Introduction
Who am I? This is the most common question people ask themselves on their ways to the understanding themselves as independent personalities. The process of the identity construction is difficult and in some cases people have to cope with the numerous problems but are eager to find themselves in this complicated world. Living in the world, where people want to find themselves, the prejudiced domination of one person under the other is impossible to avoid. The racial identity is one of the most discussed themes in the world. The history developed in such a way that black people were considered as the lower class, who could be violated and outraged. The modern situation in the world is that all people are equal, but some prejudices still exist. Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White” is one of the best examples of person’s racial identity construction, where Michael calls all people to consider each other equal, as all people in reality are.
Racial identity in the modern world
Discussing the problem of racial identity in the modern world, the question of racial discrimination may not be avoided. People always try to identify themselves, and the racial identification is the most visual factor of people’s differences. Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, Australoid and others are races, where visual and cultural significance is observed. People usually try to show their belonging to this or that race. In the modern world such distinguishing is not rather observed, but if to take some years before, when racial discrimination was widespread, the racial belonging was significant. People, who belonged to the white races, were the kings of the world, as they thought. In America, white man could kill the black one and he was not punished for this. The racial belonging in the modern world should be significant only in the cases of some family connections consideration, that is all. People should identify themselves as the members of different racial groups, just with the aim to underline their origin, but not as the factor, according to which the person will be evaluated.
The identity construction starts with the certain aims, and to understand the aim person will have the opportunity to explain directly why the identity construction is necessary in this question. “Identity formation has been described in terms of two major processes, exploration of alternatives and commitment to certain decisions and choices, and is closely related to goal construction” (Pulkkinen and Caspi 332), as it was mentioned above. So, the main question is why people try to identify themselves different in the current world? Listening to Michael Jackson’s song, it may be concluded that he argues people’s identities as the border between people, he considered all equal, “And I Told About Equality… It Don’t Matter if you’re Black or White” (Jackson).
The purpose of Michael Jackson’s “Black and White”
Why Jackson sang this song? What did he want to say? It may be offered that the main idea of the song is to show that all people are equal personalities. He was black and he became a star, he changed, but the attitude to him did not change. The music video shows his transformation to the white person, but what did happen inside? Michael Jackson remained black in his soul, and singing the song about black and white people, Jackson just underlines that it is does not matter for him which color the skin of a person “It Don’t Matter if you’re Black or White” (Jackson). The song, which is discussed, is about people’s relations, when they try to putt he racial belonging on the highest level, avoiding the personality. The song is the story of Michael’s life, when he was black and became white, but he also tells that his attitude to people did not change, moreover, he is the only person who can say with insurance from the personal experience that black and white people are equal, they are the same.
Having considered the song till the end, the understanding appears that people pay too much attention to personal race identity. Why? It may be said that it is the prejudices, which play this trick with people. Black people have been considered as slaves for a long time and some people cannot avoid this belief even for now, living in a free and democratic country. The very life of Michael Jackson was the rejection of all accepted rules. When black people were still prejudiced and ignored in the society, Jackson tried to ruin that perception by his authority. Singing the words “It Don’t Matter If you’re Black or White” (Jackson), he wanted to tell everybody that the color of the skin is not the aspect, which should be considered while choosing people for communication. Moreover, these words may explain Jackson’s attitude to black people. Someone may say that becoming white, Michael Jackson just showed that he hated black people. No! It is not true! Michael Jackson’s transformation is the sign of the fact that he is indifferent to both white and black in the meaning that he treats them similarly. It is unimportant for Jackson which color of person’s skin, the personal characteristics is important, his/her inner world and attitude to life.
The cases of the racial identity necessity
Richard Dyer tries to give arguments that people need to identify themselves in the racial means to show their culture, to give people the understanding that his culture is absolutely different from others as it has come historically, but not with the aim to show domination or vice versa, but to show that this person is personality, who has its roots, traditions and personal opinion. The example, which he gives, is that white people’s race are the biggest part of the world, and that the color of their skin is identified biologically, thanks to some elements, and people began to create their own culture. Talking about Chinese or Japanese people, they are usually identified as “yellow”, but the color of their skin is not such. They also belong to other culture, to other race, as well as black people (Dyer 42). It is also argued that the color of skin makes the person white by the belonging to the very culture, “the claim to racial superiority resides in that which cannot be seen, the spirit, manifest only in its control over the body and its enterprising exercise in the world” (44). In othr words, the person is considered white, when he/she follows some customs and tradition of white people, the same deals with the black race: those people should be considered black, whose soul tends to black culture.
Distinguishing people’s identity
People’s racial identity may also be shown through a number of other factors. Taking such signs as appearance, it may be said that the color of skin is not the only factor according to which the races differ. The hair of the black people differs greatly from that of white people, in addition the culture for Dreadlocks has come from the black tradition. The same is with the haircuts and other peculiarities in appearance. The music is the other thing, which may distinguish black people from white, as the music of black culture is significant. The modern world is democratic and some notions may not now be considered as the black people’s culture. “Diaspora practices of black stylization are intelligible at one functional level as dialogic responses to the racism of the dominant culture, but at another level involve acts of appropriation from that same ‘master’ culture through which ‘syncretic’ forms of cultural expression have evolved” (Mercer 307).
Racial identity and its importance
Having considered all the information, which was gathered about the racial identity and relying to Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White”, it may be said that the importance of the racial identity lies inside people. It is the very person, who identifies whether it is significant for him/her to belong to the black, white or yellow race. The appearance, the lifestyle and the behavior may be the signs of the racial belonging of a person. Taking Michael Jackson as the example, it may be said that even having become white, he remained black in his soul, as his roots come from this race. Analyzing the song “Black or White” deeper, and watching the video to the song, it may be said that “video fades out with a sequence of multicolored faces morphing into one another. Asian women become black men become white men become Latinas become black women…” (Werner 274). The main aim of Michael Jackson’s was to show people, that they all are identified not by the color of their skin and not by the racial belonging, but by the way of life they lead, by the behavior they perform and by the moral considerations they have. People are equal, and if someone tries to show his/her racial belonging, it should be just to make sure people perceive him/her such as he/she is.
The main sense of “Black and White” is deep, as through the song, Michael wanted to say that “music heals all wounds” (Werner 274). Reducing the cultural differences, people are eager to be free, as prejudices bind, they do not give the freedom of choice and people become limited in democratic country. Michael Jackson calls everybody to be free, to judge people according to their personality, but not according to their race. Moreover, the race identity must be present, but inside everybody, as people should know their origin and be proud of it. People must provide their racial identification, but at the same time they should not be concentrated on it directly. The importance of personal racial identification lies in the importance for a person to consider him/herself as a member of a certain racial group, which denotes its culture and traditions. Identifying oneself as the member of this or that race, the person just shows his/her origin and should not try to dominate under the other. History is something which can never be changes and racial prejudices must be avoided by all means.
Michael Jackson is a great example of the racial construction, as it is he who creates his visual belonging to the certain race, but in fact, inside, he remained that black boy, who began to create his music for people who not just were black, but who liked black people culture. First, his music was created even for white people, who did not shame to confess themselves as those, who understand and perceive black culture as it is. The song “Black and White” calls people to avoid the visual belonging to this or that race but to consider inner world, which in most cases much more colored than black and white, as people’s inner is more variable.
Conclusion
So, what is the conclusion? The conclusion is that racial identification is important, but it should not be the core point in person’s consideration. People belong to that race, which they consider themselves in, which culture and traditions they follow and which way they behave. Michael Jackson’s song “Black or White” is one of the best examples of person’s racial identity construction, where Michael calls all people to consider each other equal, as all people in reality are. People should identify themselves as the participants of this or that racial group, but at the same time they should not treat each other according to racial belonging. Racial personal identification is important to know the traditions of ancestors, to know the personal origin, but in people’s relations racial identity should not dominate, as people are born equal, and they deserve equal attitude.
Works Cited
Dyer, Richard. White. Oxford: Routledge, 1997.
Jackson, Michael. Michael Jackson From A Black Man To A White Woman. 2009. Web.
Mercer, Kobena. “Black Hair/Style Politics.” Gelder, Ken. The subculture reader. Oxford: Routledge, 2005.
Pulkkinen, Lea and Avshalom Caspi. Paths to successful development: personality in the life course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Werner, Craig Hansen. A change is gonna come: music, race & the soul of America. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2006.