BURBANK, Calif. — Gary Clark Jr. has created a lot of conversation with “This Land,” the provocative first song off his latest album that shares the same name.
In the angry blues-rock song, he recounts racial epithets hurled his way and other racist taunts before he defiantly asserts that he too is “America’s son.” In the accompanying video, young black children confront racist imagery, including a noose, among other disturbing things.
Clark says the song was sparked after he sensed a change in his Austin, Texas neighbourhood during the 2016 presidential election campaign between Hillary Clinton and eventual victor Donald Trump, and then a confrontation with a neighbour prompted him to write it.
Clark is currently on a tour across the United States.
Ryan Pearson, The Associated Press
