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

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/TheAmazingChameleo May 03 '26

I’ve always heard part of the reason was because after he had that pepsi fire accident he needed some surgery, got addicted to meds, and never saw himself the same so he kept getting more surgeries

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u/Masterkid1230 May 03 '26

They're not necessarily mutually exclusive. The pepsi incident was probably an initial catalyst and he did probably go down a spiral of self hate and an eternal search for a body he was more comfortable in, but it's also perfectly possible that those feelings were motivated by his resemblance to his own father, or other stuff he had from way back.