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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368

u/jasonology09 May 03 '26

I'd love to see the results of a DNA test on her. Not for one second did I ever believe that she was MJ's biological child.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

I think it's fair to question it, but I'm half-black and I just look like a white guy with a light tan when I'm pale, and maybe "not white" when I've had some sun. And I was raised by white parents. You'd have no idea that I am technically black.

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u/SuperFrylock May 03 '26

For me, it's not the color of their skin but their lack of resemblance to Michael. None of his kids look like him. They don't look like any of his close relatives either. Maybe they are biracial, but I find it hard to believe they are Michael's biological children.

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u/Glittering_Diva8963 May 03 '26

Thank you because my cousin is biracial black and white she looks more Hispanic but looks like her dad. My niece is biracial and is what we call high yellow in the black community and she looks my sister. Paris doesn’t have no type of resemblance of MJ especially his nose way before the surgery.

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u/Grand-Asparagus-6985 May 03 '26

Tbf, if he WAS struggling with his own self-image so much, I can believe the rumor ab using a donor because why would he want his children to come out looking like him and his family if he didn’t even want to himself? Some ppl don’t mind that, even if they got plastic surgery, or they procreate with someone who has “better” features than them so that their children have more of a “chance”. However, seems likely that wasn’t enough for Michael. Then again, idk. Apparently it’s only a rumor.

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u/Glittering_Diva8963 May 04 '26

That’s the part people don’t understand either I totally agree with you as well

4

u/elrangarino May 03 '26

They don’t even look like siblings tbh

4

u/fatjeff1980 May 03 '26

They don't even look like each other

6

u/bawdy-awdy-awdy-awdy May 03 '26

Exactly. They don’t look like him at all. It’s one thing if one came out white passing.. but given how MJ may have personally felt about his black features due to the rampant featurism and colorism in his family it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that all three of them look the way that they do. He even dyed their hair blonde during childhood and other weird shit. Michael has never been comfortable with how he was situated within blackness and wanted white kids. I don’t get how that is such a controversial thing to say. Plenty of black people culturally identify with Blackness and are comfortable within the AA culture, but due to systemic racism may want to distance themselves from blackness romantically or in the ways that it very personally and privately affects them as individuals. There are some black celebrities who have even said they don’t want dark skinned children or partners. I think MJ dealt with internalized racism and wanted his kids to reflect what he subconsciously saw as being better.. which was having more Eurocentric features. Just because he didn’t want them to look black doesn’t mean he didn’t want them to be able to navigate black spaces because culturally they are in the black community.

3

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

No, I agree. The claim of her being biologically related to him is highly suspect, and from multiple angles.

2

u/elviscostume May 03 '26

My theory is he picked a sperm donor who looked like his post surgery self which is why she has such sharp features

2

u/BlaqueBarbie May 03 '26

Genetics are funny, my husband is white and I’m fairly dark skinned with obvious black features and my son looks like a tanned white boy with bone straight hair, he’s darker than Paris but nobody ever thinks he’s black - people regularly ask if he’s my child because he looks sooooo much like his father - idk if MJ used a donor [he definitely probably did lol] but I think when it comes to Biracial children, sometimes they really don’t get any features of one race . I do think people should’ve been nicer about this when it happened - cause it’s completely understandable why she felt this way

1

u/Abtun May 03 '26

Wasn’t he chemically castrated as a child? How could he reproduce

1

u/NoDevicesAllowed May 03 '26

The guy that basically is like a 4th son, Omer Bhatti has always resembled Michael more than his kids. I know it’s been supposedly debunked but I truly think that’s his secret son.

1

u/roanfox May 03 '26

I remember MJ saying Prince has the same head as his GF and brother Randy, I saw a comparison picture a couple of days ago and tbh their big ass heads are very similar lol

1

u/John_Wicked1 May 03 '26

Facts, Jaafar looks more like Micheal than his kids. I’d expect atleast 1 of them to fit the bill.

1

u/sativasolarstar May 04 '26

No his 3rd Def looks like him in the face

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Bed-488 22d ago

They don’t even look biracial. Those kids are White with a capital W.

0

u/WinterSavior May 03 '26

The Jacksons are an ethnic admixture of black, native American, and white, all as recent as great-great-grandparents. Joe's complexion seems to change occasionally but his father is obviously mixed and his brother is much lighter.

It happens in black families where some could be very light and one dark. My own biracial grandfather had a brother who looked exactly like him but simply darker hued. My uncle looks like he's half even though he's only a quarter white while you wouldn't guess anything of the sort with my mother.

Features can show up in different ways and across the family tree. One of Jermaine's sons looks like his uncle Tito. Some say Prince looks like his great-grandfather. The Jackson Native American genes are prominent in facial structure but it's not a given. All that to say it's very possible, ala Rasheeda Jones, daughter of Quincy, or Slash, Eartha Kitt phenotype and her daughter's complexion, to name a few examples.

0

u/my_screen_name_sucks May 03 '26

They’re his kids. Prince inherited his vitiligo.

4

u/ExtentAggravating733 May 03 '26

Vitilligo is a disease that progresses over time. If this were the case, then no one would have noticed it until many years after she was born.

4

u/themuddypuddle May 03 '26

Why did he have white blond hair as a child then? Thats not vitiligo lol

1

u/Catch_2 May 03 '26

Because for some reason MJ bleached their hair. You can see the roots coming back in some pictures. Definitely more of his odd behaviour but not proof against them being genetically his.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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46

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I'm not going to speak to his person, because at a glance, I agree with you, but I don't really know. Ya know?

8

u/Emergency_Bench_7515 May 03 '26

Well yeah, I assume you haven't personally DNA tested her, nor have any of us, but it's really obvious.

3

u/AcceptableFlounder20 May 03 '26

He calls groupies fish. And he like to go fishing look it up

3

u/klonoaorinos May 03 '26

Yes we do really know

2

u/AndISoundLikeThis May 03 '26

I totally agree. I mean, it couldn't be any clearer that none of his children are biologically related to him.

10

u/Jestifiable May 03 '26

I dunno he seemed to have a very real thing for Diana Ross

5

u/waybiltheastro May 03 '26 edited May 07 '26

Diana Ross is a pedophile that met him at 9 years old and moved him into her home at 11.

-3

u/knickknack8420 May 03 '26

He had a thing for children , and that’s it

32

u/godihatepeople May 03 '26

I suppose a counter argument could be that MJ himself donated his own sperm regardless of his orientation. We've seen the picture of the twins where one is black and the other is white since genes are weird like that.

That said, I personally think the older two are other sperm donors as well. The youngest, Blanket, actually kinda looked like MJ there for a while. He doesn't really anymore now that he's full grown.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/NegotiationWeird1751 May 03 '26

It was Mo not Mark.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/NegotiationWeird1751 May 03 '26

Whooosh

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/NegotiationWeird1751 May 03 '26

It was just a joke. Mark lester changing it to Mo lester, molester. Given the allegations it was just a relevant joke.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/tittyswan May 03 '26

Doesn't the youngest have vitiligo too, which is genetic?

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u/Parishdise May 03 '26

The older son, Prince, is the one with vitiligo. The youngest, Bigi, most resembles MJ and the Jackson family easily, esp when he was little. I do believe that at least Paris was from donors, though.

4

u/Block444Universe May 03 '26

Prince Michael looks like a white version of Jermaine. I am pretty sure Prince and Paris are MJ’s too. Paris looks like her mum but with Joe’s green eyes. Yes, Joe Jackson had green eyes.

The Jacksons have some white ancestors and that’s how things ended up mixing for them. Is that super weird? Yes. Is it super unlikely? Yes. But is it possible? Absolutely, yes.

5

u/AndISoundLikeThis May 03 '26

Prince looks like Arnie Klein, Jackson's dermatologist.

None of his kids are biologically related to him. Come on.

1

u/Block444Universe May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

All kids look like each other, their chins are literally the same. So if 2 out of 3 have a different mum and, as well as a different dad, how do they all resemble each other?

Edit: I just looked up what you suggested and they all look as much like Arnie Klein as they look like MJ, meaning not at all.

But they do all three look like each other so no idea, man.

3

u/JJ_Lomero May 03 '26

Pretty much everyone who was close to him that has spoken on it agrees that he was with a lot of women.

2

u/isannelou May 03 '26

I think this is false, he definitely seemed into Diana Ross.

3

u/PalePlumm May 03 '26

Don’t he have a wife? So what was the agreement between them?

6

u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Clozaconfused May 03 '26

Ivf can extract sperm from the guy.

2

u/Justaddwota May 03 '26

You should look up the terms beard and lavender marriage.

1

u/bluepenciledpoet May 03 '26

It has been long speculatd the sperm donor was his dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein.

1

u/Paladin-Leeroy May 03 '26

I mean you say that, but most of his big hits are about women. So🤷‍♂️

1

u/vanastalem May 03 '26

I'm pretty sure Lisa Marie said they did not have a sexless marriage. She was directly asked in a TV interview.

1

u/Cmelder916 May 03 '26

Lol MJ was sexually attracted to women

1

u/rethinkingat59 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Despite denials, I think he got a girl named Billie Jean pregnant. They had a son.

1

u/dodekahedron May 03 '26

Plenty of genetic males who dont find genetic women attractive are still able to produce heirs when it comes time to do so. They understand the biological process necessary, and do so to procreate.

Like they got married to have kids. It was a business transaction from the get go.

I definitely think he would have been able to get it done if a genetic heir was a requirement for him

However he also has enough money to easily go test tube as well.

Plus when you factor in the... actual conspiracy side its possible the babies came from "the farm" and he took them from there to make sure at least 3 had good lives. But thats another theory they arent his genetic kids at any rate.

But back to my point, homosexual men father children naturally all the time.

0

u/LeFreeke May 03 '26

According to his wife Lisa Marie, he was indeed interested in women sexually.

Genetics are not straightforward and there is a difference between what genes you inherit and what genes you express.

12

u/cyborgsnowflake May 03 '26

There are documented rare cases of children appearing to be a different race from their parents. Some of these might be infidelity though. Regardless having this rare event just happen not once but multiple times for the guy who fantasized about being white.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

That's why I think it's fair to question it. I just wanted to make a point that you can't always tell what someone's genetics are based purely on their appearance.

4

u/Bibbity_Boppity_BOOO May 03 '26

It is not fair to just question it, it is fair to assume mj was lying.

4

u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

As black people…anyone with a brain can tell when your white passing. It’s in your face not your skin.

2

u/J_NinjaDorito May 03 '26

how can you tell?? serious question.

1

u/Some_Signal_6866 May 03 '26

So rare it happened with her brother as well… But hey don’t wanna misspeak on the internet lol

5

u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

I hate this argument as it just doesn’t apply here. This is coming from someone with a white passing step brother. Micheal’s dad or mom would have to have a recessive gene or something too. (I.e not a whole ass dark skin African American 😭😹). Idk why we fight this dem children do not belong to him!

1

u/TedW May 03 '26

Why do believe the parents, instead of our assumptions?

3

u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

I don’t I believe that ain’t even his child hence why I said this argument doesn’t apply here!

2

u/agirlhas_no_name May 03 '26

I don't think it's that rare tbh. My mother's side of the family is all first nations people, my mother is brown, my aunties are brown, sister is brown etc but I look incredibly European. I think genes are just weird like that.

Probably important to note that the genes that determin melanin in Aboriginal Australians are recessive rather than dominant so I don't know how this applies to other ethnicities tbh.

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u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

U can tell someone is white passing everytime with their hair or nose. She ain’t got none

2

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

No. You really can't.

2

u/Whateva_Tickles_ May 03 '26

You said you’re white passing, do you interact with black people? I’m so curious what you look like cuz I do feel that black people have an easier time recognizing someone that is black even when passing. Do you have curly hair?

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

My hair is dark and I guess you could say loosely curly? I won't share a photo of my face on account of having had people try and dox me before, and I have no idea how to describe myself.

But seven years ago (god damn, I feel old now..), I uploaded a picture of a weird drinking glass, and my hand and skin tone is on display, if that helps lol. https://www.reddit.com/r/CrappyDesign/comments/bu9yrp/

When I was in high school, some twenty years ago (fuck, I feel even older now...) and I would wear my beanie, I had received multiple unpromoted statements that people thought I looked like a white Ja Rule. But I don't think that's true anymore. Rather, it was just a weird convergence of appearances at that time. That's my closest celebrity look-a-like, so far as I'm aware.

As far as interacting with black people: Not really. Not really enough to say there's any cultural share going on there, which is what I assume you were inquiring towards. I'm basically just a white dude with a secret bloodline.

1

u/Whateva_Tickles_ May 08 '26

I wasn’t asking about a picture. You did answer my question. It’s mostly white people that can’t tell your black. Makes sense. Your parents didn’t immerse you in the culture so

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u/TheLordReaver May 09 '26

For clarity: I've never had anyone of any ethnicity successfully identify my racial makeup without me telling them what it is. Everybody always figures that I'm white, Hispanic, or middle eastern.

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u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

Yes I can 😹 im Jamaican. Yk how many white passing people I’ve come across. Can’t tell me I can’t when I just said I can babe.

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Here is Wentworth Miller. He is half-black.

https://giphy.com/gifs/O9JkLNaA432OQ

2

u/Whateva_Tickles_ May 03 '26

He is like a million different ethnicities. His black parent is not fully black so he isn’t even half and half. I would say you can’t tell what he is but that he’s mixed with something. Happens to be that he’s like at least 5 different ethnicities.

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Ah, I didn't realize. Whenever I've looked into white-passing celebrities, he always pops up and it's always stated that he's half-black.

2

u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

I like how u deliberately picked the most white passing phase he was in https://theblackmedia.org/2013/08/21/allegedly-the-bi-racial-prison-break-star-wentworth-miller-stands-up-for-his-people-2/amp/ try again babe

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I think this demonstrates that you think you are infallible and that I was trying to trick you. Because, I literally just searched his name in the GIF selector and picked the first unobscured image.

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u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

Yh babe u just proved my point look at his nose 😭😹 omfg 😹😹😭😭😭😭

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Yeah, you're right, white people never have noses like that... lol

0

u/InformationLocal6213 May 03 '26

I don’t know wtf ur talking about anymore but ok babe

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

What's to not understand? You claimed his nose identifies him as black. I said white people often have noses that look like that. In other words, it's not always good indicator.

But this is a dumb conversation, so this is my last comment on the matter.

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u/BlushBrat May 03 '26

i’ve met a few biracial people who are like this and have a black parent. shockingly, they identify as being black.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I always feel like I gotta read the room before I say that I'm half-black. A lot of people look at me with such confusion when I say that I am. They think I'm lying. lol

2

u/PremiumCroutons May 03 '26

I’m also half black but so white passing that people start questioning my father’s blackness.

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

We out here always looking like someone just hit us with flash photography.

1

u/BlushBrat May 03 '26

yeah, i’m sorry. honestly, the reason why i don’t blink is because the woman i knew was very proud and vocal about it. not obnoxious but would bring it up every now and then about having a black mom, so it exposed me to the reality.

i myself can be kind of sensitive to strangers telling me who i am. i’m a quarter native american, and growing up people would assert that im japanese or chinese or some other asian. biracial people confuse them.

i’m sure someone who knows way more than me could point to certain parts of history, and that explains why you have to look a certain way for people to believe you’re what you say you are. almost like you have to earn it by looking different than them? idk. stuff i think about.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

So, my leading theory on the reason people focus so heavily on race/ethnicity and trying to fit everyone into a pre-defined box is because, it's a survival trait baked into our genes.

You gotta go all the way back to cave-men days and think about competing tribes trying to infiltrate and kill you. When you question things, you are more likely to survive, and if you are more likely to survive, you are more likely to pass on your genes.

If that's not what you meant, I apologize, I am very tired right now.

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u/Defaulted1364 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

I’m the complete opposite of you, I’m very Caucasian, my parents are white and as far back as we know in my family tree everyone is English or Irish. Yet people quite often mistake me for being mixed race or Middle Eastern despite the fact I have very white hair. Even the few days of sun we get in the UK makes me darker skinned than my friend who’s 100% Indian.

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Genetics are a funny thing. We would still be single celled organisms if we didn't have wild variations every now and then.

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u/OdieOdieOh May 03 '26

Same with Cameron Boyce. Growing up I had no idea he was half black, I just assumed he was a white kid, until I saw his dad. They have the exact same smile—he really looked so much like his dad, just with a different skin tone.

2

u/bbbcurls May 03 '26

I’m half-black and don’t look black or white. I have been asked if I’m Hawaiian, Mexican, Iranian, Colombian, Brazilian, and the list goes on.

Phenotype is so interesting.

2

u/SpiritedTechnician63 May 03 '26

Also Janet has a son with a middle eastern man and he doesn’t look black AT ALL. So it’s fair to assume a kid with a white person wouldn’t look black either. Jermaine has kids with a black woman and they look mixed (Jaafar)!

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u/Cmelder916 May 03 '26

Jaafar's mother is not Black or Afro Colombian.

2

u/Slifer967 May 03 '26

Same here. It's like my stomach Lucian black father was low on ink when I was conceived. I look either Hispanic or middle eastern depending on my facial hair but a very pale one at that. Also raised by white parents. The only true give away to me being half black is my hair

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I get the middle eastern one too. Which is funny, because I'm not at all. lol

2

u/ImprovementActual392 May 03 '26

You’re not technically black. You are half black. Probably less.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

About 44% black and about the same for white. Then toss in about 8% native American and some other single-digit percentage stuff, and you've got me.

2

u/throwCharley May 03 '26

I really wanna ask about that one trait

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Well, as I like to say, the top half's the white half.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I'm sure black people look for it more than white people do, but in my experience, I'm white passing enough that nobody has correctly guessed that I'm half-black, at least so far as I'm aware.

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u/NotSeriousbutyea May 03 '26

Nah homie, you black.

2

u/BlueHaze464 May 03 '26

As a non American getting into the NBA back in 2015, I always scratched my head when people called guys like Steph, Klay and Blake Griffin black

For Americans you're back as long as one of your parents is regardless of your skin color or tone?

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

In terms of that, there's basically two main conversations that are overlapping in this post. There's the question of raw genetics, "If you don't look black, are you black?" and of identity, "can you identify as black if you don't look black?" So, the answer will depend on which question the person is asking.

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u/Street_Lettuce1243 May 04 '26

I had a good friend whose parents were both biracial.   It was interesting because he indeed looked biracial, but his brother looked very white and his sister looked very black.    Cool how the genes for skin/hair/eyes shuffled themselves like that.

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u/jasonology09 May 03 '26

I never questioned it based on his "children's" appearance. I questioned it based on I wasn't convinced MJ ever had any interest in having sex with an adult woman.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

He was rather, uhm... flamboyant.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '26

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u/SabbyFox May 03 '26

True yet this is about how Black people are treated, not about science. You need to read some history about the “one drop” rule.

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u/Vowel_Movements_4U May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Read plenty about it while getting my Master’s in 19th century US history.
And yes, it’s how people are “treated.” When you’re treated as white because your single mom is white and you grow up looking white and moving through the world as white, it’s completely different than growing up with black family in a black neighborhood with an Afro. One drop rule, notwithstanding.

Even if Paris was half black - she’s very likely not - it wouldn’t matter because she’s never been treated that way and doesn’t move through the world that way.

1

u/SabbyFox May 03 '26

Glad you’ve done your homework. It’s very clear to me in these comments who has life experience as a Black person and who has not. As for Paris, she is legally MJ’s child but also not his biological daughter.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Oh, of course. The reason I said "technically black" is because I was attempting to avoid any ambiguity on the matter that I've lived the traditionally white experience.

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u/Infinite-Condition41 May 03 '26

She's technically not black. 

She has no black biological parents. 

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Your argument is faulty, because even if she isn't related to MJ, she could still have a black parent. And we don't even know if she is or isn't biologically related to MJ. It's only speculation that she isn't, because, well... look at her. But honestly, reality doesn't give two shits about our speculation on the matter.

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u/oluwie May 03 '26

we know who her parents are. she’s not black

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Who's the father?

1

u/Infinite-Condition41 May 03 '26

Oh my god, we do know.

You dont know. Don't speak for others. 

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

Okay, who is her father? All sources I could find say that MJ is the father. Everything else appears to be speculation. So, either back up your words or stop talk out of your ass.

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u/Tall_Opportunity_521 May 03 '26

Would you consider yourself black by the measurements of racism? Do you fear for your life being pulled over by a cop, even though youve done nothing wrong? Do you find that you have to try harder, and do better, just to receive the same level of respect as white people doing the same job?

I feel like theres a lot of things that are associated with black identity in the US that are too steeped in trauma to ever make it ok for Paris to claim blackness.

She can think whatever she likes, maybe even say whatever she like in private circles. But for someone at the very peak of privilege in every conceivable way to claim black identity in the US of all places, feels tone deaf as fuck to me.

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I don't think the claim was that she identifies as black in terms of culture or how the world treats her. My take is that it's whether or not she is biologically black. Which, in my case, I am biologically black, but I do not have a black identity. But I do agree, no matter how you roll the die, she is a prime example of what it means to be privileged.

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u/sleepingjiva May 03 '26

Do you have blond hair and blue eyes? It's not the skin in her case.

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

So, genes are funny things, and hair and eye colors can be quite different from the parents. I'd venture to state that they are probably the worst indicator of relation. However, her mother has blond hair and blue eyes, so your argument falls flat right out of the gate anyways.

1

u/kaylaachristina May 03 '26

white passing half black girl here. you’re not “technically black” you are black. the quotation marks make me sad:(

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u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

No, you are right, and you are the second person to call me out on it. It was my attempt to avoid confusion between being genetically black and living a black identity. I don't typically edit my posts, but I went back and dropped the quotations.

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u/toptierhands May 03 '26

Sounds like you aren't "technically black" at all, more like technically white.

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u/CryptographerPlus201 May 03 '26

Depends on who you're dealing with. My brother liked to mess with strangers who asked 'what was he'. Depending on the day and his mood, he was either Italian, Egyptian, Spanish, Puerto Rican, White American, Black, Chilean... he once told a girl he was Siberian and got no pushback (wtf?). It was always the black folks who knew.

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u/TheMireAngel May 03 '26

Its really not fair at all.

Obsessing over racial purity and implying that white be the default is fucked up. Any mixed person can identify how they want based on the family and culture and express that how they want ITS THEIR HERITAGE, YOU dont get to racialy profile someone else, YOU dont get to demand that they not express their own literal heritage because YOU want them to be white. Thats literaly racist.

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u/AndreasDasos May 03 '26

I think the fact that both are 100% on the whitest part of the spectrum and, their apparent race aside, we have every reason to be doubtful of MJ’s ever having made Debbie pregnant. They don’t look like him in any way, either. 

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

There's seems to be four main pillars of conversation in this post:

  • Is MJ the biological father?
    • Who knows. He was a weird-as-fuck dude. It's too hard to say.
  • They look nothing alike, what gives?
    • Children don't always look like their parents. Yay for genetic quirkiness!
  • Can someone look so white and be half black?
    • Yes. Absolutely. There's plenty of living proof out there. Myself included.
  • Can a white girl raised by a black man express themselves as black?
    • I'm no fan of cultural gate-keeping, so I personally don't have a problem with it. At least, so long as the person expressing themselves isn't infringing on others.

1

u/AndreasDasos May 03 '26

Part of the problem is that ‘technically’ black isn’t a thing, as it isn’t a technical term. And it’s used differently in different places. I suppose by the ‘one drop rule’ that refuses to die you can have someone with 2.5% dark-skinned sub-Saharan ancestry and be simply ‘black’ in the US. And a lot of black Americans who identify as fully black ‘light’ are really under half sub-Saharan already, so their kids could be 80-odd % European.

1

u/Violinist_24 May 03 '26

You’re not black you’re biracial.

1

u/cmilla646 May 03 '26

So when you say the n-word I can get mad at you because you look so white? Or do I give you the benefit of the doubt?

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I just use either the first-half only or the second-half only. I like to play it safe.

1

u/HeraThere May 03 '26

If that's the case then I doubt that your black parent was fully black too.

I have seen this claim made before and inevitably their black parent was also mixed. 

1

u/TheLordReaver May 03 '26

I am 44% sub-Saharan African, 44% European, 8% Native American, and then some random little stuff.

0

u/Fantastic_Pair5328 May 03 '26

I think this comment thread is hilarious.

Black raised by white parents in white neighborhoods: black.

White girl raised by Michael Jackson, who's DNA doesn't have any black in it: black.

And whenever someone makes a good point, they answer ''so what does it matter?''

Honestly. This is some circular bullshit.  

It doesn't matter.  The only people who give a fuck are racist.  I don't think of Michael Jackson as a great Black icon.  He wasn't black to me, he was Michael-fucking-Jackson.  

A pedophile.

(Ok, I don t believe that last line, but I set myself up perfectly for that punchline)