|
|
|
Michael Jackson Asked Us: Does it Matter if You're Black or White? |
|
|
|
|
In
remembering Michael Jackson and celebrating his life as the "King of
Pop," one finds that whilst many people loved his music, many were
equally bewildered by his appearance. This is a reflection on the ways
in which he made us think about race and identity.
Michael Jackson's album,
''Dangerous,'' premiered at No. 1 on Billboard's pop chart on Dec. 9,
1991, and the album's hit single, "Black or White" was played
constantly on the airwaves. But what about its core premise. Does it
matter if you're black or white?
His song attempts to portray a need for racial harmony and peace in the
midst of gang warfare and inner-city strife. At the end of the song's
video, we see positive images of cultural diversity, a slew of
multicultural faces melding into each other - beautiful Latinos,
Asian-Americans, Native Americans, blacks and whites.
His song recognizes the conflict of race in U.S. society and a need for racial harmony.
We have enough racial categorizing in this society. If
you have pigmentation in your skin, society makes distinctions between
those who have more and those who have less.
This happens among Latinos and blacks.
In Latino culture, to look Indian is often viewed as
unattractive or inferior. The Spanish word for Indian, ''indio,'' is
sometimes equated with being stupid. For some, it's better to claim
Spanish or European background than Indian. But the majority of Latino
people are ''mestizo'' - a mixture of the two.
Among African Americans, differences are highlighted
between light-skinned and dark-skinned blacks, between straight and
kinky hair.
Even societies outside the United States place a premium on lighter skin color:
In Mexico, almost all the television broadcasters and
models in high fashion magazines are fair-haired and fair-skinned or
their features do not reflect the ''mestizos'' in the country.
In Guatemala, the darker-skinned indigenous peoples are a class separate from the white population.
In India, the caste system dictates that the lighter your skin is, the higher the social standing.
In Brazil, there are multiple classification based on skin color.
Really then, Michael Jackson's message has much
broader application. The divisions based on color between blacks and
whites ought to be eradicated as much as intra-racial, intra-ethnic
divisions based on skin color and hair texture.
We should follow Michael Jackson's advice as per the following lyrics of another of his songs, "Heal the World":
Click to Listen
little girl talking
((i think about the gererations
and thay say thay want to make it
a better place for our children & our children's children
so that thay thay thay know it's a better world for them
and i think thay can make it a better place))
There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow
There Are Ways
To Get There
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
Make A Better Place...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
If You Want To Know Why
There's A Love That
Cannot Lie
Love Is Strong
It Only Cares For
Joyful Giving
If We Try
We Shall See
In This Bliss
We Cannot Feel
Fear Or Dread
We Stop Existing And
Start Living
Then It Feels That Always
Love's Enough For
Us Growing
So Make A Better World
Make A Better World...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Dream We Were
Conceived In
Will Reveal A Joyful Face
And The World We
Once Believed In
Will Shine Again In Grace
Then Why Do We Keep
Strangling Life
Wound This Earth
Crucify Its Soul
Though It's Plain To See
This World Is Heavenly
Be God's Glow
We Could Fly So High
Let Our Spirits Never Die
In My Heart
I Feel You Are All
My Brothers
Create A World With
No Fear
Together We'll Cry
Happy Tears
See The Nations Turn
Their Swords
Into Plowshares
We Could Really Get There
If You Cared Enough
For The Living
Make A Little Space
To Make A Better Place...
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me
You And For Me
You And For Me
Make A Better Place
You And For Me
Make A Better Place
You And For Me
Make A Better Place
You And For Me
heal the wordl we live in
You And For Me
save it for our children
You And For Me
heal the world we live in
You And For Me
save it for our children
You And For Me
heal the world we live in
You And For Me
save it for our children
You And For Me
heal the world we live in
You And For Me
save it for our children
|
|
|
