Paris Jackson, the only daughter of the late pop icon Michael Jackson, recently shared that despite being mixed race, she identifies as a black woman.
Paris said her father insisted she was black, ‘Be proud of your roots,’ and she honours her father’s roots and legacy – both musically and physically – noting, ‘I consider myself black.’
Keep reading to learn more about Paris Jackson’s personality!
Paris Jackson, an American actress, model and singer, was born on 3 April 1998 and is the daughter of Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe.
Paris, 25, and her two brothers Bigi, 22, and Prince, 27, were born into the spotlight and a lot of fans wanted to know all about the new members of the Jackson family.
When they were young, singer Billie Jean tried to protect his children from prying eyes with blankets (for Bigi), masks and veils.
In 2007, Jackson’s bodyguard told People that the three children were ‘well-behaved, well-behaved children… They’re very balanced… They were Michael’s top priority.’
But in 2009, with the death of their father, the layer of protection was removed, and the kids found themselves alone in the public eye, becoming a very lucrative prey for the paparazzi.
As a result, Paris developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She shared, ‘I have audio hallucinations, sometimes with camera clicks, severe paranoia, and I go to therapy for a lot of things, but that includes this one.’
The girl also admitted that she had attempted suicide ‘several times’ by the time she was 15 and entered a treatment centre in 2019.
She said: ‘It was self-loathing… Low self-esteem, thoughts that I couldn’t do anything right, didn’t think I was worthy of moving on with my life.
She’s who my father is.’
Today, she draws heavily on the influence of her older brother Prince Michael Jackson, of whom she says, ‘He’s everything to me, you know?’. In 2020, she told People about her relationship with Prince: ‘I always looked up to him, always wanted his approval and everything else, wanted to be more like him.’
However, Prince says his younger sister is more like their father. ‘Basically, as a person, she’s just like my dad. The only thing that’s different is her age and gender.’
He adds that his younger sister is like their father ‘in all her strengths and almost all her weaknesses. She is very passionate.’
As well as being very passionate about her career – she has walked the catwalk for major fashion brands such as Chanel and is the lead singer and guitarist for the band The Soundflowers – she is also keen to honour her father’s legacy.
‘Everyone in my family is involved in music. I mean, I’m a Jackson,’ she told 2020. ‘It makes sense that I’m a musician, but as a Jackson doing folk-indie?’
It’s all about race
On issues of race, she also aligns with her late father.
While the Beat It singer had fair skin late in life, the hitmaker – rumoured to have suffered from vitiligo, a condition that alters the pigmentation of his skin – was an African-American who had a darker complexion in his early years.
Jackson faced much speculation about changing his appearance during his career and always denied that he bleached his skin.
In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the ‘Thriller’ star claimed that a nose job was the only cosmetic procedure and that his skin depigmentation was caused by his vitiligo.
‘I’m proud of my race. I’m proud of who I am,’ Jackson told Winfrey at the time.
Given her father’s African-American heritage, Paris says she identifies as black.
Discussing the situation with Rolling Stone magazine in 2017, Paris said she ‘considers herself black’ and that ‘[Michael] looked me in the eye, pointed his finger at me and said, ’You’re black. Be proud of your roots.’’
Speaking about her fair skin and noting that many people – because of her dyed blonde hair and striking blue eyes – assume she comes from ‘Finland or something like that’, she adds: ‘And I’m like, ‘OK, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believed what he told me.’ [Because as far as I know, he’s never lied to me.’
Unsurprisingly, she was criticised after her racially charged statement was published. Talk show host Wendy Williams had some very harsh words when she mocked Jackson’s only daughter for identifying as a black woman: ‘I understand that she thinks she’s black and all that, but I’m just talking about visual perception because you know… black is not what you call yourself, it’s how the cops see you when they have steel around your neck on the bend.’
She adds: ‘That’s what they see. But it’s nice and good for her.’
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