The Message Everyone Missed In Atlanta’s B.A.N. Episode

The episode was entirely about society trying to force Donald Glover into a box.

On its face, the latest episode of FX’s hit show “Atlanta” titled B.A.N.* addressed widespread issues of identity in America, specifically transgendered (Caitlin Jenner) and transracial individuals (Rachel Dolezal). The episode even addressed issues of police brutality and advertising that targets Black audiences. But you probably missed that the show was solely about its creator.

In fact, the debate between rapper Paper Boi and trans expert Dr. Deborah Holt on a Tavis Smiley-like (some say it was supposed to be Don Lemon) show titled Montague was literally from his song Backpackers:

F*ck the cool kids, not Chuck Inglish
But people who think that hatin on me makes them distinguished
Like, “What is this n*gga doin? Rap is for real blacks
I hate that f*cking f*ggot, man, he think that we feel that”
Or “I wrote on rape culture my junior year at Brown
So I’m allowed to say what all his raps are about”
You better shut your mouth before I f*ck it
You really hate my lyrics now or Kid Cudi’s? N*gga

Black Twitter seemingly loved the episode and talked about how “woke” Glover is.

Yes, he supports #BlackLivesMatter, but leave it at that. Donald Glover has never liked being placed into a box. As he stated in a recent interview with Vulture, “A lot of people don’t understand me, which is good. I don’t give a f*ck.”

In the Black community, to be “down,” you have to be all the down. There would be no President Obama if he was the exact same person, but his wife’s race was different. Heck, there may not have even been a President Obama if he had married a Black woman with lighter skin. During the 2008 election cycle, I heard numerous people declare, “I’m so glad he married a ‘real’ Black woman.” Although someone’s spouse should never matter, the reality is people draw conclusions based upon race, physical appearance, attire, etc.

Even though he has a child with a Black woman on the show, Glover doesn’t exclusively date Black women. In fact, it’s not even clear he dates Black women at all. It’s difficult to determine the race of his girlfriend with whom he just had a baby, but Glover has been unapologetic about his love for Asian women.

On Backpackers he rapped:

I got a girl on my arm, dude, show respect
Something crazy and Asian, Virginia Tech

…or the You See Me hook:

I’m on my ballin’ each and every day
Asian girls everywhere, UCLA
You see me babe? You see me babe?
Asian girls everywhere, UCLA

…or this line from You See Me:

Forget these white girls
I need some variation
Especially if she very Asian

At best, he sees Black and Asian women as the perfect combination (he did used to date Jhene Aiko, after all):

Okay (alright) I’m down with the black girls of every single culture
Filipino, Armenian girls on my sofa
Yeah I like a white girl, sometimes we get together
Need a thick chick though, so it’s black and yellow, black and yellow

Does Glover’s love for Asian women make you think any less of him? It shouldn’t.

So what should you take away from Atlanta? You guessed it, he’s talked about it in a rap lyric:

Culture shock at barber shops cause I ain’t hood enough
We all look the same to the cops, ain’t that good enough?
The black experience is black and serious
Cause being black, my experience, is no one hearin’ us
White kids get to wear whatever hat they want
When it comes to black kids one size fits all

Wear whatever hat you want, Donald, wear whatever hat you want.

*I’m nearly 100% sure Glover’s decision to call the episode B.A.N. was not a coincidence, as he’s been called a B.A.N. or b*tch *ss n*gga his entire life. It also could be to pay homage to “The Boondocks,” which had a episode that revolved around the phrase.