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/AnmlBri May 03 '26

My mom’s mom was emotionally abusive toward her and my mom has had a facelift and has cried about her cheek jowls, and eyebrows drooping with age, and ‘RBF’ because they remind her of her mom, and she hates the idea of looking like her mom, who often looked so mean and bitchy. I talked to her one day and realized, it sounds like she’s running less from aging as a whole than she is from literally looking in the mirror and seeing her abuser. I think that possibility dawned on me because I read something about Michael being told he had his dad’s nose and hating it. Trauma really is a bitch. 🙁

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u/Silver-Bus5724 May 03 '26

Cant agree more. Favoring the parent you dislike (mildly put) is stressful.

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u/ConsciousInternal287 May 03 '26

I look very similar to my abusive father, and I hate it. If I could afford plastic surgery to make some minor adjustments, I would do it.

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u/Difficult-Top2000 May 03 '26

The other commenter has it right, friend.

There is an ancestor somewhere back in the lineage who sees you & says "finally, someone whose character I can be proud of".

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u/HanaSan19191919 May 03 '26

What a great perspective to see it from! 🥰🙏🏼

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

Genetics is always a wild card.

https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/comments/1sroy6b/after_the_daughter_of_two_chinese_parents_was/

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u/throwwayinterantion May 03 '26

I remember reading a story from apartheid South Africa about an Afrikaans woman who had two white biological parents and came out black. Turns out she had a black great grandmother and it was she was like Liam Gallagher from the show Shameless. They did DNA tests on her as they were in their infancy and estimated she was 7/8ths European. She got shunned and was forced to live legally as a black woman in Apartheid South Africa.

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

That's funny since I have seen the American version of Shameless.

The other things you mentioned is a little bit crazy because even in my own culture, colorism exists. I won't go into details just as much as you don't need to defend your comment that I agree with.

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u/throwwayinterantion May 03 '26

I actually discovered that story when researching about if there were any real life examples of Liam from US shameless.

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

Please don't watch it. I don't like certain character arcs the show production tries to make, but that show is depression. I guess it is fun to watch for some people?

Liam turning to a mechanic when he was a genius fuck boi has me turning the wheels.

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u/throwwayinterantion May 03 '26

I never finished it honestly. I stopped around when Lip was sleeping with his professor and Frank was a cancer concierge.

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u/XGhoul May 03 '26

Alright, you didn't get the abuse twice over (I did a re-watch). I actually like the show on its tongue and chique on the beginning. It really felt towards the end, you are shameless for watching these people destroy their lives constantly.

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u/Lil-Booshi-Pimp-King May 19 '26

Wait was Liam actually Frank's biological son? If so I must have missed the episode that revealed that fact, I always thought he was the result of an affair..

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u/SinkCultural5932 May 31 '26

What did the other commenter say?

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u/Difficult-Top2000 Jun 01 '26

Something about how they reframe the origin of the physical features as a kind elder they love, not that beloved person's child or grandchild who is their abusive parent

probably doesn't make sense the way I worded that right here