We Used to Like John Mayer and…We Still Do

Written By Hillary aka Steely D

Weighing in on this issue is a big deal because we’re freelancers with deadlines, however when we saw our TwitterFeed, we had to chime in. John Mayer is a good songwriter/guitarist and a decent looking guy with an admirable tattoo arm sleeve. We do not however see him as a racist because he used the word “nigger” during a Playboy interview.

Brown people tend to like the guitarist, and rock fans don’t dismiss our enjoyment of him the way many do say, if we admitted we genuinely liked Coldplay. Mayer played at Michael Jackson’s funeral for pete’s sake. Here’s what he said that made the Internet angry:

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.

To be fair, he’s right when he says that if a “hood pass” was indeed real, he could spout the word “nigger” but moreover, he’d be treated as a second class citizen in his public life. However, he admits that he hasn’t. Internet Strike One.

Internet Stike Two, he refers to his penis as David Duke, aka the longtime head of the domestic racial terrorist group the Ku Klux Klan. While the way he stated his dating preference isn’t ideal, how many of your girlfriends routinely say they wouldn’t “date a white boy because I just don’t like them.” As a friend might say, “my spirit just doesn’t take them.” While we are equal opportunity daters around these parts, everyone’s entitled to their own taste.

If these points are why we should begin boycotting John Mayer, then this is why we’re not upset with John Mayer. Sure he sounds a bit self-indulgent, but how can you not when a reporter is solely asking questions about you? Sure he doesn’t date black women, but isn’t dating white/other women why ESSENCE got reamed for that Reggie Bush cover?

ps. what the hey does “I’m very” mean? This…confuses us.

The source of the madness + image

Last 5 posts by Hillary aka Steely D

  • i actually didn’t catch the “nigger” part (and he’s right about that), i just was caught up in his racist penis. i didn’t think it was a big deal – i just think some things need to stay in your head. i just don’t think he’s regarded as irreverent or funny enough to pull off a statement like that without a modicum of internetia up in arms…

  • Josie

    To be honest, I found what he said to be more than worthy of irritation. Calling your dick a ‘white supremacist’ is tasteless, misogynistic and racist. I appreciate he may have been trying to be ironic or flippant but I don’t interpret it that way. He seems to get some sort of narcissistic, self-inflating pleasure by fantasising that his ‘struggle’ incorporates what he finds ‘real/cool’ about his idea of black culture.
    I’d never heard of him before, but he sounds like an idiot. Not that all rockstars have to be superbly eloquent but…yeah…

  • TaJye

    I agree that the way he stated his preference was insensitive on his part but everyone has their preferences. I know plenty of African-Americans who don’t and would never date outside their race so I don’t get the big deal. I know plenty of girls who are only turned on by bad boys even though their heart knows that’s not the only/best thing available. I also agree about the hood pass. Personally I don’t think anyone should use that word (black or white) but hip hop culture has made it so common place that I think a lot of people have loss their right to be upset about it. I think it is more upsetting when we use it in reference to ourselves as a way of trying to glamorize something that has the history of being derogatory. I like John Mayer as a musician and could care less who he dates or whether black people accept him. I am more concerned about the interviewers lack of intelligent questions but to each their own.

  • Valaura

    I don’t believe that what Mayer said was in any way meant to insult black women. It’s a preference. And it appears to be one that he himself doesn’t understand when he says that he is going to start dating seperately from his penis. I feel that because of the type of music John Mayer writes and performs, people expect him to be some kind of perfect, romantic, wholesome guy. He isn’t. Most people aren’t. And if you’ve ever seen the photos of him in his Borat-bathing suit, you wouldn’t think he takes himself so seriously.

  • Brunebelle

    He is an attention seeking loser! & in my opinion a luke-warm racist. Much of his music is based in earlier Rnb/Soul (Curtis Mayfield, early Stevie) he should be embarrased. I don’t care if that is his preference do you see Gabrielle Union or Oprah declaring their lack of interest in white men? He knows that was inappropriate and now he knows no-one found it funny – Joke’s on you Mayer!

  • Brenda

    I get tired of people saying well because some black people use the n-word it’s ok for all people to use it. That’s an effing excuse by racists to use the word. Because I’m black, I find the word offensive and I don’t use it. I know plenty of black people that feel the same way that I do. Also, I was watching Goodfellas a couple of years ago and the Italian characters were calling each other the w-word in a “friendly/brotherly” joking way. But you would never hear me say I can call an Italian person that because some of them call themselves that. It’s call having common courtesy and respect. Btw, I think John Mayer may be gay anyway because of some of the other comments. Wth, would he tongue kiss Perez Hilton out of the blue and say that he could outgay him. It was some of his other comments also. The way he behaves towards women makes me question if he likes any of them.

  • i’m sure you’ve already seen this but here’s one of his apology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0_F72rbH_I