Michael Jackson Internalized Racism Misconceptions

“I’m a black American. I’m proud of my race, I’m proud of who I’ am,” states the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in his Neverland ranch in 1993. If this was really the case, then why did Jackson turn himself white? Why did he modify his face with all of these plastic surgeries that made him look more like a White European? Why did he marry white women and adopt white children? Was Michael Jackson suffering from internalized racism?

To get close to the answers of these highly complicated questions, it’s worth knowing some of the popular stereotypes of African Americans. This ethnic group was claimed to be violent, poor, engaging in crimes, lazy and fat. Since Michael Jackson was in this minority group, he feared that he would be denied equal access to positions of power, privilege, and wealth. He appeared to assume that his dark skin and big nose would be perceived as stigmas by all of the upper class privileged figures in the music industry and therefore he would not be able to reach his full potential as an artist.

For instance, in 2002, the late pop icon made a very controversial speech at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network in New York's Harlem neighborhood accusing the Sony Music Chairman, Tommy Mottola, of being racist and part of a racist conspiracy against black artists. The following video shows Jackson’s speech against Mottola:



It seems that “absorption assimilation,” which is the process, by which members of a minority group adapt to the ways of the dominant culture, was the solution for Jackson’s own race embarrassment. But apart from simply adapting to the lives of the superior class, Jackson adopted much more radical means and that rests on his remarkable altered appearance through skin bleaching, a nose job, a forehead lift, thinned lips, a cheekbone surgery, a chin cleft and hair transplants.

One may assume that Michael Jackson was trying to distance himself from the African community. Nevertheless, after his physical transformation, Michael’s hits continued to call for equality, peace, humanity and love among all different races and ethnic groups. For example, one of his most powerful lines about this message is in his song “Black or White,” which says “It doesn’t matter if you are black or white.” Some of his tracks which contribute to these principles are “Heal the World, We are the World, and They Don’t Care About Us, Human Nature, The Earth Song and Man in the Mirror.”

Michael Jackson was deprived of his childhood, abused by his father, accused of crimes that he did not commit, had mean headlines in the tabloids and simply did not live a normal life. Considering all of these disturbing factors, we should really stop judging the man and appreciate the extraordinary music and fabulous dance techniques that revolutionized the music industry.

That leads me to leave you to enjoy Michael’s last rehearsal performance from his documentary, This Is It, which includes all the performances Michael was rehearsing for his comeback concert tour in London, which never happened due to his sudden death from an overdose of the prescription drug propofol on June, 25th, 2009.

Bombers, Belly dancers and Billionaires

Arabs have been stereotyped as sub-human throughout history and still are today to the west. They have been portrayed as barbaric, vicious and even as terrorists. Ironically enough, the power of the media industry still embraces these false mythologies. The power of both the media industry and Hollywood play a massive role in portraying these false images of Arabs to the western world at most times. Media tends to be a tool of propaganda as it is another means of expressing stereotypical and discriminatory views.


As a result of discrimination and stigma, Arab-Americans tend to be targeted the most. In this case, being an Arab is deeply discredited as it over-shadows all the other attributes they possess. In most cases, the stigma of being an Arab dominates interactions and the way others think of them. They are the minority group that are systematically excluded from participation in the American community and denied equal access to valued resources at most times. Sociologist Peggy McIntosh identifies a number of privileges that the members of the dominant group take for granted, however, the one that stood out the most was, “ I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race [or ethnicity].” This may be one of the greatest examples, as Arabs are stereotypically known for their bad timing, especially in the eyes of the west.



Racism against Arabs has increased along side the tension between the American government and the Middle East. Discrimination and racial violence increased towards Arabs following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The proposed development of building a mosque near Ground Zero of the former World Trade Centre site was another contributory factor that provoked the American community to anti-Arabism.



In reference to the documentary of “Reel bad Arabs,” by media analyst Jack Shaheen, Arabs have always been the “butt of a cheap joke.” Within the entertainment industry, Arabs have been looked at as the stupid but rich, wanting to buy chunks of American land. They’re often associated with not only living in exotic places where the men enjoy their time and money with the company of belly dancers, but also where the population is uneducated and surrounded by massacres. For instance, Dr. Shaheen insists in his documentary that the movie of “Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986),” portrays one of the worst images of Arab stereotypes. The movie represents Arabs as terrorists who want to set the place on fire, while killing millions of people and being ‘America’s most wanted’.



As once said by director of media relations for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, “ Arabs in TV and movies are portrayed as either bombers, belly dancers, or billionaires.” More often referred to as “the three B syndrome.”

Some Americans have gone as far as removing nine Arab-Muslim passengers from flying with AirTran Airways in 2009. Is this the real democracy promised? What happened to equal rights?