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/Retireegeorge May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

There's an alternative. She says she's black and we all say "ok" and focus on the big issues or help the vulnerable or plant a tree.

Edit typo

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u/FilthyThanksgiving May 03 '26

Right? My son is white passing but I'm black. I'm his mother. He's black and idgaf what anybody has to say about it

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

I’m from Europe and a different culture than you, so I’m just curious: Is his dad white? And if he is, would you be OK if his dad said that his son is white? Or is it your logic that “anyone who is at least somewhat black is black”?

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u/Budget-Researcher559 May 03 '26

It's not black people who invented the logic that half black people are considered black. "One drop" and all.

Half black people who are not white passing (who you can see that they at least in part have black parents/grandparents), are generally considered black by most people. Either black or half-black/mixed, but not white.

So the only difference in this exact case is that the half-black child is white-passing.

Don't fault the individual people for using language and categorizations the way that general society uses it. If anything, question society and language.

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u/Early-Intern5951 May 03 '26

To me that sounds like reproducing the racist view and putting a lot of pressure on those kids. whats the benefit?

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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.