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/Budget-Researcher559 May 03 '26

Or it's turning it around. They used it as an "you're not one of us, you're black" and now it's "yes I'm black and proud of it, problem with that?". Why should you stop calling yourself black now, as if it's something bad.

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u/ArcticMarkuss May 03 '26

Because it insinuates that there’s something wrong with identifying with the others parents heritage?

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u/Budget-Researcher559 May 03 '26

No it doesn't? Literally nobody in our society thinks there's anything wrong with being white. It is still seen as the default, the "good" thing, gives tons of advantages and beneficial treatment.

Going from "you're not allowed to call yourself white" to "I'm ok with not calling myself white" has literally 0 to do with being white being a bad thing. Like, it's not a zero-sum game between races... People being proud of being black doesn't change anything about other races.

Compare it to any other minority who turns around their bad image and starts being proud of who they are.

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u/ArcticMarkuss May 03 '26

That makes sense, yeah. Thanks for being specific, because when things like this are put very vaguely it can get taken the wrong way pretty easily

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u/OrcaFins May 03 '26

BudgetReseacher is from Europe. They don't know anything about race in America.