YouTuber blasted for making 'white version' of Childish Gambino's This Is America

Childish Gambino’s The Is America video has sparked debate after going viral, but now people are outraged by one YouTube star who has created a ‘white women’s version’.

Canadian YouTuber Nicole Arbor – who has some 417,000 subscribers – has come under fire for her version of the Gambino song that’s generated widespread debate for its commentary on the treatment and disenfranchisement of black people in America.

In his original, Gambino – Community and Solo: A Star Wars Story actor Donald Glover – raps about and shows the graphic nature of gun violence, minority oppression, and the history of slavery and racism.

Arbor, 32, uses the social commentary to switch the focus to women’s oppression, replacing key moments with ones realigned towards women issues. For example, the point where he shoots a man in the back of the head while standing in a Jim Crow pose is replaced by a woman breastfeeding in public and her taking a photo of it.

Watch her version below to see how the two compare with the issues that are raised.

You can check out Arbor’s version here. Warning: NSFW, with explicit content and language some readers may find offensive.

Then compare it to Gambino’s original here. Warning: NSFW, with explicit content and language some readers may find offensive.

However, people didn’t quite see the point of what Arbor was trying to make, claiming that it was highlighting oppression by piggybacking off of another oppressed group.

When she enthusiastically tweeted out the video to her 79.8k followers, the response was rather mixed.

One user noted how mocking the video for Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines was fine because it was critical of the original and warranted. This, however, was not and describes it as an ‘all lives matter’ song.

Another tweeter made the point that this was a ‘white women’s edit’ that came during a time where several reports had come to light of white people calling the police of black people who were at their own homes, BBQing in a public space, or simply moving into their new homes.

After almost a million views on her channel, Arbor disabled the comments section which blew up with criticism and hate towards her.

She does, however, try to explain her intent for making the video:

I thought it best to respond to the misinterpretation of my video here to clarify openly,’ she began.

‘The purpose of my rendition was to honour the spirit of the video which absolutely moved me, by adding my and many women’s life experiences and truths to the brave and brutal truths expressed in the original.

‘It was created with every intention of bringing a light to women’s experiences such as the shaming of mothers breast feeding, common place date rape drugging, the labels put on us of “prude or hoe,” pressures to create a family, workplace harassment, the glass ceiling, drug dependency, effects of social media on modern relationships and self, and included a nod to the cheerleaders who have come forward demanding at least min wage from the multi million dollar corporations they work for.

‘It was a tongue in cheek way to give additional glory to what I believe is the most impactful piece of art in recent years. In retrospect, due to the sensitive nature of the original, I understand why some people are wrongly portraying this as white vs black. However, this was not the intent or theme at all.’

The YouTuber has also been criticised for her other vlogs, where she mocks depression and calls it ‘a decision’, as well as a video claiming women were actually oppressed by other women.

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