Playboy, Passes, & A Racist Penis

I'm sure this topic has been beaten to death in the blogosphere over the past week, and I may be late in discussing it (especially in this instant message-twitter-google buzz world we live in), but eff it. I feel like talking about it anyway, not only because I like to look at my own words (which I do), but also because I don't think it's been discussed from my particular point-of-view.

After John Mayer's Playboy interview leaked (click here to read it), there were two things that I saw everyone up in arms about: his racist penis and his ownership of a "nigger pass." Now, as a black man who's not only super-proud of his heritage but also someone who has made a number of public statements about my love for black women, I guess I was supposed to be annoyed and bothered by Mayer's statements. I should call him a racist, ban his alleged "hood pass" and tell everyone to boycott his music. But guess what? I'm not doing any of that stuff. And to be honest, I wasn't even offended by what he said.

If you're surprised/shocked/appalled by my lack of concern, I would implore you to go and read the interview for yourself. I say that, of course, because I'm willing to bet that most of the people who were upset by Mayer's statements didn't even read the context from which the statements came. As a product of a journalism education, I'm well aware that a quote without the proper context can sound completely different than how it was meant to sound. But when you read the article, you'll see that neither of his "offensive" quotes were actually meant in a racist way. I'm convinced that the same people who were quick to get offended either didn't read the article or misunderstood the context from which the quotes came. Let's explore...

First and foremost, people were mad that he said that his "d*ck is sort of like a white supremacist." Now, that's a ridiculous quote already, so I don't know how you could even get mad at something so nonsensical. But beyond that, he didn't even call himself a supremacist. He said his penis was racist. Which means, of course, that he doesn't bang black chicks. How is that offensive? Are we going to call every white man who doesn't sleep with black women a racist?? I didn't think so. Let's move on.

The second quote that people made a big deal about came after he was asked how he felt about having a "hood pass". His quote read:

"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?"

Now, I know that we as black people are trained to get mad every time a white person says "nigger" without taking into consideration the context from which it came. But we were also taught to always show up late and to use Vaseline instead of lotion. Point being, that doesn't make it right. The point Mayer was making is that he doesn't feel he has a hood pass, because to have a pass amongst black people would mean that he also had a pass to say the word "nigger", which he recognized that he does not. Of course, no one bothered to think about any of that before they got upset.

Furthermore, who ever told John Mayer he had a hood pass in the first place? Most of the hood, ghetto people that I know probably never even heard of John Mayer or his music. Is this just because he made a few songs with hip-hop artists? Because if that's the case, then do Adam Levine, Madonna and Lily Allen have hood passes, too? The idea in itself is no less ridiculous than Mayer's quote.

Now, even with this explanation, I'm sure people are still going to say, "But wait! Even if it wasn't racist, it was irreverent! It was uncalled for! He should have known better than to use those phrases!" In response to that, I would actually agree. But the entire interview was laced with inappropriate, irreverent comments. Mayer's reputation as pop music's biggest douchebag is predicated around the fact that he just says things without any form of censorship. In the same interview, he said:

"I want to show her I’m not like every other guy. Because I hate other men. When I’m f*cking you, I’m trying to f*ck every man who’s ever f*cked you, but in his ass, so you’ll say 'No one’s ever done that to me in bed.'"

Case in point, this is not a normal person who says normal things.

The point is, John Mayer says stupid stuff. But that doesn't make him racist. When I read the interview, I was actually laughing, because everything he said was so outrageous. I think we black people like to play the race card too much, and we love accusing someone of being a racist. But this time, as is often the case, there is no basis for a racist accusation. Please, for the love of God, stop making snap judgments before reading into the details, and stop accusing everyone of being a bigot. It's getting old.