Is America Lyrics
[Intro: Choir]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away

[Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug]
We just wanna party
Party just for you
We just want the money
Money just for you
I know you wanna party
Party just for me
Girl, you got me dancin' (yeah, girl, you got me dancin')
Dance and shake the frame
We just wanna party (yeah)
Party just for you (yeah)
We just want the money (yeah)
Money just for you (you)
I know you wanna party (yeah)
Party just for me (yeah)
Girl, you got me dancin' (yeah, girl, you got me dancin')
Dance and shake the frame (you)

[Chorus: Childish Gambino]
This is America
Don't catch you slippin' up
Don't catch you slippin' up
Look what I'm whippin' up
This is America (woo)
Don't catch you slippin' up
Don't catch you slippin' up
Look what I'm whippin' up

[Verse 1: Childish Gambino, Blocboy JB, Slim Jxmmi, Young Thug, & 21 Savage]
This is America (skrrt, skrrt, woo)
Don't catch you slippin' up (ayy)
Look at how I'm livin' now
Police be trippin' now (woo)
Yeah, this is America (woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (word, my area)
I got the strap (ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry 'em
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go into this (ugh)
Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (woo)
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go get the bag
Yeah, yeah, or I'ma get the pad
Yeah, yeah, I'm so cold like yeah (yeah)
I'm so dope like yeah (woo)
We gon' blow like yeah (straight up, uh)

[Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (get your money)
Get your money, Black man (get your money)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Black man

[Chorus: Childish Gambino, Slim Jxmmi, & Young Thug]
This is America (woo, ayy)
Don't catch you slippin' up (woo, woo, don't catch you slippin', now)
Don't catch you slippin' up (ayy, woah)
Look what I'm whippin' up (Slime!)
This is America (yeah, yeah)
Don't catch you slippin' up (woah, ayy)
Don't catch you slippin' up (ayy, woo)
Look what I'm whippin' up (ayy)

[Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, & 21 Savage]
Look how I'm geekin' out (hey)
I'm so fitted (I'm so fitted, woo)
I'm on Gucci (I'm on Gucci)
I'm so pretty (yeah, yeah)
I'm gon' get it (ayy, I'm gon' get it)
Watch me move (blaow)
This a celly (ha)
That's a tool (yeah)
On my Kodak (woo, Black)
Ooh, know that (yeah, know that, hold on)
Get it (get it, get it)
Ooh, work it (21)
Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (hunnid bands)
Contraband, contraband, contraband (contraband)
I got the plug in Oaxaca (woah)
They gonna find you like blocka (blaow)

[Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
America, I just checked my following list and
You go tell somebody
You mothaf&&kas* owe me
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (black man)
Get your money, Black man (black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Get your money, Black man (get your, Black man)
Black man
(One, two, three, get down)
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me, "Get your money"
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
Black man

[Outro: Young Thug]
You just a Black man in this world
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a Black man in this world
Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No probably ain't life to a dog
For a big dog

-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in the lyrics on that page.

About “This Is America”
Dropping amid ongoing political and cultural tumult and turmoil, Childish Gambino’s “This is America” appears to be a commentary on black life in America and American culture as a whole. It contrasts popular culture’s perception of black experience and its often brutal reality by juxtaposing happy, carefree choruses and dark, aggressive verses.

This contrast may also allude to the cyclical shifts in mood whenever there is a shooting in America. One second, the entire nation is in an uproar, the next, they are happy and unconcerned, placated by pop culture trends.

In the music video, directed by frequent Gambino collaborator Hiro Murai, Gambino portrays this comparison by dancing around gleefully, seemingly unbothered by the chaotic scenes of violence in the background. However, in the short film’s final scene, Gambino is seen running frantically through a darkened warehouse trying to escape the mob that now chases him, a reminder that if America chooses to remain ignorant to its problems, eventually they will catch up to us.

“This is America” is Gambino’s first single since he dropped the 2016 studio album Awaken, My Love!. The song’s release coincided with Gambino’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he performed the new track, along with another one titled “Saturday.”

[...]

Are there any good essays to read about "This is America"?
Yes! Some strong early analyses include Doreen St. Felix’s “The Carnage and Chaos of Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’” in The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-carnage-and-chaos-of-childish-gambinos-this-is-america and Frank Guan’s “What It Means When Childish Gambino Says ‘This Is America’” in New York Magazine.http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/what-it-means-when-childish-gambino-says-this-is-america.html

Why is he running at the end of the music video?
One theory suggests that Gambino is running from The Sunken Place, a concept developed in Jordan Peele’s film Get Out. In a tweet, Peele explained the meaning of The Sunken Place:

Jordan Peele
✔
@JordanPeele
The Sunken Place means we're marginalized. No matter how hard we scream, the system silences us.

12:12 AM - Mar 17, 2017
[…]
Glover believes we have cultivated a culture in which we emphasize the trivial social issues around us unaddressed.

It’s also worth noting that Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya introduced Glover’s performance of “This Is America” on Saturday Night Live. The scene is also perhaps reminiscent of the “running” scene in Get Out.

[...]

Why is there a white horse in the music video?
A brief scene in the music video portrays a hooded figure riding on a white horse through the chaos behind Bino. One theory suggests that the horse alludes to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the first of which was white.

The white horse is typically referred to as Conquest, which is sometimes construed as Victory–because the horse is white, Donald may be using it to symbolize white power over blacks. Different interpretations of the horse name it Pestilence, Evil, and War, all of which may embody the position of blacks in the equation.

The white horse or pale horse can also connote apocalyptic symbolism related to Revelation Chapter 6:

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him…

[...]
What is the meaning of the dancers in what appears to be school uniforms?
The video has multiple references the dancers in the school uniforms are referencing the Florida shootings and other harmful events that have happened to school students.


"This Is America" Track Info
Written By Ludwig Göransson & Childish Gambino
Ad-Libs Aminé, 21 Savage, Young Thug & 3 more
Recording Engineer Kesha Lee, Ludwig Göransson, Alex Tumay & 1 more
Mix Engineer Mixed by Ali
Video Director Hiro Murai
Additional Vocals Young Thug
Mastering Engineer Mike Bozzi
Release Date May 6, 2018

****
This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

What "James Crow, Esquire" Means

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides excerpts from a blog posts and two articles about the United States' term "James Crow" (also given as "James Crow, Esquire").

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Special thanks to Rev. Al Sharpton who may have coined the term "James Crow, Esquire". And special thanks to commenters in the dailykos diary whose link is given below and for inspiring me to publish this post as a means of compiling comments and information about the term "James Crow, Esquire".

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FEATURED EXCERPTS
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/03/14/1501011/-That-s-It-I-ve-Had-It-Stop-Calling-Black-Folk-DUMB
That's It. I've Had It. Stop Calling Black Folk DUMB! By moothnmellow, 2016/03/14 · 10:54
"To the person who has a rec’d list diary up this morning who said that the reason Bernie Sanders won Sunday’s Town Hall meeting was because he no longer has to compete in states with ‘low information’ voters and then proceeded to lock down on this crap by saying that older African Americans don’t have access to the internet because they don’t have computers?....

You folk don’t want to discuss the candidates. Oh no.
You folk want to win at all costs — even if that means tearing down relationships and making sweeping indictments on the intellect of whole groups of people just because they don’t agree with your choices.

And you wonder why Trump is leading the Republicans?
I know this. I’m going to be fine regardless of what happens in this country. If black folk can survive slavery, Jim Crow and James Crow, we will survive a Trump Presidency if he gets in.
Others of you who have not had the privilege of walking in my shoes, I’m not so sure.

And I voted for Bernie Sanders, okay?
-snip-
Italics were added by me to highlight that sentence.

"rec’d list diary"- recommended reading list (as per the recommendations of a certain amount of that forum's members)
-Selected comments from that dailykos diary -
pollwatcher Mar 14 · 11:06:29 AM
"What's James Crow? I'm an old white guy, but I've never been to keen on dividing people into "cultures" since I don't seem to relate to any "culture". I even googled it but couldn't find much. Would you mind helping me out a bit?"

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Replies
lordcopper - pollwatcher Mar 14 · 11:08:29 AM
"James Crow is a more polished relative of “Jim Crow”."

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smoothnmellow - lordcopper Mar 14 · 11:25:05 AM
"Yup. The 2016 version.

As we see clearly playing out on the GOP side today."

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polecat - lordcopper Mar 14 · 11:54:10 AM
The word you’re looking for is “Genteel”.

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Wisper - pollwatcher Mar 14 · 12:05:20 PM
"On the 50th Anniversary of MLK’s March on Washington*, Al Sharpton made the reference

"We come as the children of Dr. King to say that we are going to face Jim Crow's son," Sharpton said. "Because he had a son called James Crow, Jr., Esquire.

“James Crow, Jr, Esquire” is the term used for the subtler forms of oppression like Voter ID laws, Stand Your Ground, the SCOTUS eviscerating the VRA and Affirmative Action.

Here is an article from The Atlantic titled: The Strange Career of James Crow, Esquire" [hyperlink]*

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pollwatcher - Wisper Mar 14 · 12:34:31 PM
"Thanks. I figured it was subtle Jim Crow, but was hoping for a more detailed explanation. The article is excellent."
-snip-
The 50th Anniversary of MLK’s March on Washington was held in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 2013.

An excerpt from that The Atlantic article is found below.

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Pancocojams Editor:
While it's true that civil rights activist and television host & commentator the Reverend Al Sharpton referred to James Crow, Esquire at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, he used that referent at least ten years earlier in his remarks at Rosa Park's funeral in 2005:

From http://www.democracynow.org/2005/11/3/al_sharpton_jim_crow_had_sons
"Speaking at the funeral of Rosa Parks Wednesday, the Reverend Al Sharpton connected the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 60s to the struggles that are taking place today. [includes rush transcript]
Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking Nov. 2nd, 2005 in Detroit, Michigan.

AMY GOODMAN: Like many of the speakers at Rosa Parks’s funeral, the Reverend Al Sharpton connected the civil rights struggles to the struggles taking place today.

REV. AL SHARPTON:....I heard somebody say Jim Crow is who she [Rosa Parks] fought, and Jim Crow is still around, but Jim Crow is old. That’s not who I’m mindful of today. The problem is that Jim Crow has sons. The one we’ve got to battle is James Crow, Jr., Esquire. He’s a little more educated. He’s a little slicker. He’s a little more polished. But the results are the same. He doesn’t put you in the back of the bus. He just puts referendums on the ballot to end affirmative action where you can’t go to school. He doesn’t call you a racial name, he just marginalizes your existence. He doesn’t tell you that he’s set against you, he sets up institutional racism, when you have a nation respond looking for weapons in Iraq that are not there, but can’t see a hurricane in Louisiana that is there."...

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Here are two other referents to "James Crow" or "James Crow, Esquire" that I found in online articles:
From https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/08/28/sharpton-we-must-defeat-james-crow-jr-esquire/ Sharpton: We must defeat ‘James Crow, Jr., Esquire’
By Aaron Blake August 28, 2013 
"The Rev. Al Sharpton said at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington on Wednesday that African Americans are still dealing with the legacy of Jim Crow -- in the form of Voter ID laws and over-bearing police.

"We come as the children of Dr. King to say that we are going to face Jim Crow's son," Sharpton said. "Because he had a son called James Crow, Jr., Esquire."

Sharpton noted Voter ID laws being passed in state legislatures that minority groups argue are aimed at suppressing African Americans votes.

"He writes voting suppression laws and puts it in language that looks different, but the results are the same," Sharpton said.

Sharpton also referred to New York City's so-called "stop and frisk" policy, which a judge recently halted after finding it racially discriminatory, and the "stand your ground" laws that were at issue in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case.

"I'm come to tell you, just like our mothers and fathers beat Jim Crow, we will beat James Crow Jr., Esquire," Sharpton said."

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From http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/jim-crows-new-legal-career/459879/ The Strange Career of James Crow, Esquire

After the Supreme Court razed the Voting Rights Act in 2013, Jim Crow came skulking back to the South.

by William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Feb 4, 2016
"One hundred and fifteen years ago, George H. White took to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives—to say goodbye. A black Republican elected in 1896 by North Carolina’s Fusion Party, a coalition of black Republicans and mostly white Populists, he was the very last of the Reconstruction-era African Americans to leave Congress. It would be another 72 years before an African American from the South, with help from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, would circumvent Jim Crow and win a seat in Congress.

The “strange career of Jim Crow,” as chronicled by the historian C. Vann Woodward, supplanted White and the coalition he represented. Popular memory likes to imagine that Jim Crow’s career ended in the 1960s as abruptly as White’s had in 1901. But proceedings in a federal courtroom in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, over the last few weeks make it clear that Jim Crow did not retire: He went to law school and launched a second career. Meet James Crow, Esquire...

America’s Second Reconstruction—what is usually referred to as the “civil-rights movement”—pushed back against Jim Crow half a century later by exposing the moral contradiction of segregation, especially in the context of a global struggle for democracy. After the world witnessed Bull Connor’s dogs and George Wallace’s vitriol, Jim Crow was exposed as a thug and lost his respectability in Washington. Once again, it was a fusion of black and white, Christian and Jew, civil rights and labor coming together that presented the possibility of a new America. But it was also a fear of that possibility that inspired a racist backlash.

This time, Jim Crow got smarter. As in the 1890s, it was essential to exploit racial fear through divide-and-conquer tactics to maintain white supremacy. But the harsh language of states like Alabama didn’t play as well on the nightly news. The Southern strategy, which had given the South to the Republican Party for a generation, depended on a more respectable compromise between the South’s power structure and the rest of the country’s ruling elite. So Jim Crow learned the lexicon of “forced-busing,” “entitlements,” and “law and order.” And all the while, Crow attacked the Voting Rights Act as a violation of “states’ rights.”...

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RELATED LINKS
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/09/knock-jim-crow-real-origin-of-dance.html "Knock Jim Crow" - The REAL Origin Of The Dance Song "Jump Jim Crow"

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http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/09/john-crow-part-i-what-john-crow-means.html "What John Crow Means In Jamaica

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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

More Information About What John Crow (Jancro) Means In Jamaica

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information about the traditional and contemporary Jamaican meanings of "John Crow" (Jancro).

This is a continuation of a pancocojams post about John Crow that I originally published in 2012. That post is part of a three part series on John Crow. The second post in that series showcases two Jamaican Mento songs that mention John Crow and the third post in that series showcases a Reggae song about John Crow. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/09/john-crow-part-i-what-john-crow-means.html "What John Crow Means In Jamaica" for the first post in that 2012 series. That post provides links to the other two posts in that series.

Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/10/derrick-morgan-john-crow-skank-example.html for a 2014 pancocojams post on the Ska song "John Crow Skank".

And click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/10/examples-of-john-crow-say-him-naah-wuk.html for the pancocojams post that showcases a recording of the traditional Jamaican Mento "John Crow Say Him Naah Wuk Pan Sunday" (John Crow Says He Doesn't Work On Sunday"). "

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The content of this post is presented for historical & folkloric purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

DISCLAIMER:
This post isn't meant to provide complete information about the character/symbol John Crow (also known as Jancro).

I'm by no means an expert on Jamaican culture. I'm just learning about the John Crow character/symbol in Jamaica.

Additions and corrections are very welcome.

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INFORMATION ABOUT JOHN CROW
From http://www.golocaljamaica.com/readarticle.php?ArticleID=784 "The John Crow - Graceful or Disgraceful Bird"
(Apr-22-2003)
"John Crow, the common Jamaican vulture, was once widely known as a carrion crow or turkey vulture. In towns and throughout the countryside, these birds can be seen tearing at carcasses in the streets. Sometimes they circle in the sky or simply perch in trees or on housetops, often with outspread wings...

The John Crow is a bird of great symbolic importance. In the Jamaican setting it is associated with ugliness, blackness, evil and disgrace. In abusive arguments people will call each other names such as "dirty John Crow, black John Crow or heng man John Crow". The John Crow is also an omen of death. It is believed that if the John Crow perches on a housetop, someone inside will die. It is also believed that if a John Crow appears in an individual's dream, it signifies death or some other form of destruction in the person's family."...

Source: Jamaica: The Fairest Isle by Phillip Sherlock and Barbara Preston (1992) Plants, Spirits and the Meaning of John in Jamaica: Article Written in Jamaica Journal by John Rashford (May 1984)"
-snip-

"John Crow" is a folk symbol. Folk symbols evolve. What a folk symbol means now may not have been what –or only what- it previously meant and may not be what the folk symbol will mean in the future. The connections of John Crow with the spirit world and jumbie (as discussed in those documents whose titles are given above) may explain the traditional association of John Crow with death and with the color black. However, death wasn't always considered something negative in traditional West African societies, and the color "black" wasn't always and/or wasn't only associated with death. For those reasons, it's possible that the very negative image of John Crow is an old development in Jamaican culture (which is heavily influenced by West African cultures). But John Crow may have originally or early on had a deeper meaning which wasn't negative.
-snip-
It's important to note that the Jamaican "John Crow" (Janco) doesn't have the same meanings in Jamaica that the similarly named "jim crow" does in the United States.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/09/john-crow-part-i-what-john-crow-means.html "What John Crow Means In Jamaica" for more discussion about the traditional depictions of and attitudes toward John Crow (Jancro), and for information about the meaning of "jim crow" in the United States.

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UPDATE: UPDATE March 15, 2016
With regard to my comment "John Crow may have originally or early on had a deeper meaning which wasn't negative", here's information about the meaning of the "vulture" in Ashanti (Asanti, Asante) culture in Ghana, West Africa:
From Symbolizing the Past: Reading Sankofa, Daughters of the Dust, & Eve's Bayou by Sandra M. Grayson (University Press of America, 2000), Page 36
"Among the Akan, the scarab and the vulture symbolize self-begetting, self-creation, and self-birth. An Akan maxim says of Odomankoma [the infinite, the interminable, absolute being], ‘The animal that symbolizes Odomankoma who created the world is the vulture.’ “Odomankoma a oboadee ne kyeneboa ne opete. (Meyerowitz . The Divine Kingship in Ghana and Ancient Egypt. See also Danquan, The Akan Doctrine of God"
-snip-
Notes from that book:
6. "After Nunu was killed later in the film [Haile Geima’s Sankofa] no one could find her body. Shola says that the people believed that Nunu did not die; rather that a buzzard swopped down and took her back to Africa.
7. Opete is the Akan word for vulture"
-snip-
Here's information about Nunu in the film Sankofa:
"Nunu ....an African-born field hand who went about her day-to-day life with Africa still living in her heart and was characterized as a “strong motherly slave with a rebel mindset” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankofa_(film)
-snip-
Also, read http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/very-old-reference-to-john-canoe-aunt.html. That post includes an excerpt of an April 11, 1886 New York Times article that includes a reference to West Indian ceremonies that include John Canoe and Aunt Sally stuffed figures which were treated with a great deal of respect.

End of March 15, 2016 Update
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JOHN CROW IN JAMAICAN FOLKLORE
Martha Warren Beckwith's now classic 1924 collection of Jamaican folklore entitled Jamaica Anansi Stories contains at least two folktales that include John Crow. Those folktales will be featured in an upcoming pancocojams post.

As background, quoting from http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/jas/, "The trickster Anansi, originally a West African spider-god...Anansi is the spirit of rebellion; he is able to overturn the social order; he can marry the Kings' daughter, create wealth out of thin air; baffle the Devil and cheat Death. Even if Anansi loses in one story, you know that he will overcome in the next. For an oppressed people Anansi conveyed a simple message from one generation to the next:--that freedom and dignity are worth fighting for, at any odds."
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/01/four-jamaican-anancy-stories-that.html for a pancocojams post that featured four Anancy stories that include John Crow.

I find interesting that John Crow isn't associated with death in any of these stories. Instead, John Crow appears to be an anthropomorphic character like Anancy and all the other birds and animals in those folktales. It's also interesting that the name "John Crow" isn't given in Patois as "Jancro" or any other spelling. I wonder when this spelling of John Crow's name began and when John Crow became such a villainous or insulting character in Jamaican culture.

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JOHN CROW IN JAMAICAN FOLK SONGS
The Jamaican Mento songs that I've showcased on pancocojams to date-"John Crow Say Him Naah Wuk Pan Sunday", "Long Time Gal" which mentions "peel head John, and "One Solja Man" - may have been lifted from Jamaican stories about Anancy.

UPDATE: January 30, 2016
The song "John Crow Say I'm Wan' Decent Woman" is a version of the John Crow Say Him Naah Wuk Pan Sunday" family of songs. An example of that song is included in the 1981 Folkways Record album entitled "John Crow Say..: Jamaican Music of Faith, Work and Play".
The song begins with the verse
John Crow say "I wan' decent woman
Can't work can't work can't work on Sunday.
John Crow say "I wan' decent woman
Can't work can't work can't work on Sunday."

http://www.folkways.si.edu/john-crow-say-jamaican-music-of-faith-work-and-play/caribbean-world/album/smithsonian

Instead of being a despised symbol, in this Mento song John Crow is shown upholding the rules of society - that Sunday should be honored as God's day and no work should be done on Sunday.

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JANCRO AND THE CHANGING DEPICTION OF JOHN CROW IN JAMAICAN CULTURE
Here are a few quotes and editorial comments about the term "Jancro"
"Jancro" and "Kiangkro" are Jamaican Patois (Patwah) way of spelling "John Crow". I don't know how old (or how new) those spellings are.

From http://jamaicanpatwah.com/term/Jancro/1019#.VquA0-Twtv4 gives this definition for "Jancro":
"Jancro (Noun)
English Translation: John Crow

Definition:
Someone that is the lowest form of human life. Usually doesn’t have any redeeming qualities . To be called a “jancro” is one the most demeaning insults and would signify that this person is worthless as a life form and doesn’t serve much purpose on the planet.

Example Sentences
(patois) Him a jancro!
(english) He’s a scum!"

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From https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500040364847757844/
"Ted Lee Eubanks' Fermata
John Crow, or "Kiangkro." This is the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), and the bird figures into many Jamaican sayings. For example, "every John Crow tink him pickney white."
-snip-
Every [person called a] John Crow thinks his child is white [better than other (Black) children].

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From
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7niNckrXa70 "Talk Jamaican - John Crow (Jangcro) -Peter Grant
-snip-
This unfortunately visually poor quality video log was uploaded to YouTube on Jan 22, 2011. The summary to that vlog indicates that "Peter from WirelesSolutions.net shares how the term jangcro which is used to describe a vulture is also used to address people."
-snip-
Peter shares that "John Crow" is an insulting reference used by Jamaicans for males and females, including children.
-snip-
Insulting someone by calling him or her "Jancro" derives from the negative depictions of and negative attitudes about the black John Crow buzzard vulture. Given those "traditional" Jamaican depictions, I find it interesting that a contemporary description of Jancro is of an albino bird.
http://www.speakjamaican.com/jamaican-slang-glossary.htmlhttp://www.speakjamaican.com/jamaican-slang-glossary.html
Glossary of Jamaican Reggae-Rasta words, expressions, and slang.
“Jancro- John Crow, which is the name for the hated albino buzzard/vulture; also an expression of hate.”
-snip-
John Crow is hated and feared because it is a symbol of death and people hate death. Death is commonly associated with the color black. But it appears that Rastas have turned that traditional symbolism upside down by depicting the buzzard as albino. Does the albino buzzard represents White institutional power and/or White people? If that is the case, then perhaps Rastas are saying that instead of Black people hating themselves, they should hate what (or who?) hates them (oppresses them).

Although I know very little about Rastas-I don't believe that hating White people is a tenet of Rasta culture. That hate would be incongruent with the "One Love" sentiment that has become a worldwide concept thanks to the Rasta Bob Marley. Yet, all of Bob Marley's Reggae songs aren't "kumbaya". Some of them are quite revolutionary.

I'd love to know whether the depiction of John Crow (Jancro) as an albino bird is relatively recent.

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From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jancro
jancro
Jancro- John Crow, which is the name for the hated albino buzzard/vulture; also an expression of hate.
He's a jancro
That yard full of jancro's
by KC!! June 02, 2006

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Here's a comment that I wrote for the pancocojams post on the Mento song "John Crow Say Him Naah Wuk Pan Sunday" whose link is given above:
"Although John Crow is almost always a despised character, in Beenie Man's [Reggae Song] "John Crow" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOMBNQXWR60) when the (black?) motorcycle is referred to as "John Crown" it's a compliment. My guess is that like John Crow (the vulture), that motorcycle is seen as "intimidating" and "fierce" in the vernacular sense of those words."
-snip-
Having said that, my sense is that most contemporary Jamaicans don't consider John Crow to be a complimentary figure or symbol.

UPDATE: January 30, 2016
This news article serves as an example of how "John Crow" is still considered negatively in Jamaica:
"Opposition Leader Andrew Holness wants National Security Minister Peter Bunting to go beyond the apology he made for likening members of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to john crows, saying the minister should pledge not to make such utterances in future.

"While we received in Parliament the statement from the minister of national security, which acknowledges the error of his statement, we must have a commitment that such statements will never be made again," Holness declared in the House of Representatives yesterday.

Bunting, who in the past has called for divine intervention in tackling the serious crime problem locally, yesterday backpedalled on his 'john crow' comment, which was made at a constituency conference in Eastern St Andrew last Sunday."...

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20150715/john-crow-comments-must-never-happen-again-says-holness

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UPDATE: January 31, 2016
Here's a link to Jimmy Cliff's 1990 Reggae song entitled "John Crow" which is part of the sound track for the Stephen Segal movie Marked For Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2paeZozCZk
Here's part of the lyrics to that song:
...Jancro a go nyam your supper soon, boy
Jancro a go lead the children astray
Jancro a go meet the retribution
Justice has finally find it's way
Still, oh yes, you know that your time has come
You don't do right you gonna dead tonight
So now a go take you down the road to doom
The jancro a go nyam all your supper soon
Jancro a go nyam your supper soon, boy
Jancro a go lead the children astray
Jancro a go meet the retribution
Justice has finally find a way
Are you worried, says the wolf in sheep's clothing
Try to lead the children astray
But don't we know (?) a who fe frighten
Take my hands I will show you the way
Jancro......Jancro

Source: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/jimmy+cliff/john+crow_20224183.html
-snip-
"nyam" - jamaican Patois word from Wolof (West African language) meaning "eat". The name of the vegetable "yam" also comes from this Wolof word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jamaican_Patois_words_of_African_origin

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This concludes this post.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Additions and corrections to this post are very welcome.

Two Josh White "Jim Crow" Songs

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post provides information about the term "jim crow" and lyrics & sound files of Josh White's "Jim Crow Blues" and "Jim Crow Train".

The content of this post is provided for historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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WHAT "JIM CROW" MEANS
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws:

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The separation in practice led to conditions that tended to be inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.

-snip-
A person of color who is "jim crowed" meant/means that person was/is treated in a discriminatory manner [treated worse than White people in general because of one's race/ethnicity.]

A "Jim Crow town" is one whose White residents had discriminatory laws & customs.

It seems to me that the phrases "Jim crowed" and "Jim crow town" have been rarely used since at least the 1980s. However, there are still mentions at least in political circles of people wanting to bring "Jim Crow" back.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/09/huddie-leadbetter-jim-crow-blues.html for information & my comments about the origin of the term "jim crow".

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sOUND FILE & LYRICS: JIM CROW BLUES [Josh White]

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE by Josh White 1941 JIM CROW SONG



Uploaded by cdbpdx on Jun 5, 2010

Joshua White sings Jim Crow songs on the Keynote record album Southern Exposure, recorded in 1941. The melody in this song sounds a lot like 'Careless Love'. Enjoy!

-snip-
LYRICS: SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
(Josh White)

[guitar playing]

Well I work all the week in the blazing sun.
Lord I work all the week in the blazing sun.
Lord I work all the week in the blazing sun.
Can’t buy my shoes Lawd when my pay day comes

I ain’t treated no better than a mountain goat.
I ain’t treated no better than a mountain goat.
I ain’t treated no better Lawd than a mountain goat.
Boss takes my crop and poll tax takes my vote.*

[guitar playing]

I’m leavin here ‘cause I just can’t stay.
Yes, I’m leavin here just can’t stay.
Lord, I’m lea, leavin here ‘cause I just can’t stay.
I’m goin where I can get more decent pay.

[guitar playing]
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from sound file. Corrections & additions are welcome. [Update- Thanks to Clyde Pickens, October 12, 2015 for corrections to this transcription.]

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SOUND FILE & LYRICS: JIM CROW TRAIN (Josh White)

JIM CROW TRAIN by Josh White 1941 JIM CROW SONG



Uploaded by cdbpdx on Jun 5, 2010

Joshua White sings Jim Crow songs on the Keynote record album Southern Exposure, recorded in 1941. Enjoy!
-snip-

LYRICS: JIM CROW TRAIN (Josh White)

[guitar playing ]

Can't you hear that train whistle blow?
Can't you hear that train whistle blow?
Can't you hear that train whistle blow?
Lord, I wish that train wasn't Jim Crow.

[guitar playing ]
Stop the train so I can ride this train.
Stop Jim Crow so I can ride this train.
Stop Jim Crow so I can ride this train.
Black and White folks ridin side by side.

[guitar playing ]

Now hear that train whistle blow.
Can’t you hear that train whistle blow.
Can’t you hear that train whistle blow
Oh-o Lord this train is Jim crow.

[guitar playing ]

Damn that Jim Crow.
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the sound file. Additions and corrections are welcome.
-snip-
Here's a comment about this song from http://uncensoredhistoryoftheblues.purplebeech.com/2009/09/show-43-jim-crow-blues.html
"Like Leadbelly, Josh White began to address political issues in a straightforward manner in his songs. In 1941, he recorded Jim Crow Train, a classic protest song against the Southern system. It also features one of the great recorded train imitations: [lyric excerpt posted]"
-snip-
That blog includes comments & lyric excerpts from several other Blues songs about Jim Crow beginning with the 1925 song about leaving Jim Crow conditions behind, "Northbound Blues" by Maggie Jones.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & THANKS
Thanks to Josh White for composing and performing these songs about Jim Crow and other great songs. My thanks also to cdbpdx for uploading these two songs files on YouTube, and the editor of the blog "Uncensored History Of The Blues" for showcasing information about & examples of Blues songs that mention or refer to "Jim Crow".

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome.