My take on that was a little different: In the other two instances of gun-violence, he (“America”) was perpetrating the violence on other black people. No one takes any action against him. The guns were then venerated and cared for, the cops come in, and the people around (all black) get oppressed while he turns his back on it and walks off.
But the third verse has him holding nothing, simply looking like he’s holding a weapon, and everyone freaks out and starts screaming/running.
I took that as a commentary on the shooting of unarmed black men holding nothing or something utterly non-gunlike. I’m sure him looking exhausted and then lighting up a joint right afterwards has some meaning too.
Yeah, pretty good for me. I relish any chance I get to talk about politics with my kids as a willing audience. An hour spent jointly researching the term “Jim Crow” and the history of institutionalized racism was honestly the high point of an already pleasant weekend. Parenting is a long-term activity; it’s not often that you get a positive indication that your kid is going to end up being a better human being than you are.
@Nesrie might be amused that I cited her definition of white privilege in the later dinnertime conversation.