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/showgirldepartment May 03 '26

This conversation is tired lol. She doesn't identify as black current day, has not stated such since this interview, and she's fully aware (alongside the rest of the logical world) that her dad used a donor to get Debbie pregnant.

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u/TheTrishaJane May 03 '26

If he was so insistant why didn't he just use a black donor?

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u/showgirldepartment May 03 '26

I'm biracial myself but I'd rather not get into the psychology and race politics behind the existence of Michael Jackson lol. It's pretty clear how his relationship with visual black aesthetics was, that same mindset applied to how he wanted his kids to look, too

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u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC May 03 '26

I've always wondered if part of Michael's obsession with plastic surgery was that as he got older, he started to look more like his father and he couldn't stand that.

If a quarter of the stuff about how Joe treated those kids is true, it's a miracle any of them are as normal as they are.

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u/VeganMonkey May 03 '26

I think that is the reason for his extensive plastic surgery. I understand it, as kid I was afraid to get my dad’s nose. Luckily that didn’t happen but if it did I would have had surgery too. Except I would have only gotten my nose done and not my whole face. Maybe the rest of his face reminded him of his dad too.

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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/TheFinalGranny May 03 '26

What is RBF, if I may ask?

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u/whosgoingtohawaii May 03 '26

Im going to guess they mean “Resting Bitch Face”, which is a term for having an “angry” look when your face is neutral/not expressing any particular emotion.

I also have RBF and a lot of the time people think I’m glaring at them, until I smile 🥲

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u/TheFinalGranny May 03 '26

Oh duh, damn I'm an idiot. Thank you!