I was not sure where to post this so mods please move it if need be

It really confuses me as to how any African American could be a fan of
Michael Jackson.

The reason I say that is because it was very apparent that Michael Jackson did
everything he could most of his adult life in order that he would NOT look
like a black man. Now, I can't propose to say I can understand or know how another
race thinks or why they accept the things they do etc. But, it just seems to me
that the only reason he had all of those plastic surgeries and changed his skin color
was that not only did he not want to look like a black man, he did not want to look
like a man at all.
(The fact that he continued with the surgeries until he looked "inhuman"
is another matter and can only speak to his mental demons).

I would think that most African Americans would have felt insulted that he seemingly
did not want to look like a member of their race and would have rejected him as
any kind of role model or the like. Factor that into his eccentric lifestyle and the problems he had
with the accusations of molestation and it really becomes a puzzle to me as to why
they embraced and idolized him.

But, over the last few days I have watched countless interviews with black celebrities
who gushed over him and told of how he "opened doors" for other black performers.

Did his talent and worldwide celebrity cancel out all the negatives in their eyes?
Or, was it that they are only going by the influence he had when he was younger
before he embarked on a quest to change his heritage?

For all his flaws, he was a wonderfully talented performer and songwriter, and a generous philanthropist. He was one of the first black performers who was "allowed" to be successful on his own terms without kowtowing to a more powerful white performer even though he was basically an asexual stereotype. Sammy Davis Jr. was much the same but he spent his whole career playing second fiddle to Sinatra and the Rat Pack and he by far was the most talented. A lot of blacks were furious when he began bleaching his skin and "acting" white which supposedly was a public act, but he was still a paragon of what you could achieve if you put effort into yourself. Face it, most of the black pop culture figures today are horrible role models, do you really want your kid to grow up like Flava Flav? Black performers usually have met tragic ends more often than whites, but at least from the 40s to the 80s that culture gave us talented people who showed more self respect than most of the starlets running around now. At least they knew how to keep problems to themselves.

Um, he didn't 'choose' to change his skin colour. He had vitiligo. Look it up.

Ignorance at its finest.

Funny, in a sad and rather pathetic way that people are still fixated on race, no matter what your race is.

Forget all the weirdness and allegations surrounding Jackson's life.... His fan base was likely the largest ever... GLOBALLY!

People from all walks of life, all races and all over the planet were fans of his music and talents.

They didn't seem to care what color he was, nor did he try to appeal to any specific race.

Jackson's transformation was not a turn on his own "race"

When he was going through his adolescent period he suffered from acne, his father ridiculed him, and joked about the size of his nose... He admitted that he felt ugly, and from that time until his death he continued to feel ugly in his OWN skin... It is a tragic story of very low self esteem taken to a far extreme.

The black race has no more claim over Jackson or his legacy than any other race does. He was a human being, talented, very troubled and no one ever tried to save him from himself.

What race are YOU?

Is it really possible to abandon a race?

If so I'd like to leave the human race, there has got to be a better race out there somewhere.

I had heard of this skin disease and that he used foundation to cover
the area inflicted. I find it hard to understand why they could not use
a color closer to his original skin color instead of a color that made him
look like a Japanese Geisha.

The change in skin color may well have been the result of an actual illness rather than something deliberate but the repeated procedures of plastic surgeries to achieve non-African American looking nose, cheekbones, chin, brow bones, lips does not sound like a person who was happy with
his original heritage.

Seriously, the man was loved and embraced by all races the world over. I for one am glad that he might finally get some peace. His was life of torment and abuse! I read somewhere once that his father made him take female hormones throughtout his pubescent years to keep his voice from changing...imagine the effect that that alone had on him if true! I don't think anyone cared what color his skin was...

If that was true then his father should have been charged with
child abuse. From what I have read, his father may have been
at the root of most of his troubles.

But, whatever the reason, I'm sorry, the man may have been talented but he was not psychologically sound.
The fact that he saw himself as some sort of Peter Pan was sad.

Getting back to my original point...I equate his many surgeries to change
his looks to some Japanese people who have surgery to make their
eyes rounder. I think it's tragic.

Originally posted by Zaydie
I had heard of this skin disease and that he used foundation to cover
the area inflicted. I find it hard to understand why they could not use
a color closer to his original skin color instead of a color that made him
look like a Japanese Geisha.

Actually when it started he used darker makeup, but as he got older it got way worse so the makeup had to keep going lighter and lighter to keep up with it.

I've seen quite a few people around with vitiligo all over the body and face, I feel sorry for them, it can't be easy to be looked at different. Especially for someone like micheal in the spotlight.

Michael Jackson made a huge statement with his life!!!!!

He was born into a world still figuring out black and white.

He decided to be both, to show the world that it doesn't matter what color your skin is, as long as you do what you are meant to do.

He chose to become the embodiment of the confusion that we all share. It freaked some people out.. and they didn't get it. Many people didn't GET it.

I think he died knowing that he at least tried to help humanity.

As for the darkness that encroached his life with allegations... I think jealousy, bigotry, and hatred for truth is what set these locusts free. Mothers with children looking for dollar signs... I am so ashamed to be human after seeing these.

Something like a song he sung.... He's black, he's white... he's HUMAN, you figure out the rest.

Michael Jackson was the first black performer to have a music video on MTV and this just soon after MTV executives said they would never have that sort of music and videos on the channel, and it was a thinly veiled proclamation that there would never be black entertainers on the channel. MJ did, indeed, break color barriers. Black people love it when other black people succeed in otherwise white enterprises. Can you blame them? I enjoy it thoroughly when a white wide receiver, a rare creature, catches a pass in a football game and outruns cornerbacks and safeties and scores a touchdown. It's not racism. It's racialism. At least that's what Al Sharpton calls it for blacks. And I have adopted it for me.

One of my black co-workers, upon hearing of Michael Jackson's passing, made one of the best comments that I have heard regarding the subject to date.

He said "Only in America can a poor black child grow up to be a rich white man." I thought it was a very humorous and very applicable commentary on the strange life that Jackson led.

I think people loved him for his musical contributions more so than him personally. He did create and pioneer a lot of innovative music.

Gee - maybe we spoke about it but maybe we didn't judge him for it and focused on the positive aspects. Maybe that's what we did.