Columnist – John Sammon
I’m going to ask this question even though I’m pretty sure I’ll take heat for it. I have to ask, because I pride myself on having the nerve to ask questions very few others will dare.
Yesterday, Al Sharpton appeared with the parents of Michael Jackson to discuss the divvying up of the late king of pop’s estate. I looked at Michael’s parents once again, and I have to ask this question. Why did Michael Jackson have a medical procedure to make himself look like a white man? And why have champions of equal justice for African Americans such as Mr. Sharpton not been critical of it?
Was Michael ashamed to be a black man?
Nobody is denying Michael’s immense success, or his talent (if you like his form of song and dance). Nobody is denying his right to it. But I’m going to ask.
Jackson was old enough to have grown up in the 1960s when African Americans had to resort to protest, and in some cases violence (and no, I’m not advocating violence. I’m a fan of M.L. King/Gandhi-style non-V), to show white Americans that the country was racist. Much of it still is.
So, I’m working my nerve up. Here I go. Why is it, when black militants were chanting “I’m black and I’m proud,” Michael seemed to be saying, “I’m up tight and I wanna’ be white?”
Was it not cool to be black?
Why did Michael Jackson alter his skin color and medically change who he was? He also had his hair straightened. At the end of his life, he looked sort of like a deathly pale figure of the grim reaper, that figurative skeleton with the sickle who represents death.
Why have black leaders such as Sharpton never questioned the motivation behind this?
It’s everybody right, after all, to have a nose job, or dye their hair, or have breast implant. But I’ll ask again. During a time when it was important to be black and to be proud of it, recognizing the achievements of African Americans that go beyond just sports. Recognizing that he would serve as a figurehead of success, he turned himself (using his millions to pay for it) into an imitation white man. Why?
Did he want to look like Mick Jagger? Is being born black not good enough for you? Obviously, Michael isn’t around to answer that. I don’t think he would even if he was.
No black performer, not Sam Cooke, not James Brown, or even Sammy Davis, ever had his skin color changed. I’m the first one to admit there might be more here than meets the eye and maybe something went right over my head. But I’m pretty certain Michael looked a lot whiter at the end than he did at the beginning.
Perhaps Mr. Sharpton with his gift of eloquence can answer that. He usually has an answer for just about everything.
Phyllis Diller had three hundred face lifts and I’m not faulting Michael’s right to use his own money the way he sees fit. But at a time when African Americans needed all the role models they could get, why the white skin graft? How was this procedure done?
I’m interested to hear from readers what they think. Al, it’s in your corner.
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Special Read — On Negrophobia: Psychoneurotic Obstacles to Black Autonomy (or Why I just love Michael Jackson)
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Michael Jackson, You Are NOT The Father!
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