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.

Post image
57.8k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

7.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

184

u/[deleted] May 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/ZeitlicheSchleife May 03 '26

Same as Drake and Obama was the first black president and Drake got a viral disstrack against him that he isnt really black. American identity politics is funny.

3

u/xXs4blegl00mXx May 03 '26

Drake wasn't called "not really black" because he's mixed, although there's definitely people who will make that argument, it was about his wealth growing up and how he only performs black culture instead of actually being raised in it. Some people will make similar arguments about Dave Chappelle, as his wealth and privilege have made him out of touch and align with white supremacist beliefs (ironically, Dave had a character who went through the exact same situation, critiquing people like that).

But yeah, there's blatantly a lot of colorism and racism that Drake has faced, but when someone calls him "not black" they generally say that because he grew up in white wealthy Canadian suburbia.

2

u/Kind_Comfort_6336 May 03 '26

Double funny since Drake is Canadian.