My Take On Tanning: J-Zone

Name: J-Zone
Age: 34
Race: Black
Occupation: Writer, producer, teacher, DJ, lampoonery expert, avid music fan, ex-artist
From: Jamaica (Queens), NY
Twitter: @jzonedonttweet

What’s the racial make-up of your friends?
I can only describe it as a dish of cornbread and collard greens, Kimchi dumplings, mofongo matzo sandwich with a shot of Jameson whiskey, a Fosters beer, and a bean pie and beef patty combo on the side. Don’t forget the hot sauce.

What box do you check when asked for race on the census form?
Black /African-American

What’s your favorite musical mash-up of all time?
Not too big on mash-ups, but I’m a diehard fan of the Mash Out Posse (M.O.P)!

A recent Gallup/USA Today poll found that many Americans feel that Martin Luther King’s dream of racial equity has been achieved. What do you think?
Disagree. Inequity may be more subtle these days, but it’s still here. Class is an issue as well, but racism is still alive and kickin’ in America. If in denial, read YouTube comments on any race-related video clip. People may not act out a scene from Do the Right Thing in public, but it doesn’t mean they don’t think those thoughts. When anonymous, people will let it pour like it’s 1962 again —from all sides. I live in New York City, the most deceptively segregated big city in America, hands down.

What do you think of Jay-Z’s statement that “Hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician, or anyone to improve race relations.”?
I agree. Hip-hop undoubtedly shot the elephant in the room and made him spaz out.

What are your musical tastes in terms of genres and artists you listen to and who puts you on to new music?
Seventies funk, late ’80s — early ’90s rap, and ’60s—’70s jazz. I usually discover stuff on my own and by accident. My tastes are strange, so I rarely take anyone’s word for it — I just seek shit out myself.

How important is race to you when it comes to dating or marriage and do you have a preference when it comes to dating or marriage based on race?
I have no racial preference whatsoever. Just be sane, don’t send me any “LOL” or emoticon text messages and we’re good.

Do your parents care if you date or marry outside your race and do they have a preference in terms of race when it comes to who you date or marry?
To quote my father: “Man, just make sure that when you lay that pipe, you don’t disgrace the family name.” To quote my grandmother: “Just make sure she doesn’t want you for your money.” Unbeknownst to her, I don’t have any money. That said, I think I’m safe to date anyone I want to.

How do you feel about others who date outside their race?
Whatever makes you happy. It’s not often you can find someone you dig and it’s mutual.

Does it bother you when people of a certain ethnicity prefer not to date within their own race?”
To explicitly say you will not date anyone of your own race is pretty God damn stupid. I’ve had better luck outside of my race than with it, but I’d never refuse to date a black woman. That’s asinine.

Do you think that the trends of minorities becoming the majority and whites becoming the minority in this country will have a positive or negative impact on race relations?
Despite who is the minority and who is the majority, it’s really about where the wealth and power rest. If all the wealth and power rest in the minority, there will still be turbulence and tension.

In what aspects of your life is race still a factor?
All of ‘em! I’m a black man who happens to have an ambiguous look because of Creole and Caribbean roots. When people can’t tell what you are, they tend to walk on eggshells around you at first. At least a lot of people I’ve met are that way. I’ve met white folks who thought I was Hispanic or white, but when they found out I was black, they started putting their forearms next to mine to compare complexions and asking me about the purpose of doo-rags. I guess they felt I was a safe enough Negro to ask those questions and do that dumb shit around. I’ve had a black woman on a dating site ask me if I was mixed or “one of those Malcolm X light-skinned Negroes.” She refused to talk to me because she said she only dates mixed-race men. Never mind that she thought I looked mixed enough to ask that dumb ass question. People still call Obama a tar baby, regardless of his mixed background. I’ve met people who knew I was black, but they stated I didn’t “sound black.” Guess I didn’t say “nah’mean son” enough to qualify as a black man to them. These types of annoyances are a daily occurrence, but you learn to laugh at them.

What’s the most racist thing that’s ever happened to you?
My first grade teacher called me “Moonshine” and told the class I was a liar and a thief. I was the only black student in the class. When I asked my mother what that meant, she went down to the school and tore the bitch a new one. I’ve had other things happen to me, but that particular incident felt the most egregious because of my age at the time.

Do you have a problem with non-African-America people who grew up on hip-hop using the n-word?
All I know is V-Nasty is far and away the worst rapper I’ve ever heard in my entire life. That’s including both Barney Rubble and the guy rapping on the freecreditreport.com commercial. Her ignorance is obvious, but the level of press she’s receiving for having no talent whatsoever is what bothers me the most.

What was your reaction to Barack Obama being elected president?
Initially, I was excited. It’s something you thought would never happen — a brother in the White House! But then reality set in. A politician is still a politician, black, white, orange, or pink. jackass, elephant, or independent…They’re all the same to me.

What is your tanning moment?
I grew up around a wide array of people with different interests. But for me, it was touring in Europe. I realized then that although I’m black and hip-hop is black music, my fans were mostly Europeans and white college kids in America. I live in a black neighborhood, but nobody here gave a fuck about what I was doing. If you weren’t getting big money, appearing on BET, and didn’t make contemporary R&B, thugged-out shit, or shit for the clubs, you were basically invisible in my community and never came up in barber shop talk. Self-deprecation and eccentricity are hard sells in the black community. Nobody here was trying to hear me rap a funny story about how I met this girl at the club, broke my ankle dancing, didn’t get laid, and wound up jerking off before I went to sleep. You can’t go to a black barbershop and admit you didn’t get any ass last night and bottles weren’t poppin’; you’re worthless at that point.