Why People Defend Michael Jackson

Project21 ^ | Kimberley Jane Wilson

[DemWatch]

Michael Jackson.

Go ahead, crack a joke, sigh or shake your head. Michael's lifestyle and his current predicament inexorably lead to those reactions. There seem to be only two main schools of thought concerning the one-time "King of Pop": he's either guilty of molesting a young boy and ought to be tried, convicted and put in a cell deep under a prison or he's innocent.

These groups also seem to be split into two other categories: black and other. A couple of white friends have asked me why this should be. I chalk it up to history and love.

Our criminal justice system has historically been indifferent or downright hostile to the fates of black men. When I was five years old, I watched two beefy white police officers beat a black teenager to unconsciousness. One officer had to literally hold up the profusely bleeding kid while the other officer whacked him with his baton. Almost 40 years ago, my mother's cousin was attacked on the main street of their small town by a group of white men. Her cousin never fully recovered and died a year later. No one was arrested for the crime. There was never any possibility of a trial. My mother still cannot talk about her cousin's fate without becoming upset. Fifty years ago, my husband's grandmother attended the funeral of a neighbor who was caught by the police with his white girlfriend in a hotel room. Facing social ruin, the woman claimed that she'd been kidnapped and raped. The young man went to the electric chair.

There isn't a black family in America who doesn't have similar stories, and it's why many of us are still uneasy around police or defend young men in trouble. I understand this, but it's the past. As hideous as it was, it doesn't have much to do with Michael Jackson's predicament today.

There are those, activist Dick Gregory among them, who believe that Michael Jackson was set up. They feel "The Man" so hates seeing successful black folks that, every now and then, one or two must be taken down as a warning to the rest of us. Michael's wealth and power - so their reasoning goes - is too much of an affront.

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

First, although Michael Jackson is still wealthy by average guy standards, he's lost a shocking amount of money over the years. It costs a small fortune each year just to maintain his 2,700-acre Neverland estate's house, train, zoo and amusement park rides. Forbes magazine says Jackson is worth about $350 million. The New York Times points out that his debts come to $200 million. Compared to billionaires like Robert Johnson (the founder of BET) and Oprah Winfrey, Michael's financial mess doesn't look enviable at all.

Second, Michael Jackson's artistic influence is pretty much nonexistent today. Young people want 50 Cent, Beyonce and Kid Rock. Unless he somehow pulls together an astonishing comeback, Michael's years of musical genius are behind him.

So, no, I don't think there's a conspiracy to take Michael Jackson down. His brother, Jermaine, called Michael's arrest a "lynching." Someone ought to send Jermaine a copy of Mamie Till Mobley's book Death of Innocence and One Hundred Years of Lynching. Michael Jackson is not Emmit Till. He's not even Rodney King.

I think, deep inside, most of us know why Michael Jackson is caught in the midst of his current trouble. It's not white envy - it's his own actions. Michael's repeated on-camera insistence that there's nothing wrong with having unrelated kids in his bed and his apparent fascination with boys makes him look worse than anything a malicious individual could invent. Given the opportunity to send a son of our own off to Neverland, I think most of us would instinctively turn down the chance.

In his youth, Michael Jackson brought an incredible amount of happiness to millions of people. We love the memory of that little kid with the joy-filled voice and the huge afro. That's what people are defending, not the 45-year-old man he is today. America's past and Michael's past are so strongly imprinted on many people's minds that they refuse to see anything else.

[LisaMalia]

Given the opportunity to send a son of our own off to Neverland, I think most of us would instinctively turn down the chance.

Gee, ya think? This idiot is just another 'Jackson the pedophile' enabler.

[perfect stranger]

"There isn't a black family in America who doesn't have similar stories"

Idiotic BS

[KangarooJacqui]

A couple of white friends have asked me why this should be. I chalk it up to history and love.

I remember the MJ album "History" (and what a steaming pile of doggy-doo that one was!), but I don't recall him ever releasing an album called "Love"...

Or maybe that one was just for... (*edited due to the fact that the following thought is tasteless*)

[per loin]

Black racists and the folks who fall for the black racist line defend Michael Jackson. No other non-pedophilic adults do, except those few with an economic interest.

[SengirV]

Did you all hear that, Mayor for life, Marion 'Crack Head' Barry is going to run for city council in DC?

[Main Street]

[joyce11111]

I am Norske and MJ is whiter than I am..
That article was a load!

[randog]

Our criminal justice system has historically been indifferent or downright hostile to the fates of black men. When I was five years old, I watched two beefy white police officers beat a black teenager to unconsciousness.

My wife, who grew up in a small town in Nevada, tells stories of how the sheriff would shoot drifters and hitchhikers (usually white, some hispanic) and dump their bodies in mine shafts. I guess by her perspective this means that "our criminal justice system has historically been indifferent or downright hostile to the fates of white men."

[Main Street]

"When I was five years old, I watched two beefy white police officers beat a black teenager to unconsciousness...." Odd how things change. Now, where I used to live in Detroit, it's just the opposite.

[cyborg]

Not EVERY black family has a story like this but I understand what this author is trying to say. There are a lot of people that have had experiences and they'd like to blame Jacko's actions on someone else. Such people know deep down inside that Jacko is the only one at fault here.
The article isn't that bad.

[thoughtomator]

Anyone who even begins to suggest that MJ is up against the wall because racists are prosecuting him is merely outing themselves as a racist. There's nothing 'black' about MJ anymore except his genes, and there hasn't been for a very long time.

[Afro_conservative]

I have been a victim of police brutality, I went to court and the guy was fired and put on probation. The officer or should I say officers where Hispanic and White. I don't think it was racial, I just think they where trying to show how much "powerful" they where and they did just that to a 17 yr. Old. Now that was 7 years ago. But you know what, I live on the border between a really wealthy neighborhood and Chicago and I do understand that they usually don't see blacks walk much less live amongst the wealthy but sometimes they go overboard. How about we get rid of the police and let communities form their own militia-type police, that way they know each other and there won't be any mistaken identity. I support the police, but they have too much power in certain instances and too little power in other(one example would be that bank robbery in California when they where out gunned, or when murderers and rapist are let go due to a minor police mistake.)

[noutopia]

I thought MJ was white,I need to keep up with these things.Sorry

[Afro_conservative]

He is whiter than any white person I have ever seen, I think dude is an alien or much worse a liberal. Hey I was listening to Rush today and he had a commerical for CLR stating it gets rid of Lime, Rust, Grime, and Dirt. Does that mean it will get rid of the democrapic party if we pour it on them!

[DestroytheDemocrats]

"Michael's repeated on-camera insistence that there's nothing wrong with having unrelated kids in his bed...makes him look bad."

Ya think?

Nobody ever brings it up that Jackson grabs his croch in front of thousands of children who come to see him preform. It is vulgar and overtly sexual. In my mind that is the biggest factor in raising suspicions about his intentions toward children that he sleeps in the same bed with. Whatever they one were with all their talent The Jacksons are really pathetic now. And it's not only Michale and Janet...Germaine's crying jag in that interview on FOX with that blond woman (forget her name) was the most manipulative, phoney, pathetic performance I have ever seen.

[ridesthemiles]

Michael's repeated on-camera insistence that there's nothing wrong with having unrelated kids in his bed...makes him look bad."
Ya think?

As far as I am concerned, the Jackson family is a bunch of freaks and perverts. Those that aren't as nuts a Michael would be wise to distance themselves from the center of the problem. None of us can control the actions of our siblings and family members. Supporting them when they have possible done something as hideous as the charges against Michael is beyond stupid, IMO.

[blackbart.223]

"My wife, who grew up in a small town in Nevada, tells stories of how the sheriff would shoot drifters and hitchhikers (usually white, some hispanic) and dump their bodies in mine shafts."

I live in Nevada. What small town did she live in? There are many here.

[ridesthemiles]

As for the crotch grabbing: I wouldn't date someone who did that- I sure as he## wouldn't pay my hard earned money to go to a concert and watch someone do that.
Janet's actions in the past couple of weeks tells me that no one in the family has any FAMILY VALUES that parallel anything most of us got raised with.
She did something incredibly stupid and disgusting, but she tarred Justin Timberlake and alot of other persons with her stunt. I have no sympathy for the suits at CBS for booking this kind of "entertainment" in the first place, but I certainly hope this was all a rotten surprise on Justin.
OTOH, The grabbing at her costume and "ripping" it in front of what should be a very family involved audience tells me that he needs to rethink some of his actions, also.

[DarthMaulrulesok]

I don't know what anyone is worried about. After all, we all KNOW what is going to happen:

1. Jackson's Lawyers will yell "racism"

2. The Jury will deadlock.

3. The Nation of Islam will issue threats and stage demonstrations.

4. And Jackson will (moon) walk.

Prediction: He will get away with it.