The Michael Jackson factor and the last vestiges of prejudice
My Nigeria-born pastor surprised me with his Sunday morning homily when he referred to Michael Jackson as a genius with a higher level of consciousness. My pastor is well read and I tend to believe what he opines. Though the biased may not agree with that assertion, I think we ought to give it to Michael for his musical and choreographic genius.
Like most others who now tend to glorify Michael Jackson in death, my regard for Michael shot upwards after his heart called it a day. Thinking about all this in hindsight, I should have not been carried away with all the bad publicity he received when he was alive. And what a dramatic turnaround matters have taken after his death!
In a sense, he was vindicated. Michael Jackson may not been half as bad as they made him out to be. It was his immense wealth and naïve disposition that made him a soft target for bounty hunters.
In the end, he left behind an empire that is now getting ready to strike back. Michael Jackson’s next of kin are sitting on an even bigger goldmine now that he is no more.
But there is a facet of Michael Jackson that even the visible minorities like us can be thankful for. He broke down a significant number of racial barriers by making music colorless. It can questionably be argued that his music brought white and black closer than any other single thing in the 20th century.
Most people living in South Asia do not understand what first world discrimination and prejudice is all about. And even if they do, they prefer not to liken it to the treatment meted out to lower castes in Indian society. We South Asians have collective double standards. But the Western brand of prejudice is like a baby bee inside your car when you are driving; sometimes it perches innocuously on the dashboard and at other times it is noticeable by the constant low- key buzz. Then at some point on a long journey you simply live with it. You know you can’t beat it in this lifetime anyway.
But our children in North America appear to be taking a milder view of it. They seem to have merged into society seemingly well. They do not live their life with the slight apprehension that bothered some of us like the teeny-weenie bee buzzing in the back of our minds.
That little bee has become visibly smaller and subdued of late. No longer can its head pop out with temerity. But once in a while it hangs out like a tape worm that struggles to assert its presence.
Hopefully, we should see the end of prejudice in our lifetimes. Just as well,for that would enable us to concentrate on more compelling issues.
Like feeding the world’s hungry people, for instance.