The DELUSION of IDENTITY Politics
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
173.94345
Summary
In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the controversial topic of whether or not it's okay to change your race. We are joined by jazz bassist, singer, songwriter, dancer, and all-around great singer/songwriter, Ms. Jemele to discuss this controversial topic.
Transcript
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in the chat why is it okay to like change your sex but you can't change your race i've always
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said yes i think i think rachel rachel does what was that her name i think she should be allowed
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like she actually helped black people i think change your race if you if you want to change
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your race like do you like it's a actually a free world it's not that yeah i'm actually tired yeah
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sorry let me let me let me just okay let me just zone in on this so all right if i if i
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jesus if i really wanted to be black yeah i could just i could just go go tanning that's blackface
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and yeah and yeah and just get i don't know and dress i think the idea is that no no no i could
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dress i could dress in african clothes no i i'm so surprised that you just said that this lady
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she worked to help black people okay okay let's let's say let's say if i the next two years i
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i started an orphanage in africa i'm just asking i'm just asking then i come back would that win
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me would i could i change my race no no no i just need a yes or no no i just need of course not
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no no no i don't actually i don't actually agree with racial daughters we're doing that what i'm
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saying is actually trying to help black people she said yes i'm like wait okay can i give a different
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perspective on this i want your answer i want your answer guys one at a time wait guys say the question
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again one at a time oh sorry wonderful say wait so you're asking me if it's okay for you to change
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your race yeah i think you can change your race in your own little self but don't expect me to call
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you black or give you a pass to say the n word but you just said it was okay no no no i said i said
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yeah do if you want to identify as a goddamn table be a table for all i care just don't force me to them
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put my cup on you and pretend you're a table see here the thing this is the thing right this is this
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is where it starts we start by allowing people to do it in their own and then those people get
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entitled in the do you know what yeah no that's true you're right it's a slippery slope because
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i mean if we told caitlin freaking jenner that she couldn't have the female courage award like
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seven years ago where would we be today she's she's she's the world's greatest yeah thank you very
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much get get stop and then and then we now we got that freaking that dude swimming in the girls
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division and taking our titles taking the same award when there's people women who've been women
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their whole lives and done things that's just how good men are i'm sorry no i'm not even i'm not
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talking about the the athletics i'm talking about the women that you are completely disagreeing with
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everybody but i actually don't disagree like i agree with all of you but just a different perspective
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someone who's grown up in the music business especially jazz jazz has taught me a lot of things
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about the world and culture that the rest of the world did in tea tree um jazz taught me that i could
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be black but can i ask you a question what does it mean to be black what okay to have soul are you black
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no but but it's so inspired it it showed you how to be black in america maybe but what about black
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people in africa and nigeria or could you explain that i need you to explain that more well um there may be
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some people who disagree with me but i believe that in a large part the american art form as jazz of
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jazz is very much a black art form it's not only black there there is a whole movement out there that's
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pushing black american music and trying to call jazz black american music i disagree wholeheartedly
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because that uh eliminates the latin american influence that eliminates all the other influences
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that have made jazz what it is today but anybody who plays jazz anybody who loves jazz can not
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self-respectingly say that it's not a black music so when i play with black musicians my biggest
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compliment is when you got the 75 year old bass player that's in there watching you like who the
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hell is this mother who just walked up to the stage thing and he knows what he's doing
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and he you play a little bit and you look back did i do okay and he just goes
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how does how does that how does that make you black okay okay so that that that's one degree of the
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acceptance uh-huh over the years i've had many musicians tell me oh yeah you're honor where you're
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black because now i'm not saying that i'm black but i understand what black music is and what makes
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music that that culture i understand where gospel comes from i understand where slavery led to the
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roots of what became jazz i understand how pain produces art i get that that doesn't mean that i'm
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black i'm saying that black people have over the years in my in my business have made me feel
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accepted into their community yeah and have many times told me straight up you're the you're the
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blackest brown guy i know see that's one thing that's one thing i think one problem that's just
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that's not me saying i'm black no no no no but for me that's one thing that i i haven't heard
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any other ethnicity any other race say give out freely give out like oh you're this yeah you're
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black you're black you're black and like give it out to people that's something that frustrates me
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because yeah there's no there's no white car yeah we accept like we we're so accepting as a community
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and i would i would if i heard you play and i thought oh that that boy got sold like man he can
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actually play and it's like accepting by the black community when you do things that are essentially
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from the black community and they accept you but we just freely oh like we got a stack of black cards in
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our back pocket and we everybody gets one but as soon as someone in the black community does something
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that is not black we snatch it quick and it's so frustrating and i'm not saying that that's a
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like what you experience is a bad thing but i do not think that you can change your race because it's
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different from i don't i just don't think you can change it because there's more in it than just
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your skin color or just saying that you're from wherever you are and just saying i'm this now
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so my question to you right is that would you understand that maybe amongst the peers and the
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people that you've like been around they've accepted you and like they've they've allowed you into their
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space that they may even call sacred at some point would you understand that that past isn't
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all the way around absolutely okay i would never say that now i'm black because somebody black put their
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hand on my shoulder i would say that i've been accepted by the the people who made this music
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for me to come and play i i've been invited to the tribe that doesn't mean that i'm black and and for
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the same reason so that's why i bring out this opposing view is to to prove the point that anybody who
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claims to be something they're not simply because they decide to do so is actually disrespecting that which
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they're trying to claim because for me to call myself black would be absolutely disrespectful
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to those people that i look up to and want their acceptance but the thing that i find really crazy
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is the way everyone's reacted so energetically to the idea of you being black because you play
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the saxophone very well people don't have that same energy when it comes to the original question you
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know you know you know a man saying he's a woman a woman saying they're a man and i think it's
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interesting how slowly over time you know people push you know the envelope slowly slowly slowly so
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when you make acceptance of someone saying they are i feel like i'm black so i am black and you saying
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oh it's okay to think that and then you know as long as you don't force me to do it but that's how
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it initially starts and then it becomes and grows more into more you know there's now like an older
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gentleman about 50 55 60 years old it didn't define it's a 13 year old yep yep i just think get out of
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here i just think there's a special place in hell for that man i'm sorry jesus