Case Study in Racial Taboos in America

I wish I had written this myself, I can only quote it:

Dear anti-Mayer Mob. Please read the article:

http://www.playboy.com/articles/john-mayer-playboy-interview/index.html?page=2

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Since I know many of you won't bother reading all of what he actually said before condemning him, I've tried to make it easier for you by pasting an excerpt from his Mein Kampf, er I mean his interview.

Please explain to me the overt, blatant, horrible racism in (the very clumsy and un-clever) things he is trying to say.

Maybe I'm just an old clueless dude, but to me, it is very clear that he is trying to make a social commentary/point out of his ill-advised use of the "N-word".

What is his point? That it is silly for someone to tell him he has a "hood pass" (Ed. note - I am presuming that means he has full acceptance in the black community, I'm too old to have any idea really what "hood pass" means).

Why does he think the word "hood pass" is silly?

Because, if he had a true "hood pass" he could also refer to it as an "N-word pass".

Since, only black folks can (and do) use the "N-word" to refer to themselves or others, and since he as a white man, can never do that (as history and most recently so many of you Salon posters have made clear), the very concept of a "hood pass" for a white man is a contradiction in terms.

Is that so confusing? How did some of you get through your school? Is our children learning, indeed.

Please note - it is clear form this interview that Mayer is no Lord Byron, but I just don't get the racism accusations being leveled at him. Clueless perhaps, but proudly, overtly racist? If anything he sounds apologetic for the fact that he is not as color blind as he would like to be.

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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.

omg, what a racist!