The Black Justin Beiber

There's this new FX comedy show called Atlanta that stars rapper Childish Gambino as the character Earn, who is the manager of his cousin and upcoming rapper Paper Boi. Atlanta is a show about a couple of  young, black men who are trying to make it into the music business. It also addresses stereotypes about black people and gives a perspective on everyday life that is relate able today. One of the main characters Paper Boi, is a rapper who despite his negative image in the media, struggles to show that he's a good person with ethical values and not the "gangster" he's made out to be. For the most part, Atlanta stays true to the reality of the world around us. However, in this episode they switched things up a bit and made Justin Beiber black. Paper Boi and Justin Beiber both make a appearance at a local basketball game.

When Paper Boi first sees Justin Beiber, he is openly urinating on a plant in the building. Paper Boi is disgusted but no one else seems to notice. The crowd is screaming and excited for Justin Beiber, regardless of what they just saw. Throughout the episode, Beiber continues to make rude comments and be a major asshole without any consequences. His fans could care less. That's what made the performance so funny, that Justin Beiber actually does get away with doing these things in real life. He has been known to urinate publicly, spit on fans,use racial slurs, and most recently been caught driving under the influence on several occasions. However, he remains at the top of the charts and doesn't seem to suffer much in popularity. In a way, seeing Justin Beiber as black highlighted his appropiation of hip hop culture and his attitude. This is where the show is making a statement about white privilege. In this episode, we see how quick Justin Beiber is forgiven for all his behaviors, while Paper Boi remains judged as a bad guy despite who he really is. This suggests that African Americans are held to a different standard in the media. Justin Beiber gets to act out in anyway he wants while maintaining his pop/hip hop persona without any real life consequences. It makes you ask: Is it because he's young? Or is it because he's white? Would he get away with this if he was black? Maybe or maybe not. I think one of the reasons they made Justin Beiber black was because it was a cool idea and also as a comment on frequent whitewahing of minority roles. Like Stephen Glover, one of the directors of Atlanta said, "No black kid is ever gonna get the job to portray Justin Beiber. This was a chance for this to happen".