[Intro]

1. (The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only, no parking)
2. America! Ha ha ha! We love you
3. How many people are proud to be citizens
4. Of this beautiful country of ours, the stripes and the stars
5. For the rights that men have died for to protect?
6. The women and men who have broke their necks
7. For the freedom of speech the United States government has sworn to uphold… or so we’re told
8. (Yo, I want everybody to listen to the words of this song)

Annotation:

Eminem released this album when the “War on Terror” was in full swing and patriotism was high. A lot of the rhetoric used to invade Afghanistan and Iraq was that terrorists attacked because they hated freedom, and that soldiers were dying to protect freedom.

Not only does this view fall badly to scrutiny, but raving about freedom is quite absurd when the country was simultaneously attempting to censor artists such as Eminem.

Note: Em uses iambic meter in this intro, that is, pattern of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables.

Eminem employs sarcasm, or even satire. He describes America in a way that makes it sound like America should be proud. As the song continues, however, it becomes clear that he thinks American shouldn’t be so proud after all.

Eminem, a virtually unknown rapper, rocketed to fame with his debut album The Slim Shady LP. And while his talent cannot be denied, his success brought with it a vicious assault against him – some from the highest levels of American government.

Eminem has triggered countless amounts of conversations and arguments, not only because of his incessant controversy, but also because of his presence in a music genre excessively associated with African Americans. At the top of his career, from 1999 to about 2003, he also received a lot of resentment, due to the attention and honour he had received from the entertainment establishment, which was unlike what any other black hip hop artist had ever received at the time. In “White America”, Eminem even acknowledges himself that the continuous positive reception he had received from consumers, and particularly critics and the media was primarily because of complexion, and not only his dexterity.

In the critical song, Eminem meticulously points out conspicuous inconsistencies in the social structure of the United States, particularly its censorship of freedom of speech and the prevalent racial discrimination in the entertainment establishment, specifically between white people and African Americans. It apprises the listeners with the United States Government’s contradictions and how Eminem, as a white male, was deliberately placed as a vanguard for hip hop; a music genre dominated and originated by African Americans, simply because of his white skin color and not only his artistry.

The attempts to censor Eminem were based on the fear of his influence on American children and came mostly from white, suburban people who had not paid attention to rap before. This song was part of Eminem’s response to the bitter controversy, Congressional hearing and censorship his lyrics caused when they hit the mainstream White American audience.^[1]