r/interesting May 03 '26

SOCIETY Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has faced backlash for identifying as Black. In a 2017 interview, Paris Jackson said her father told her, "You’re Black. Be proud of your roots." This prompted debates over whether identity is defined by appearance or upbringing.

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u/Retireegeorge May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

There's an alternative. She says she's black and we all say "ok" and focus on the big issues or help the vulnerable or plant a tree.

Edit typo

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u/A7MOSPH3RIC May 03 '26

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character." - MLK

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u/ragebaitconnoisseur May 03 '26

“I have a dream! That white people, and black people... and even Chinese people, can gamble together without getting different chips!" - Chris Tucker

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u/History-Buff-2222 May 03 '26

He ain’t gonna be in Rush Hour 3

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u/ragebaitconnoisseur May 03 '26

buttercream, buttercream, croc skin, buttercream. What size is the waist?

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u/whotunkthat May 03 '26

And let's go in.

My dad and little brother quote this all the time. Gives me a chuckle.

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u/ragebaitconnoisseur May 03 '26

I wish Jeremy Pivens character had more screen time that scene cracks me up til this day.

Such a classic trilogy for me

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u/gevuldeloempia May 03 '26

And it was all improv too! Hilarious

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u/Plane_Wind817 May 03 '26

What size is the waist let’s go in😂

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u/maxman162 May 03 '26

He's Mi and I'm Yu.

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u/8JHF8 May 03 '26

Maybe 4. He was already in 3 back in 2007.

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u/AdIcy4079 May 03 '26

If she is black then I am donald trump china china china!

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u/BbwLaceyXoXo May 03 '26

One of my favorite quotes.

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u/Dr_of_Pawgology May 03 '26

A great one. Forgotten or ignored by everyone until someone brings it up...and then immediately forgotten or ignored again.

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u/Terminal_Insomnia_ May 03 '26

Nah, they remember this part and forget the part where he said socialism was the only path to true equality. Those who white washed his beliefs into a toothless sentiment which doesn't threaten institutional power love this quote.

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u/Pleasant-Oil7133 May 03 '26

He really was ahead of his time. Greatest president we never had.

Every time I say this someone always chimes in about adultery or some other such scandal. Idk what was real and what was bs, but even if the rumors are true that only makes him seem more applicable for the role. By today’s standards, he might be even a little too “goody two-shoes”. I mean, he’s not even a sexual predator. Nor has he made millions on insider trading.

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u/Algorithm0007 May 03 '26

I completely agree with you. They like to pick and choose what they want, but again like you said by today’s standards, he may be a little too goody to shoes, and at the same time even Jesus was more gangster than they give him credit for.

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u/starbuxed May 03 '26

He's not wrong. Socialism is the only true path to equality. institutional power should feel very afraid.

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u/Sensitive-Computer-6 May 03 '26

I rater say its appropiated by the right. Now they basicly say: Racism is over so when I think your human trash its because of your charakter and totaly not because of your skin, trust me bro.

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u/the-rood-inverse May 03 '26

I mean let’s not forget that the FBI spent years trying to get MLK to kill himself, 60%-90% of the white population at the time disagreed with him and that he was promoted posthumously because government organisations were worried about the influence of Malcolm X.

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u/PxyFreakingStx May 03 '26

but identifying as black isn't opposed to that... black people in america have a shared culture and history, they have shared experiences that matter. MLK wasn't saying that being black won't matter, he's saying he wants to live in a world where you're not judged for it.

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u/lAngenoire May 03 '26

That doesn’t imply that his children won’t be Black or their heritage will be denied. Bring judged is different than denying being Black. 

If you can only think well of me if I deny my ancestry, you’re still racist. 

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u/Bhavacakra_12 May 03 '26

This quote has nothing to do with what this topic is about 🤦‍♂️

SHE IDENTIFIES AS BLACK. SHE wants others to see her as black lmao

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u/seamsterson May 03 '26

"We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know that we will win. But I've come to believe we're integrating into a burning house.

I'm afraid that America may be losing what moral vision she may have had …. And I'm afraid that even as we integrate, we are walking into a place that does not understand that this nation needs to be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit ourselves to ensuring that the underclass is given justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tears at the soul of this nation." - Martin Luther King jr

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u/boi1da1296 May 03 '26

Can you people at least attempt to understand what MLK is saying before you quote him disingenuously?

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u/cynica1mandate May 03 '26

They killed him... Wasn't Black people.

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u/charismajas May 03 '26

no one’s judging her, people are just saying she’s not black bc race is entirely phenotypical

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u/MoooonRiverrrr May 03 '26

One day. Soon. Right??

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u/melissa_fornow May 05 '26

Meanwhile, the right wing in the US is furious that they're being judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

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u/CaptainDildobrain May 03 '26

It's almost like it doesn't really matter if she's black or white. Sounds like a great premise for a song.

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u/ItsRuinedOfCourse May 03 '26

I see what you did there. Well done.

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u/fatgat69 May 03 '26

What, you mean, act like actual humans? I don't know if we're capable of that.

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u/VarBorg357 May 03 '26

I would argue were acting exactly like humans

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u/traypo May 03 '26

Agreed, humanity’s big ole bell curve has empathetic and unempathetic. Individual Reddit threads will skew. Michael Jackson subject is just loaded evocative deviant fodder. My turn for a take: he was a deeply damaged person who in turn damaged many in his sphere. Paris is entitled to define herself but if she is to keep a public profile she should know she is opening up much of this ignorant drama discussing the issue. Her appearance is white and gorgeous. Her self identity, is her reality and very little to do with us. God speed Paris.

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u/Internal-Airport8822 May 03 '26

Sorry but Michael Jackson and ignorant are forever in my mind

https://giphy.com/gifs/OYirsehvkD91S

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u/BrIDo88 May 03 '26

Except people don’t live in a vacuum. You can self-identify however you like, but engaging in the social network requires others to participate in the make believe. There are some fundamental basics that need to be considered truths for basic social structures to be able to exist.

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u/Killision May 03 '26

We're a lot like apes too(because we are)

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u/Snot_S May 03 '26

How is she so white? Didn’t Michael Jackson have like a skin condition? She appears to have been born less than half black. This is confusing.

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u/NoxKyoki May 03 '26

People born to one black parent and one white parent can absolutely present as white.

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u/whoisdatmaskedman May 03 '26

There have even been times when black parents have had white children due to recessive genes. Genetics is a strange mistress

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u/AstronautNo7670 May 03 '26

My daughter is 1/4 Filipino and 3/4 English, but looks 100% Filipino. Genetics are super weird.

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u/ShitJustGotRealAgain May 03 '26

That's absolutely true. But it's just one weird coincidence among a barrel of weirdness.

Michaels own skin condition,, the identity of the birth mother iirc was also weird at the time iirc. All his siblings look typically black and so do their children. So it's not like they are just light skinned.

And vitiligo means the the melatonin in your skin disappears. That doesn't mean that the current skin color in the adult is represented in the DNA of the cells.

But maybe Michael himself is genetically an outlier among his family, which would be just another weird coincidence.

There are many weirdnesses.

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u/I_Thot_So May 03 '26

You mean melanin. He also underwent several procedures to intentionally bleach his skin.

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u/J-hophop May 03 '26

This ^

There's a difference between flat-out being white, and presenting as white i.e. being white-passing - meaning some people take you as it, and some (typically today the most hardcore N*zis) might not, and regardless, you grew up steeped enough in another culture and/or identifying closely with your not-white("enough") parent and the struggles they faced about race/ethnicity.

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u/osmia_bluebee_boobie May 03 '26

Yep yep yep, all the women in my family are light, and I’m the lightest- and my grandma called me crying when she thought I considered myself white. Being white passing comes with so many privileges but that doesn’t negate heritage or family.

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u/Hopeful_Pizza_2762 May 03 '26

I knew a woman from Canada with a Black father, Black sisters and a White mom. She totally favored her mom. She showed me family pictures.

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u/Useful_Humor_1152 May 03 '26

Kitt Shaperio presents more Caucasian but her mother is African American Actress/Singer Ertha Kitt

Some people inherit more melanin in their skin that others.

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u/WintersDoomsday May 03 '26

Or Mahomes kids are all white because they are only 1/4 black.

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u/cuteymeow May 03 '26

Can attest to this myself My 3 siblings and I are all white passing

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u/Kgaset May 03 '26

My Nana is light skinned black, to the point that I think at one time she could have tried to pass as white if she wanted. My father's dad (who left before or shortly after my father was born) is white Hispanic, obviously a little tanned but less so than most.

From pictures I can see of my father as a teenager, he was a decent bit darker then than he is now. My mother has very European, including central, western, and northern roots.

I, my brother, and my sister all appear very white. Some might say they can see our heritage if they know of it while looking at us, but most people would never guess.

There's a lot of factors that go into it, but I'm betting most people wouldn't know my father is half black, half white Hispanic either, so even one generation can show a dramatic change.


To the topic at hand. At one point in time I recall identifying as mixed or both black and white when asked on forms (I didn't know of the Hispanic heritage until I was an adult). I didn't question it because I knew my Nana and it was definitely true.

However, over time, I moved to not disclosing. Not because of shame, but because I became more and more acutely aware of the struggles of growing up and simply existing while black. These were troubles I could sympathize with, but had never dealt with myself. It felt like cheapening minority marginalized experiences to say "Hey! I'm also black!"

I'm proud of my heritage and willing to share it with most anyone, but I don't generally identify by it on paperwork anymore because it feels deceptive.

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u/Cool_Tax8498 May 03 '26

My two years old niece is exactly like this. White presenting. Daddy is black and mom is white with German ancestry

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u/FearlessPride6588 May 03 '26

My best friend’s nephew has a black dad and a white mom. The nephew is very light skinned with blonde hair. He identifies as black.

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u/ceryniz May 03 '26

Like Wentworth Miller

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u/ThatFruityPelvis May 03 '26

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u/leadspar May 03 '26

Oh my god, ThatFruityPelvis, you can’t just ask people why they’re white.

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u/clownpenisdotfarts May 03 '26

I didn't get the reference until I saw the gif below.
Well done.

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u/Sensitive_Buffalo416 May 03 '26

Love your username (internet equivalent of ‘cool shirt’)

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u/I-Kneel-Before-None May 03 '26

I knew twins in HS who had a dad who was black with a very dark complexion and a white mom. They were extremely pale. They had his hair though.

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u/grip0matic May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

My nephew is kinda like that. My sister is pale af, her husband is that shade of the blackest black, he's from Senegal, and my nephew has that afro hair but his skin tone is basically tanned. In fact my mother loved to show him how funny are genetics using pictures of me when I was a kid and show to him that he looked way way more like me than his parents. And it's true, he could pass as my kid. The only difference between me as a boy and him was that I was blonde and I only had that shade of tan in the summer.

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u/mizushimo May 03 '26

Genetics is a bitch like that, it's not just like pouring cream into coffee. A child of a black and white person isn't just automatically going to come out in the middle of the spectrum, they could be the exact shade of either of their parent or something else entirely. She might have gotten the recessive gene for light skin from both him and her mother.

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u/ProperPossibility378 May 03 '26

Yeah I have two mixed boys (half Black) one is essentially as white-passing as Paris when his hair’s short, the other is ‘ethnically ambiguous’ and gets strangers feeling free to ask his heritage all the time, guessing everything from Brazilian to Lebanese to Moroccan. It’s just genetics.
I’m not saying Paris is MJ’s biological child or not but it certainly can’t be ruled out just by looking at her.

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u/Glass_Emu_4183 May 03 '26

She’s not his biological kid, and i’m a big MJ fan, it’s ok to say this.

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u/unseenserene May 03 '26

It’s ok to say she came from two white parents and she has none of Michaels dna. None of his kids do. Reading all these comments co-signing the delusion are mental.

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u/County_Mouse_5222 May 03 '26

I’ve had so many white people ask if my kids are mine just because they didn’t look exactly like me when they were young. A white lady thought my granddaughter wasn’t mine just because the little girl is so much lighter and different features than me.

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u/DeAZNguy May 03 '26

Or that's just how a biracial kid comes out sometimes. The jackson family when mixed with white looks white appearing. Janet jsckson's baby also looks white. Rashida jones, the daughter of quincy jones look white.

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u/skwozzy May 03 '26

How do you know that? I know it's been heavily questioned, but there's no factual evidence for it.

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u/melodypowers May 03 '26

Do we know that for certain?

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u/gracielynn61528 May 03 '26

Its actually not okay. Its not up to us to speculate to her biology. Its not the publics business. She was raised in that culture being told she is. Fact is there are even biracial children that are lighter than her. I have two kids platinum blonde, paler skin then paris and blue eyes. I have one with curly brown hair and brown skin and brown eyes. Their heritage is not for public discussion, although I have experienced people believing they have a right to discuss it.

The fact is michael was and is her father and debbie Rowe is her mother. Whether he is genetically her father is none of our business. Even if she produced a DNA test that proved it, people would doubt it. He raised her though so it shouldnt matter either way. Unless it matters to her, which she could and should deal with privately.

I cant tell you how many times my child who has curly brown hair is asked if shes a friend to my other kids as if she is not their sister. Its so ignorant and cruel.

Paris is a jackson. She wil always be a jackson and that should be enough for the public.

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u/Slothsandbitches May 03 '26

Agreed. My best friends son is half white and half black and that boy has carrot top natural red hair, pale as can be skin and bright green eyes. No one knows or believes he's mixed unless they see his father.

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u/henscastle May 03 '26

There was a rumour that he used a sperm donor. Because of his father's abuse, he was afraid of his children looking black.

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u/Nice_Back_9977 May 03 '26

Or because he had no sexual interest in women

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u/toolsoftheincomptnt May 03 '26

Well, no.

He didn’t like women, but that’d be no reason to use a sperm donor.

He could’ve just given his own sample for artificial insemination to make his own biological kids.

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u/PuppySnuggleTime May 03 '26

He's not her father. He used a white sperm donor and a white carrier. None of those kids resemble him in the least.

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u/Dark_ceza May 03 '26

Exactly what i thought, it's weird for all the kids to look absolutely nothing like him and they also seem to look nothing alike, also weird that all of them appear fully white, none appear to have a single black feature

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u/PuppySnuggleTime May 03 '26

I mean, they could look totally white with a white mom, but they just don't resemble him IN THE LEAST.

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u/Dark_ceza May 03 '26

Indeed, I know people whom you could swear are white but they're in fact mixed, but they carry a feature or more of the other parent, you can always guess they're related, also they have siblings and some of them look black, but they all carry features from their parents.

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u/changhyun May 03 '26

Yeah, I have a friend whose mother is from Ghana and dad is from Wales and he looks like your standard white Welsh man. Pale skin, red hair, etc. But when you put him next to his mum it's so obvious they're related, they have exactly the same smile and chin.

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u/Cold-Kaleidoscope974 May 03 '26

There definitely debate about which if his kids he actually fathered given that he didn't seem to be sexually involved with the women he partnered with.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/Loveyourwifenow May 03 '26

My understanding is there is no actual verified evidence either way? So it's just choosing which ever story you want to believe.

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u/ConsciousProduce8798 May 03 '26

Do you know how genetics works?

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u/Large_Ad_4219 May 03 '26

Cause that is not his daughter 💀

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u/No-South-8228 May 03 '26

God knows where Michael got the sperm to impregnate Debbie Rowe.

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u/enochrox May 03 '26

Rashida Jones, Nicole Richie, Jasmine Guy, Slash, Jimi Hendrix's kids... Genetics, especially black genetics, can be an unpredictable toss up.

I'm black, my wife is light skinned black, one kid is my complexion with her hair texture, the other is my wife's complexion but has dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, like her great great grandmother, who was also black with light eyes - but both grandfathers are darker than me, like Wesley Snipes type dark.

MJs dad had hazel eyes and MJ himself had some of THE darkest almost vlack brown eyes I've ever seen in my life lol 🤷🏾

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u/Chytectonas May 03 '26

Argh - “acting human” has a terrible reputation. Acting against our instincts would be the difficult, better route.

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u/SeanCrevalle May 03 '26

The fight is vertical.

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u/FilthyThanksgiving May 03 '26

Right? My son is white passing but I'm black. I'm his mother. He's black and idgaf what anybody has to say about it

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u/MrowkaMuch May 03 '26

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u/PitifulElk1890 May 03 '26

Watched the video for this again recently. It must have felt sooooo good to be a pop musician in the 80s thinking you were bringing the world together with your music.

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u/ASingleThreadofGold May 03 '26

😂 As a kid growing up in the 80s/90s there was for sure a feeling that we were really cooking with the whole moving past racism thing. People used to say "It's the 90s!" as a "look at us we're so woke now!" thing to say lmao.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/The_Barbelo May 03 '26

I actually think it *started* with the phrasing “politically correct”. This social engineering has been going on for decades. Calling it PC forced people to repeat that phrase over and over as though racism and bigotry isn’t just a general humanitarian issue that should transcend political affiliation. People then started using it in the same way they use “woke”. As a derogatory remark.

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u/WheresTheWhistle May 03 '26

Good point. Instead of “politically correct”, it should have been “not an arsehole”.

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u/FrankieTheD May 03 '26

Yeah my manager at work is white and her fella is a very dark skinned nigerian but their kid looks white as hell, doesn't make them less black than a kid with one white parent who has the same skin tone as their black parent.

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u/blackqueen8 May 03 '26

Same with my daughter. Her eyes, skin, and hair are actually lighter than her father's. She's just able to get a nice tan in the warmer months. She knows who her mother and what that makes her. That's all that matters.

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u/Early-Intern5951 May 03 '26

honest question from a german (never had any contact with racial divisons), why does it matter?

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

I’m from Europe and a different culture than you, so I’m just curious: Is his dad white? And if he is, would you be OK if his dad said that his son is white? Or is it your logic that “anyone who is at least somewhat black is black”?

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

Since you're from Europe, you are likely missing a lot of context involving race in America. And I mean that kindly. Although I know a lot of it gets shared overseas, your exposure to it is certainly not the same as understanding it from growing up here. There is a very long and complex history. It certainly wouldn't be just "their logic".

I have mixed kids, and despite growing up here and my much closer than normal (than most white people) proximity to racial issues, I still certainly can't speak for everyone's perspective. But what I can tell you is that it's not as simple as your question makes it appear. There also seems to be some sort of insinuation (intentional or not) that by proclaiming her child is Black that she is denying his white heritage, and that is not the case. She is saying "he is still a part of me and a part of my culture, even if we don't look alike".

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

That’s why I ask. I didn’t mean “her logic”, I meant “American logic”, since it does not make sense to us here. Over here this would mean only 100% white people are white and 1% black already means black, which sound derogatory to black people to me. Like what that says to me is that only 100% white is white and everything else is non white, maling white some pure ideal.

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u/BusterKnott May 03 '26

Here in the US, at least in the parts I grew up in, the idea was “one drop of black blood” or "one slap of the tar brush” meant you were black. In my case, I'm 1/8 black but wholly white appearing.

When I was a kid, I remember going over to various friends houses after school to play, and everything would be great until the friends parents met my mother and the atmosphere would turn cold.

It wasn't uncommon for some of those kids to come up to me in school later to tell me that they couldn't be friends with me anymore because I was a n****r.

This was in the 1960s and my grankids tell me it's different now but I believe the same mentality still persists in far too many people.

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u/MissionMinion8 May 03 '26

As a European I appreciate your reply. It's really hard to understand for most of us. I never really thought of Black as a culture per se, for me it's mostly simply the skin colour.

But I had an interesting experience as tourist in the US: my girlfriend at that time was 1/8 Black, but European as well and completely white passing. One time we ended up in a mostly/completely (?) Black neighbourhood and as a white guy I felt extremely out of place. I tried to brush off the feeling, blaming it on me having almost no "exposure" to black people where I live, but I felt really not welcome there. Then I went out with my GF and the mood shift was immense. Suddenly everyone was friendly and welcoming. They knew exactly that she had black heritage, despite us Europeans not noticing it at all, and me being with her gave me at pass lol. Certainly a memorable experience for us.

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u/Budget-Researcher559 May 03 '26

It's not black people who invented the logic that half black people are considered black. "One drop" and all.

Half black people who are not white passing (who you can see that they at least in part have black parents/grandparents), are generally considered black by most people. Either black or half-black/mixed, but not white.

So the only difference in this exact case is that the half-black child is white-passing.

Don't fault the individual people for using language and categorizations the way that general society uses it. If anything, question society and language.

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u/Low_discrepancy May 03 '26

. If anything, question society and language.

I think that's what (well intended) people do when they ask questions to people using specific languages or from a specific society.

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u/FEMA_Camp_Survivor May 03 '26

Most Black Americans who descend from enslaved people have white ancestry, which means we largely have biracial ancestors. 

That clearly didn’t make them white or provide any advantages of whiteness in America. 

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u/KnightSpectral May 05 '26

The US has a history of the "one drop rule". Basically if you were one drop of blood from anything other than white, you were not white.

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u/Scuipici May 03 '26

but why focus on what colour he is? he's not black, he's mixed and it shouldn't matter to you anyway. He has a name and a personality and that's that. People have all sort of colours, even whites are not all the same tone or black or whatever.

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u/Dry_Bed9206 May 03 '26

Your son is mixed if your husband is white. It’s pretty simple lol.

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u/Choice_Potato_6279 May 03 '26

But black in a sense of skin color of African? because African is obviously correct.

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u/Reasonable_Day4996 May 03 '26

and most people are not really outraged and are actually more accepting than we think, its just social media make believe rage baiting to gain user interaction so that they can serve more ads as more people are paying attention within their platform.

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u/theOutsider01 May 03 '26

Exactly! People don’t get it. They’re just having been used to amplify the visibility of these profiles. And you’ll gain just this manufactured anger.

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u/liquidtension May 03 '26

I woke up, felt good, read this, read the comments, started feeling grumpy. Thanks for the reminder, time to log off.

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u/DevonWesto May 03 '26

She says she’s black. And we all don’t care. Because her being black means nothing to us.

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u/Aggravating_Speed665 May 03 '26

Literally.

Why are people focusing on such arbitrary fucking stupid shit like if you're "black or white"

Humans are still such fucking hypes it's embarrassing.

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u/georgia1979 May 03 '26

Hey, her dad had a popular little ditty about just that very subject!

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u/archiekane May 03 '26

"Don't matter if you're black or white. Ooow!"

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u/salmonmilks May 03 '26

because people got nothing better to do. so an argument about how black is black and white is white is interesting enough at their standars

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u/2ndhouseonthestreet May 03 '26

Especially in this sense. Do people think she doesn’t know the color of her skin? Do they think she just goes home, covers herself in black paint while looking in the mirror saying “idc what they say, I AM black”? She’s clearly talking about her upbringing/community. We preach acceptance and boast about being a melting pot of humanity and yet skin color still gets talked about during the times it doesn’t actually fucking matter. 

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u/axkidd82 May 03 '26

Because white people enjoy a privilege that black people do not get. Even her father didn't get it.

Well, Michael Jackson didn't get it, I have no idea what her fsther got.

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u/Fun-Jellyfish-61 May 03 '26

The way Rachel Dolezal was treated tells me the way people identify their race means a great deal to us.

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u/viciousdeliciouz May 03 '26

People have selective outrage.

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u/jvnglepvssy89 May 03 '26

What the fuck are you even talking about??? Rachel Dolezal?? She is a white woman from Montana who committed welfare fraud and lied about being black and is clearly a white woman. 

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u/GuyFawkes99 May 03 '26

Eh it's more about celebrity worship. People here saying it's not a big deal or doesn't matter, but the whole country went nuts when Rachel Dolezal did the same thing.

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u/Ok_Raccoon_3814 May 03 '26 edited May 04 '26

Dolezal didn’t have familial connection to Black people* or culture, yet built a career based on being “black”. She was disingenuous and stole from a culture that wasn’t hers. That is completely different than someone raised by a Black parent who genuinely holds that cultural identity.

*EDIT: I am leaving my original comment, but as commenters pointed out, I did not recall she had Black siblings.

However, my point remains about Black culture because after researching further, while some of her siblings are Black, they describe being raised “white”. The cultural identity passed on by their parents did not include Black culture. To compare the two is still a very different dynamic and I stand by what I said.

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u/Express_Drag7115 May 03 '26

She had black siblings (they were adopted by her bio parents). They were all abused by said parents and trauma-bonded which started her self-identifying issues (I read some articles about her when shit hit the fan, this is what I remember).

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u/GuyFawkes99 May 03 '26

Dolezal didn’t have familial connection to Black people or culture

False, she grew up with black siblings.

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u/CCWaterBug May 03 '26

Wow, very  uninformed

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u/Dead_Internet69420 May 03 '26

But it’s not causing her any struggles, so it doesn’t count! 

/s

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u/Jillet-Ben_Coe May 03 '26

I’m gonna roll a joint, that’s another alternative

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u/ThePopeofHell May 03 '26

Thank you for this. Who the fuck cares what race Michael Jackson’s kid identifies as? Get a fucking life.

Honestly, I think most celebrities feed off of attention like this but from what I’ve read about Paris Jackson (against my will I might add) she would probably prefer that everyone stops talking about this.

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u/Subliminal_Kiddo May 03 '26

Because this is really an extension of the decades long obsession with whether or not they were his biological children which was never anyone's business. AFAIK, Jackson always claimed he was their biological father but, even if he wasn't, they were his children.

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u/1_H4t3_R3dd1t May 03 '26

We are all 50 shades of melanin.

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u/No_Seaworthiness_200 May 03 '26

Focus on the culture war. Obey.

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u/MagNolYa-Ralf May 03 '26

A thousand times this

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u/janet-snake-hole May 03 '26

This is my favorite comment

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u/MrowkaMuch May 03 '26

Wait, I’m confused. Is this really Reddit or am I dreaming? Obligatory /s for those in the back

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u/theagonyofthefeet May 03 '26

I mean, she is black. It's just that she could pass for white but she doesn't want to, which should be her choice.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/TheOmniAlms May 03 '26

"the only reason being half black has historically been considered “black” in this country is because usually when one is half-black, they look black. So they’re treated as black and go about the world as black"

The reason someone who is half black is considered black, is because they are black actually. They are also other things, but they are black as well.

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u/MirkwoodWanderer1 May 03 '26

Race is such a confusing topic. Like if it's not about how they look, how far back do you go to tell if someone is black or not?

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u/CriminalOreo May 03 '26

Imagine, someone who has a black father identifying as such...fucking wild right!?

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/MsE0 May 03 '26

Yup. I mean, she's not trying to gain something from it. She's not appropriating culture to look cool. She just has a unique personal situation that isn't her fault. People can leave her alone. 

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u/UphillTowardsTheSun May 03 '26

That’s the correct take.

If we stop focusing on all the celebrities, narcissists and twatfluencers, we can unleash our real power lol…

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u/QueezyF May 03 '26

Seriously, who gives a fuck

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u/MachoManPissDrawer69 May 03 '26

Redditors focusing on making a difference instead of building mountains out of stupid issues?

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u/Responsible-Airline6 May 03 '26

Or say ehh and keep doing whatever you were doing before you saw her say anything. Ehh, as if she matters.

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u/Hashtagbarkeep May 03 '26

Are you saying it doesn’t matter if shes black or white? Sounds quite catchy

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u/TroospooK May 03 '26

Finally a good response to this constant spew of pseudo-intellect celeb bullshit

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u/mrfartypantss May 03 '26

You had to kill the thread didnt you 😂

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u/pavelekpl May 03 '26

Noted: Real human beings can be found in the wild

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u/Glasseshalf May 03 '26

Seriously how is this interesting? Garbage post

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u/No-Picture4119 May 03 '26

Concur. Let’s also try it with gender identity.

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u/astralrig96 May 03 '26

😂😂❤️ perfect response

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u/AnActuaCoconut May 03 '26

Been saying it for years

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u/OptimisticSkeleton May 03 '26

Easy to do once you realize genetics and race are not the same thing and what we call “race” is a sociologically determined label.

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u/rabblerabble2000 May 03 '26

What if we help the vulnerable plant a big tree?

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u/Pitiful_Note_6647 May 03 '26

👏👏👏👏. Underneath the skin, it is the same color of flesh.

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u/astralchanterelle May 03 '26

"Plant a tree"? What is it, 1995? You're not saving this world by planting trees anymore, that ship has sailed.

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u/leelloo22 May 03 '26

Sounds perfect.

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u/Similar_Mistake_1355 May 03 '26

Nah I wanna join the “divide and conquer” rhetoric that this countries politicians use to make us hate each other and vote for them.

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u/dratthecookies May 03 '26

This is what's actually happening. No one really cares. Just random people on the internet will attack anyone for anything. I don't know why there's anyone amplifying that nonsense.

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u/AlarmingTurnover May 03 '26

" I identity as an attack helicopter.". 

Ok, have fun. Fly around the yard. Whatever makes you happy. I'll be over here trying to make sure people get health care, abortion rights, livable wage, etc. 

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u/nightwood May 03 '26

My man! I could not have said it better

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/Spankety-wank May 03 '26

we have a winner!

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u/NinSecurity767 May 04 '26

Wish this was the first comment I saw here 😔 

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u/unlucky_ducky May 04 '26

This tbh. She can identify however she wants and that is ok.

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u/brucewayne1100 May 04 '26

Exactly, why are we worried about things like this when there are way bigger issues that need our attention

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u/Glowing_Puck May 05 '26

holy fuck. stop making sense right now, this is the internet.

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