25-year-old actress and singer Paris Jackson, whose full name is Paris-Michaela Katherine Jackson, has spoken out about her racial identity after receiving backlash over identifying herself as a black woman.
Born in 1998 to parents Debbie Rowe and ‘Thriller’ hitmaker Michael Jackson, Paris is the late singer’s only daughter. She was 11 years old in 2009 when the news of her father’s demise shook the world.
In 2017, Paris candidly discussed her childhood as the daughter of the ‘Rock with You’ singer with Rolling Stone magazine. He addressed the speculations surrounding his biological parents and shared his perspective on the matter.
At the age of 18, Paris noted that many people described her as blonde, noting that she resembled a girl from Finland. However, she insisted, “I consider myself black.”
She described how her father would stare at her, point a finger and confirm, “You are black. Be proud of your roots.”
“I’d say, ‘Well, he’s my father, why would he lie to me?’ He said. “So I just believe what he told me. Because, to my knowledge, he has never lied to me. Most people who don’t know me call me white. “I have fair skin and especially since I have blonde hair, I look like I was born in Finland or somewhere else.”
However, he stressed that he has seen mixed-race individuals with similar appearance, citing TV actor Wentworth Miller as an example. Miller’s father is black and mother is white.
Jackson rose to prominence in the 1960s as a young singer in the band The Jackson 5 with his brothers Jermaine, Jackie, Tito and Marlon. Managed by his father, Joe Jackson, the band produced several hits, including ‘ABC,’ ‘Smooth Criminal,’ ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Blame It on the Boogie,’ and ‘Dangerous.’
As an African-American, the King of Pop had a darker complexion early in his career. However, he later developed vitiligo, a condition that causes his skin to become lighter as he ages.
Paris and her siblings were aware that some people doubted whether Michael was her biological father, but they strongly rejected the suggestion.
“He is my father,” she told the outlet. “He will always be my father. He never was, and he never will be. People who knew him well say they see him in me, and it’s almost scary.
In another interview, the ‘Just You’ singer talked about her upbringing with her siblings – Prince and Biggie “Blanket” Jackson – on their father’s Neverland ranch. The farm had attractions such as an amusement park, a zoo, and a movie theater.
Although she spent her childhood on a sprawling 2,700-acre estate in California, Paris says she had a normal upbringing. She revealed that she and her brothers were not given free rein to go on rides whenever they wanted.
“We had school every day, and we had to be good. And if we were nice, every other weekend, we could choose whether we wanted to go to the movie theater or see animals or something.” He said. “But if you have bad behavior, you won’t get a chance to do all this.”
Paris also praised her father for raising her in an “open-minded home”, recalling a childhood moment when she “fell in love with this woman on the cover of a magazine.”
“Instead of yelling at me like most anti-gay parents would, he was making fun of me, like, ‘Oh, you got yourself a girlfriend,'” She laughed. “Besides loving us, his number one focus was education for us.”
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Source: Rolling Stone
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