found this on the Internet, I did not write it, so don't attack me! LOL REad it, discuss, debate, throw things, I dont' care...lol

http://www.nationalcenter...on104.html


Why People Defend Michael Jackson



by Kimberley Jane Wilson





A New Visions Commentary paper published January 2004 by The National Center for Public Policy Research. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.



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.



###


(Kimberley Jane Wilson is a member of the National Advisory Council of the African-American leadership network Project 21 and a freelance writer in Northern Virginia. Comments may be sent to Project21@nationalcenter.org.)


Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.
[This message was edited Fri Feb 6 5:34:10 PST 2004 by SquarePeg]

"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."


That's the key. And I am not defending Michael Jackson but DAMN, he sure was magical wasn't he?

Blah!

ShyBaby said:

Emphasis on "WAS". Pretty intelligent, well thought out article, though. I'm sure the MJ fanatics will find a million faults with it, though.

Excellent article, indeed. Sure, a lot of blacks can relate to being victimized by police (from racial profiling to out-and-out brutality and being set up). Cops can be dirty.

But, MJ has shown an interest in spending "an unnatural" amount of time with young people for decades. In the 1980s, he used to show up at events with child star Emmanuelle Lewis. Black folks were scratching our heads in bemusement decades ago, going: "Uh-oh... Something's wrong with Michael..."

He created this.

Always apprechiate a good balanced discussion.

There is/was the racism card in this game and it was first used by the Jackson family, maybe only Jermaine in first place. I think he is right with the result but not with the cause. Every now and then there is a big name falling down, but it has nothing to do with his race. I don't say, we don't have racism, don't get me wrong. People like to see someone rise above all when he comes from their level or even under, but they sure love seeing someone fall. If you are too big they hate you. Additionally he has his career based upon 'Pop', which makes it more difficult to stay successful and even more destroying is his image, which was first created by himself or his management.

It wasn't the image we see nowadays, but he initiated it and he didn't obviously know what would happen. Nowadays we see the joker 'Jackson' which is just used by the media for their money-making game. He doesn't have any control over how the media uses him, good or bad. And maybe he had a meeting with some executives where he was offended by racial remarks, who knows. We don't know about his personell experience with racism, maybe he has the right to call some persons racist. So, I don't think it is all nonsense.

I think nobody should mix up to much things even if we are talking about Michael Jackson. For some reason one mistake he made, or didn’t, has always been caused by everything he does or is.

As far as I know he makes about 40 million per year only of his Beatles catalogue. Neverland costs about 2 million per year. And I guess that is almost the only thing which can be made fix costs. Forbes can’t honestly claim to know what he spends on a day. I don’t give to much about all those bankruptcy stories. They appear every now and then and it always sounds very dramatic, but nothing ever happened.

What about his influence? I mean, the author of this article compares him to one hit wonders. Who cares about 50 Cent or Kid Rock in two or three years? If the author says the racial thing is complete nonsense, well then I have to say so is the influence thing. Of course he isn’t in the charts or much talked about on MTV, but who really cares? But thats another topic.

Yes, all this happens because he started this whole ‘freak’ thing, but the media took it and made it bigger and bigger and bigger. He made one big mistake in 2002 with the dangling, but he apologized. Before that and after that just tell me one more big mistake he made.

If you take 200 kids (girls and boys) at Neverland and show MJ with a little boy then you have a story. Period.

BlueNote

Talking of racism, the white rock press turned against Michael as soon as Thriller became the world's best selling album. An black artist that made an album that sold more than anything by The Beatles or Pink Floyd!?! That no doubt pissed them off. Speaks volumes to me.

[quote]

Emphasis on "WAS".[quote]

Pretty much like Madonna eh!!!
[This message was edited Fri Feb 6 16:43:50 PST 2004 by kremlinshadow]

kremlinshadow said:[quote][quote]

Emphasis on "WAS".

Ok, that's it. This avatar is fucking going, since apparently no one seems able to separate any opinion I have from Madonna.

This shit is laughable. Michael Jackson's musically irrelevant because people want to listen to Beyonce now? Who the fuck does she think is Beyonce's biggest influence. Michael's presence can be felt all over radio, like it or not.

And this financial ruin crap is starting to wear me thin, too. Michael's been going broke since the early 90s according to his detractors. Funny, seems like he's doing okay to me. The loan stories have never been proven, he still owns half of Sony/ATV and I'm hearing Sly and the Family Stone in every other commercial...he's taken care of fine.

Poorly researched, trite and pointless articles piss me off.

Michael Jackson is a survivor. I can't think of another artist that would be able to survive these types of allegations to the extent he has.

He might have lost a lot of support in America, (i can see why in mind of the furore caused by the mild Janet boob episode) but he remains hugely popular in other parts of the world. Rightly so too, nothing has ever been proven.

some folks forget that.

Pepina said:

The fact that she's his "biggest influence" (which is debatable anyway) has little to do with him. These days Top 40 songs last about a month before they're forgotten forever - I don't think the current teen music market could care less about influences.



That's unfair - the financial ruin may be exaggerated, but the article does make valid points.

My two cents: The man is so entertaining that millions of people worldwide are in mass denial. It's about time someone said it. His guilt is ridiculously obvious, especially now given the digital camera found in his bathroom and his lies about police brutality.

Yup, he is a survivor despite all the shite that he gets himself into.

agentmonday said:

Sure helps when you're a "survivor" with a billion dollars to pay your way out of anything! A mother in Harlem trying to raise 2 kids right, THAT's a survivor.
[This message was edited Sun Feb 8 6:41:54 PST 2004 by VoicesCarry]

VoicesCarry said:

Fair point, though i'd wish his detractors in general would make up their minds.He's broke one minute, the next he's a dollar billionaire again.

Marrk said:

I don't hate Michael Jackson, I'm just a realist and not a rabid fan. It's not "you're either for him or against him", there are shades of in between. Guy probably has loads of money (probably more tucked away in investments than even he knows he has). Or maybe he doesn't. Who knows? Does it really matter overall? Probably not. It gives him a definite advantage in some areas, though. In fact I'm shocked he doesn't use it more to his advantage.
[This message was edited Sun Feb 8 9:01:10 PST 2004 by VoicesCarry]

Cloudbuster said:

that's nonsense, the kind that won't help him - 20 years ago he was the most loved person in the world - too bad he didn't try to solve his problems but get lost in fakeness