Black people love and have passionately defended the honor and legacy of Michael Jackson since he passed away June 25. We make no bones about it. And while the rest of the world — particularly white, mainstream media — continues to paint a picture of Michael Jackson the pedophile, or Michael Jackson the freak show, black people continue to stand by their guy. He’s one of us. At least that’s been the common refrain whenever someone of color has been given the opportunity to speak out on Jackson.
Bill O’Reilly, who can always be counted on to stir the pot of controversy, openly questioned the allegiance of black people to Jackson.
“Michael Jackson has white children, and he chose to have white children,” he said on his show July 7. “And the face deal, I don’t even want to get into.”
“The black community in America — Sharpton is there, Jackson is there — are rallying to this,” he continued, “and I’m going, ‘What? There’s no racial component to this story at all!’ ”
