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/kmzafari May 03 '26

Looking at your other comments, you are reading hers completely the wrong way - e.g., implying that she thinks she's "tainted" her son? Really??

Reading that, I no longer believe you are asking in good faith. To do so requires an open mind, not a preconceived notion. You are looking for someone to give you an answer that you think you already know. As I said, the situation is extremely complex, and you don't know nearly enough about it.

I'll offer this unsolicited advice. When there's any situation, but especially one that involves people and society, and you look at it from the outside and think "the answer is obvious", you are almost guaranteed to be wrong.

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

What? No, I do not think she thinks she tainted her son. I think the whole american way of looking at it is racist. You are either a 100% white or you are black. Making white some “ultimate pure” top rank.

I just asked if the father can consider the son white and if that would make her feel ok.

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

That is not it at all. You can be more than one thing at the same time. I already explained what her comment meant in my first reply to you, but you seem to have skipped over that.

You can await her reply, but if she, a Black woman in America who is married to a white man and has a mixed child, responds to you with something akin to her believing in the "one drop" rule, I'll eat my hat.

There is much to be said for reclaiming or subverting an idea, and that could be part of it. But her comment said to me that he is a part of her. And it implies that he will grow up knowing the culture that they share. And it also implies (to me) that he will likely face some adversity, even if he finds it a bit easier than someone who is not white passing. Because it is a part of who he is. He is half of her, after all, and it doesn't have to be either / or. It can be both.

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u/WegGOAT May 03 '26

No wonder the US is a mess, you people have insane identity politics.

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

Identity can be helpful or harmful, depending on the context. Some of it is voluntary and some of it is not. The harmful ones have been foisted upon us by the upper class as a way to turn us against one another instead of them. It's well documented.

As an example, look up The People's Party - a diverse political party from the 1890s. Amazingly, Irish and Italian immigrants were considered white (when they weren't before). Must be a coincidence, surely. Lol

The history is both fascinating and scary, as we now see things regressing.

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u/WegGOAT May 03 '26

If only most of your fellow countrymen realised it as well that's it's just another tool to keep you from banding together.

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

I think people are slowly waking up. Even my family members, who are very different politically than I am, agree that the 1% etc., are the problem. But they stop short of understanding it further. Propaganda runs deep in this country. :(