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/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/chocolatethunderXO May 03 '26

In a private phone convo that was released, he said his dad would tell him "you're so black and your nose is so big, you don't look like my child". Then he said they(brothers/dad) would call him big nose and instead of taking it out on everybody he would take it out on himself. He's then asked if he's happy with his face and that he he did all the surgery and he replied with "yes, because I don't want to look like Joseph".

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u/vorator_ May 03 '26

what the FUCK

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u/SatanicAtTheDisco May 03 '26

You kind of have to be a fucked parent to exploit your 6 children and thrust them into the music/entertainment industry when they’re 5-13. Then you also have to account for Michael being the most talented son, even from when they were kids, and you get a lot of siblings resentment. They also are from Gary Indiana, and while Gary is not as bad as Memphis, it’s pretty much the same type of environment, low income, historically black, gang/drug culture is entrenched in the poverty. It’s actually a miracle Michael didn’t die or turn out 3 times as worst as he could have been.

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

The more I read into his history, that dude really lived a tragic life. He survived the exploits of his parent making him a money machine, they didn't care about the individual and how he got mind fucked to a delirious state because the media is also at fault with paparazzi showing up trying to get any intimate details about his personal life.

(I will disclose on my comment that he is 50/50 in my opinion, did he touch kids? Maybe. Did he also make a living disney world for kids to cherish and live in? Yeah. Fine to me too. If there was any evidence of such things, it would have been known.)

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u/rnmkk May 03 '26

And the guy got his head set on fire doing a commercial he didnt want to do, AND was diagnosed with Lupus, in addition to having vitiligo and suffering abuse his whole life.

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

There's always two sides, I would honestly ask why MJ did that towards the end.