Saturday, February 20, 2010

My Benetton Heart and Supremacist Dick

Oh, John Mayer, your music certainly leaves a lot to be desired but your recent comments and the consequent media storm surrounding them really sheds light on the need for celebrities not to voice racist-tinged opinions at the communal square.

In a recent Playboy(Playgirl?) interview, John Mayer was asked if black girls threw themselves at him. Yes, the interview was being completely set up for entertaining sound bites. Mayer replied that he has a 'Benetton heart but a supremacist dick.." Wow.

It's not unnatural for different races to feel comfortable dating their own kind. For example, desis are often conditioned to select a mate from their own creed, as long as the significant female counterpart was of a 'fair and lovely' stock. Generations of desis propagate the notion that it is far easier to be with someone of similar backgrounds in order to better understand cultural and social indicators. I have had many discussions with peers and older patrons who have dissected, analysed, interpreted, and preached marrying your own kind.

However, yes, there are souls who dare to break away with tradition and venture forth into the land of inter-racial/cultural relationships. And they have existed remarkedly well without any sign of disintegration of their respective races.

Which brings us back to John Mayer's comments. To each his/her own. He has the prerogative to prefer a certain type of women, be it blonde, busty, blue-eyed etc. But he has absolutely no right to express his preference in such a crude manner whereby he alienates and discriminates against an entire race of women.

There have been many fierce and eloquent reprisals of John Mayer's comments emerging from all quarters. But the fact remains that a white guy should not get away calling his dick a supremacist. The word alone epitomizes generations of hatred, murder, bloodbaths, and stigma surrounding the color of skin. How can anyone dismissively label their body part with that noun and expect people to be entertained?

I suppose by now, John Mayer, must have learned from his callow actions. But his comments have uncovered a fact that is sadly the truth. Men and women tend to prefer to date from their own races. Is that an issue? Not necessarily. As long as advocates of these intra-racial dating phenomenon refrain from flippantly using discriminative language to justify their philosophy.