PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?
MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My d*** is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a f**kin’ David Dukec*ck. I’m going to start dating separately from my d***.
*blank stare*
The question that many people have been debating is, whether this is simply a preference or if it the manifestation of a racist heart. I say both. We all have preferences, I'll be the first to admit that I have my own preferences and well, white men just don't fit the bill. As a result, I understand where Mayer is coming from. However, my issue comes in with the likening of his genitals with a white supremacist. Bad analogy much?
In any event, why are we as black women so upset? John Mayer doesn't speak for the entire population of white men. Not only that, but most of us who are getting upset at him, weren't even checking for him in the first place. I never wanted to have sexual relations with John Mayer and if I did, then quite frankly after hearing his comments, he would have just gotten etched off my list. Your reaction to his comment should be no different than when I see a man who I MIGHT be interested in, only to learn that he doesn't know his homophones and that he can only quote Gucci Mane lyrics all day.
Moving on. If you think that was the only side eye worthy thing Mayer said in his interview, let me enlighten you...
MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a n****r pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’"Now John...Oh John. I was rocking with you when you made "Dreaming with a Broken Heart," but you're starting to do the most. What is this 1962? Or maybe I'm just not up on having a hood pass and what it means. I'm black and I've never been in a restaurant that told me they were too full to seat me. This comment is just way too reminiscent of Blago's thought that he was blacker than Barack, because he's shined shoes. Sorry, but being black is not a monolithic experience, which is why I don't dabble in generalizations.
Then some people are getting mad because he used the word n*gger.
*Deep Sigh*
Not to excuse him from saying it, but we say it too. Matter of fact, until we began to commodify the word, it was HIS ancestors that had the monopoly on it, so what do you expect? In my opinion, his usage of this word, doesn't scream racial connotations, as much as commodify the word in the sense of a "hood pass" or "n*gger pass" has little value to him.
All in all, I'm over his comment. Over people getting up into arms about every little thing. Know this: we are NOT living in a post racial society. I know they want you to believe that because we got our first black president and our first black princess (who wasn't even a damb princess, I digress) but it is not. Honestly, I believe it is part of some bigger plan. We get hyped over every little thing, people make big excuses for it and why it wasn't racist, we'll tired ourselves out, and when something racist does come along, we'll be too tired to even recognize it.
Matter of fact, Americans are so consumed with BS that is handed to them on a silver platter, that we don't go investigating important things like laws that are being passed. I bet right now as we're debating Mayer, there's a bill being passed right now that limits our civil liberties more than any other racially insensitive statement.
In any event, it was a horrible thing to say, but blame that on the First Amendment.
Ah, it works, it works. The man has free speech and I am not mad at his his first set of comments. I have never, nor do I plan to sleep with a white woman, so I'm even more extreme than he is.
ReplyDeleteHis second comment about the Hood pass/nigger pass was just him saying how he feels. As tasteless as it may seem, it just feels like he let his true colors shine through. Now we know who he really is and can stop acting like he is "one of us."
I'm not really familiar with John Mayer and the way he acts, so I can't comment on the part about him "acting like he is one of us." I do know however, that we give these so called passes away at the slightest thing. Bill Clinton plays a sax on Arsenio, Eminem spits a couple of bars, Robin Thicke does a hip twurk and we go all Oprah on them, talking about "You get a pass! You get a pass! You get a pass!" It's utterly ridiculous.
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