Sometimes people are too smart for their own good(myself included) and John struck me as the type. So today, I was not shocked when I read John Mayer. My John Mayer. The John who sings,"Say what you need to say" and "Gravity" with such emotion and conviction, the John who accompanied Alicia Keys on "Lesson Learned" and the one John I would have laid with given the opportunity...Well, it was no surprise when I read he used the "N" word...John Mayer pulled a Michael Richards...I can't watch Seinfeld and my calming lovers music has been tainted.
This is the problem. John Mayer has been running with black musicians for the past few years, ranging from R&B singers to Rap Stars. He has strummed his guitar in studios with the Black Americans who are rhyming and priming North American ears for the latest trend in "Super Dope Fresh". Unfortunately in the last decade the word "Nigger" has been adopted as such.
John Mayer is not without blame. But if you play with fire in front of a child they will play with fire too.
If you show another man you can go to the moon, he will eventually learn to go too.
And if you stand before a person who has very little insight into your culture/race and condone, glorify or announce certain behaviors or words, well that person may just very well perpetuate that behavior, glorify that thinking, announce those words too.
Very few people in North America have a real empathetic view into the lives of others. I will never know what it is to be a white male in corporate America or a Latin beauty queen. I will never see the world through the eyes of a mother from China or even through the eyes of a black man in Europe. I do however, empathize, I am aware and I do try to understand cultures that I have not been exposed to. If I feel a "racist" moment coming on I think it through. I try to find the root and honestly racism, generalizations, stereotypes and that sort of bias is all ignorance.
My experiences with people has shown me I really have to take each individual as they come. I really have to look at a person for who they are not what I think they are based on their skin, hair color or facial features. I have been lucky in the sense I have been exposed to many different people, cultures and races and the wonderful human beings I have met have demonstrated to me that people are people. Just as God intended. I believe not everyone will think that my skin color and their bias towards it - is the sum of my being but I am aware when it happens.
John Mayer, while he is intelligent, creative and deep. He lacks(lacked?) the empathy and insight to see what he was exposed to for what is was. It's as simple as that. He is a white guy who has heard this language (which should not be used no matter what race you are) and he repeated what he heard. He was in the midst of the latest "Super Dope Fresh" trend and wanted to say " BLACK PEOPLE LIKE ME!" but lacking forethought,empathy and choosing not to use his intelligence he reverted to the most primal un-evolved human form of thinking and spoke ignorance.
John Mayer on Black People...
MAYER: You have to show that you don’t take yourself seriously. Once you do that, people will say you’re cool: “You know what? I gotta say I never liked him until he made fun of himself, and now I like him.”
PLAYBOY: If you didn’t know you, would you think you’re a douche bag?
MAYER: It depends on what I picked up. My two biggest hits are “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Daughters.” If you think those songs are pandering, then you’ll think I’m a douche bag. It’s like I come on very strong. I am a very…I’m just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can’t handle very, then I’m a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That’s why black people love me.
PLAYBOY: Because you’re very?
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 nigger 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.’"
PLAYBOY: It is true; a lot of rappers love you. You recorded with Common and Kanye West, played live with Jay-Z.
MAYER: What is being black? It’s making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that’s seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you’ll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude’s.
PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?
MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.
PLAYBOY: Let’s put some names out there. Let’s get specific.
MAYER: I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Kerry Washington. She’s superhot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, “Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever.” And you’d be like, “What? We weren’t talking about that.” That’s what “Heartbreak Warfare” is all about, when a girl uses jealousy as a tactic.
So...yea.I will continue to bootleg his music because thats the least I can do...I may even hear "My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick." in the background of what was my fav song "Edge of Desire".
I can't fault John,even the most educated man still has much to learn...And of course in life, we all know ignorance is bliss.
Read More of this riveting Playboy Interview
Playboy Interview
Way to get Publicity John.
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