Michael and the Mirror

I read the best post yet on Michael Jackson today. The best because it is full of humanity and understanding for this complex man. The writer, Carmen Van Kerckhove, looks at Jackson through her heart and through her sharply focused lens on the complexities of race and identity.

The post, which was originally posted at cnn.com is also on Van Kerckhove's Web site. I'm linking to it here with permission:

Michael Jackson on race -- and who he saw in the mirror

Be sure to read the whole post, but here are a couple of excerpts:

Race is never simple, especially when it comes to a complex artist like Michael Jackson...

...A rush to judgment accusing Michael Jackson of being a race traitor is unfair to the complexity of his life. Unless we take sufficient time to develop an understanding and empathy for his story, it’s easy to make simplistic claims or assumptions about why he wanted to change his appearance.

From what I have been able to discover, Michael was not trying to erase his race; he was trying to get comfortable with his face. He wanted, as we all do, to love the man in the mirror. Why he never did, we’ll never know...

Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, a diversity education firm. She also blogs at Racialicious and Anti-Racist Parent, and you can follow her on Twitter.

Here is a 2002 video clip that shows what Michael Jackson might have looked like now without any plastic surgery. It also shows his changing face over the years and has some sympathetic commentary about the man in the mirror: