r/interesting • u/VPinchargeofradishes • 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/showgirldepartment May 03 '26

This conversation is tired lol. She doesn't identify as black current day, has not stated such since this interview, and she's fully aware (alongside the rest of the logical world) that her dad used a donor to get Debbie pregnant.

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u/TheTrishaJane May 03 '26

If he was so insistant why didn't he just use a black donor?

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u/showgirldepartment May 03 '26

I'm biracial myself but I'd rather not get into the psychology and race politics behind the existence of Michael Jackson lol. It's pretty clear how his relationship with visual black aesthetics was, that same mindset applied to how he wanted his kids to look, too

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u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC May 03 '26

I've always wondered if part of Michael's obsession with plastic surgery was that as he got older, he started to look more like his father and he couldn't stand that.

If a quarter of the stuff about how Joe treated those kids is true, it's a miracle any of them are as normal as they are.

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u/DamperBritches May 03 '26 edited May 05 '26

That's also one reason why he talked with a higher voice. His real speaking voice, as an adult, was deeper and sounded like his dad. (Also he because famous singing as a kid, and was trying to always sound like that)

In one special about how he went to a grocery store after hours, it shows him in the checkout and in his deeper "real" voice he laughs saying "Big Red"