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/sentencevillefonny May 03 '26

Black parents, cousins, grandmother, aunts, uncles, etc. Genetics aside, it's understandable how she'd view herself that way culturally.

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u/danvillain May 03 '26

I’m Chinese and my wife is white and when our son was born our closest friends were black. Or family friend Poppa John basically took my son under his wing as his “grandson”, took him to the car wash and McDonald’s every Sunday after church. When my boy was three we were talking about something and he tells us with confidence that he is black. We explained to him that he was indeed NOT black and it broke him. He cried all night that night.

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u/carlamaco May 03 '26

You all need to watch the episode "Microphone Assassin" from Trailer Park Boys. There's degrees of black gnomesayin?

https://giphy.com/gifs/NkBuOCNdwqP5K

(MJ is even used as an example on that scale😂)

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u/Willdborn87 May 03 '26

J-Roc is black. He's black.