The Absurdity of A Country and it’s People Driven by Fear

Fear can drive us to become our worst enemies.

This post was a part of an essay series I did last year titled the “Black Album” I, you can find the other essays here.

Song Title: XXX

Artist:Kendrick Lamar, U2

Producers: Mike Will Made ItDJ DahiSounwaveTop DawgBēkonJolyon Thomas

Vocals: Kid Capri, U2

Engineer: Derek Ali

Writer: Kendrick Lamar

Spotify Playlist:

The first time I heard Kendrick Lamar’s, XXX I thought it was a song about the ways we so easily contradict ourselves. Think about it, we create these values, and principles and then swear by them. We hope to be kind, patient, loving, compassionate, and empathetic, sometimes we’re successful at it, but failure is inevitable. Because, try as you might, a time will come when you will feel threatened, or afraid. For most humans, that trigger point is all it takes to revert to our worst behaviors, and if we fall too deep into that rabbit hole, we are capable of turning into the things we fear the most. Kendrick forced me to look within, but while there is definitely a message about self-reflection, I’m starting to think I was wrong and Kendrick is actually pointing a mirror at this country.

“Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph

The Great American Flag

Is wrapped and dragged with explosives”

~Kendrick Lamar~

The United States of America is the perfect example of the manifestation of fear. It’s a country that was founded on the values of “freedom” and “Democracy,” but fails to deliver either to all of its citizens, and actively undermines other countries’ ability to do this as well. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a good reminder of the role our country plays in this world. While Putin and his oligarchs use the Russian military to reign terror in Ukraine, the United States Government is doing “everything in its power” to put an end to this unjust invasion. Honestly, it feels like Everyone in America from elected officials to media outlets has united to show our support. Sure, there are the right-wing outliers who have been fed a steady diet of Fox News, and other white supremacist propaganda, but even those spaces are publicly supporting Ukraine.

The reason is simple, as much as people in this country disagree with each other politically, we all to some level believe in our hypocritical founding “principles.” Or at least we think we do, because while we stand with Ukraine, more people in the country than not probably don’t know, or believe that Ukrainians are discriminating against African Immigrants. There’s so much military propaganda and disinformation going on, it’s kind of hard to tell what’s reality, and what’s political theatre. For example, while we “stand” with our Ukrainian sisters and brothers, the media is glossing over the fact that our military is responsible for this kind of destruction worldwide. Don’t believe me, google Yemen, and find out what’s happening over there. While President Biden defiantly told the world that America would “Stand with Ukraine” his administration has continued the long tradition of looking the other way while the Israeli government runs an apartheid state.

“Barricaded blocks and borders

Look what you taught us,

It’s murder on my street, y’all

Street, Black Streets, Wall Street.”

~Kendrick Lamar~

Some people will read this and get uncomfortable. I get it, who wants to believe that the place they call home is responsible for atrocities worldwide? Horrors that not only rival but surpass the gruesome behavior we are seeing from Russia. If these are the values of our country, aren’t we complicit for not trying to stop them? The ugly truth is unfortunately complicated, a nuance we could unpack, but would require us to break from the world we have created. Sure, someone really smart once said that the “truth will set you free,” but not when it’s shattering an idea that is grounded in how you view the world. Those are threats, and as I stated earlier, most of us, when threatened and fearful, can and will resort to the worst version of ourselves, all while shouting righteously for justice. So who is Kendrick really pointing the mirror at?