Rashida Jones remembers her argument with Tupac over her father dating white women: ‘A completely unwarranted attack’

Hip hop legend Tupac Shakur was known for his divisive commentary and one such example is from his interview with The Source magazine in 1993, where he made some defamatory remarks about late singing legend Quincy Jones: “All he does is stick his d-k in white b-es and make f-ed up kids,” 2Pac said of Jones.

Naturally, Jones’ daughter, Rashida (Parks and Recreation, The Office), took umbrage with Tupac’s comments, which incited her to write an open letter to the rapper in order to refute his claims.

“Because I am the youngest of Quincy Jones’ six daughters, I cannot view this article or this man without bias [referring to the artilce in question, “War Stories” by Kim Green, Aug, ’93 issue of The Source]. But I do think that anyone who reads this article would be shocked by his ignorance and lack of respect for his people.”

Jones continued, “To demean a man like Quincy Jones, a man who came from the ghetto of Chicago and through his talent and perseverance became a living music legend, demeans the whole progress of African Americans.” She then ended her letter by saying, “Where the hell would you be if Black people like him hadn’t paved the way for you to even have the opportunity to express yourself? I don’t see you fighting for your race. In my opinion, you’re destroying it and shitting all over your people.”

Rashida remembers her argument with Tupac in a recent profile with the The New Yorker, where she explained how she felt after she’d written the letter, and after the contradictory actions of Tupac dating her older sister Kidada Jones.

“Furious!” Rashida exclaimed. “So precocious, so self-righteous. Yeah, I was so mad. It was a new perspective to me. I kind of understand the nuance more now that I’m older. It just felt like a completely unwarranted attack.”

Jones recalled that she was an intern at Warner Bros. Records when she wrote the letter to Pac.

“I printed it off my word processor and put it in an envelope and sent it to The Source,” she explained. “I was interning at Warner Bros. Records that summer, so I think I wrote it there. Maybe I had the other intern proof it for me.” The actress then said ‘Pac mistook her older sister Kidada for her in New York and apologized, saying, “And then my sister was out somewhere in New York, and Tupac came up to apologize to her, because he thought it was me.”

Jones explains that although she was initially furious, after talking to Tupac in-person the two were able to mend fences.

“It resolved itself really nicely, because when I met him, he immediately apologized to me, immediately apologized to my dad. We sat down and had a really good conversation about it, and then he was family.”

Rashida added that while Tupac’s actions were inflammatory and unwarranted, the ordeal was an important life lesson for her and one that showed anyone can make mistakes with regards to their thoughts and assumptive viewpoints, including herself.

“That was an early lesson for me, because I have been self-righteous in my life,” Rashida continued, “and I really have worked hard to stop looking at things in a binary way. We’re so flawed and so complicated.”

What do you think of the details on how Rashida Jones remembers her argument with Tupac over her father dating white women? Do you think Tupac was in the wrong and it was right for him to apologize? Let us know in the comments.