Slate has an interesting article on Michael Jackson, asking, "How 'Black' is Michael Jackson?" Good question. What do you mean by "black?" Race? As in negro? There's an easy answer to that.
Michael’s biological parents are “black”. So is Michael. But how “black” is Michael Jackson?
No pop music star has ever shared more with controversy than Jackson. The music. The family. The face. The nose. The opulent life style. Lisa Marie Presley. Neverland. The children. The court cases.
MJ is great fodder for TV and news magazines. Recent photos show him to be anything but “black” in the traditional sense.
He’d make a great character for a new Batman movie. The Joker. The Penquin. Michael Jackson.
That’s what makes the whole Michael Jackson story so tragic. There’s so much talent wrapped up in a package that can only be described as bizarre.
Saturday Night Live once ran a sketch on blacks and how they’ve become mainstream. Of course, all the examples of successful mainstream “blacks” were the likes of O. J. Simpson, Jimi Hendrix, and others of lesser fame but similar notoriety.
Michael Jackson is “black” in the traditional sense. Black parents. He’s no different than any other superstar, white or black, who fell off the edge of the world and couldn’t find his way back.
Except Prince.
hello. i’m black. i’ve never thought of micheal as anything other than black. personal choices aside, he has shown the courage to live his life as he sees fit. only time will tell if “his children” will show any odd behavior from his choices. he obviuosly needs some type of public controversey to go on around him, but, only he and those around him can explain why. one day, i hope he sits down and gets back to the one thing people really appreciated him for. his music.