OH LOOK SOME ACTIVE COLLECTIVE BLOGGING

um. so you may or may not have seen john mayer's unfortunate comments in an interview with playboy:

(not bolded by me or mayer)

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.

...

MAYER: Here’s what I really want to do at 32: fuck a girl and then, as she’s sleeping in bed, make breakfast for her. So she’s like, “What? You gave me five vaginal orgasms last night, and you’re making me a spinach omelet? You are the shit!” So she says, “I love this guy.” I say, “I love this girl loving me.” And then we have a problem. Because that entails instant relationship. I’m already playing house. And when I lose interest she’s going to say, “Why would you do that if you didn’t want to stick with me?”
PLAYBOY: Why do you do it?
MAYER: Because I want to show her I’m not like every other guy. Because I hate other men. When I’m fucking you, I’m trying to fuck every man who’s ever fucked you, but in his ass, so you’ll say “No one’s ever done that to me in bed.”


he has since retracted them, on twitter i think, but um, this clearly raises some issues. i don't know. i don't think i need to really explain anything,you know, just keeping you aware that john mayer is a c*nt. second, um, err, um. have some links instead.

racialicious
tvnz

you don't need anymore, really. so basically john mayer's casual racism is creating a shitstorm in the media, with everyone talking about what a c*nt he is, and i didn't really think anything of it beyond that till i saw the video below.



while what mayer said was borderline horrific, and at best abusive and sexist and racist, and that he marginalised and attacked what is probably a significant section of his fan (read: consumer) base (actually mayer managed to tick almost every box, so lets put it at, like, 98% of his fans and similar persons). but in the end, mayer seems almost like too easy a target. nobody in their right mind would take what he said seriously, consider it to be a well thought out, logically reasoned opinion. it instead simply serves as a really great headline, that tvnz article even spending a good half promoting mayer himself. and if you'll refer to the video above, this is not the sort of dialogue we need. while, yes, mayer got called out for what he said, which is, y'know, a good thing, the media storm isn't addressing the issues around racism that desperately need changing (institutional racism). AND still the media comes out smelling like roses, even though, especially in the states, mainstream media participation in the dialogue on race is crucial, and media companies are simply failing to live up to that expectation. and, really, all mayer ended up getting was some sort of slap on the wrist anyway. and while disgusting comments like mayer's we should reasonably expect to be reported, they are, really, the smallest blip in the grand scheme of things - john mayer is only one, lone, ridiculous souding man, after all. the greater disservice, really, is the failure to comment on what is, really, a much larger issue than any words out of a single persons mouth could be.


edit: eek. i know i write about problems in the states a lot but i would just like to point out that we are a global melting pot, and that what affects people in other countries affects us too. also new zealand is most certainly not without its own share of similar problems - just look at hone harawira, although i do, as a rule, tend to believe that our media had slightly more scruples than the states. then again, half our papers are owned by rupert murdoch, so i don't know..