Michael Jackson And Racism

September 28. 2009

In recently released interviews from eight years ago, Michael Jackson stated his family was subjected to racism that greatly upset him:

Michael Jackson: My mother - she was pulling out of the market, right, it was a block from my house in Encino and she was in her Mercedes. And this white guy in a car screams out to her, "Go back to Africa, you n***ger." Just like that. It hurt me so much that that happened to be mother. Or stories of my brothers in their Rolls-Royces, you know, get out of the car, lock the door, when they come back to the car they would find a key, some guy walked by and scrape off all the paint.

Shmuley Boteach: 'Cause it was a black man driving it?

Michael Jackson: A black man driving a Rolls Royce, you know. I just hate anything to do with because the color of a person's skin had nothing to do with the content of their character.

In addition to accusing the press of racism, Jackson divulges painful stories about the ugly overtones of race that hovered over his family, long after he became a superstar.

In other news, Michael Jackson could not stand his reflection and thought he looked like "a lizard." I'm not gonna lie, I laughed when I read that and if you have ever seen a lizard, you'll know why.

But more often, he sounds anguished and sad. The star who spent his adult life morphing from one look to another, actually admits his own face repulses him.

Michael Jackson: I saw it on the computer, it made me sick when I saw it.

Rabbi Shmuley: Why?

Michael Jackson: I look like a lizard, I look like, it's horrible. I don't like it, I never like it. That's why I wish I could never be photographed or seen and I push myself to go to the things that we go to.

Jackson looked his best during his "Off The Wall" and "Thriller" album days. He looked better before all the plastic surgery and skin alterations.