Comedian Nicole Arbour’s feminist take on the hugely popular “This is America” video by Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, has enraged activists who might otherwise agree with her #MeToo messaging.
“This Is America: Women’s Edit” garnered nearly 1.8 million views since it was uploaded to YouTube on May 12, but feedback on the video was disabled after a wave of backlash. Ms. Arbour was accused of making a “white” edit of Mr. Glover’s video, which focuses on cultural issues and challenges faced by modern black Americans.
Mr. Glover’s video is a viral sensation with nearly 138 million views since its May 5 release. The entertainer also promoted the song during a performance that night on “Saturday Night Live.”
“Yep. This is America alright. Black person creates then it’s appropriated,” comedian Andi Osho responded Monday on This is not a women’s edit. This is a WHITE womans edit. If you cannot see the difference, you’re a shit feminist and a hack.Twitter.
Yep. This is America alright. Black person creates then it’s appropriated.
— TheAndiOshow (@andiosho) May 14, 2018
“She must’ve missed the episode of @AtlantaFX where @donaldglover very specifically mocks white girls appropriating black culture,” added another.
“This is not a women’s edit. This is a WHITE woman’s edit,” tweeted a third person. “If you cannot see the difference, you’re a s— feminist and a hack.”
“In retrospect, due to the sensitive nature of the original, I understand why some people are wrongly portraying this as white vs. black,” Ms. Arbour said in statement, People magazine reported Tuesday. “However, this was not the intent or theme at all. We had a very diverse cast and creative team working on [the] project from start to finish, who signed on to honor the original while adding more truth from another perspective.”
The comedian previously said in a deleted tweet that she was “so sick of people mad at slavery” because “we weren’t there” and citizens should “focus on the now.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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