It's an interesting minefield, isn't it? On one hand you want people to be aware, on the hand you cannot blame people for not having internalized something that they had no reason to internalize. For example, I've seen the the term "Jack*" being used on German fan forums- where a lot of language barriers are also standing in the way. A lot of those fans rely upon translations of various interviews etc- so to a number of them it is virtually impossible to even 'feel' the whole term the way it would sound and feel to most English speakers. Many are not able to understand the Barbara Walters interview for example.
Also, look up the show "Animaniacs" and the characters of "Wakko, Jakko and Dot'. Is it any surprise one doesn't appreciate to be turned into a 'running gag'- besides it being of racist origin?
And I do think that certain media outlets very much relished in the idea of presenting you the 'uber freak' as they felt.
First of all, they finally painted the picture of the deviant black male who's always on the hunt- this time the target are children! I mean, it's been a long time since it was acceptable to accuse men of being rapists just because they were black- so the ante had to be upped.
And in order not to look like a typical racist lynch mob- what happened? First Michael was pointed out as a black man- you know, just in case you 'just' thought of him as "Michael Jackson", and not as some file in a drawer.
To 'soften' the racism blows the media declared a known vitiligo sufferer as being 'the pe*o ashamed of his blackness'- man, did anyone ever project their own messed up views more???
The goal was clearly to strip him of any co-humanity that people all across the globe felt. If you don't perceive someone as human... *gates wide open*
That in itself is already the racism in itself as a number of members of mankind's family were not viewed as being 'real humans'. You don't even need a racist moniker to see what the thinking of a racist is.
Anyone perceived as 'subhuman'. And the list is long. Take the 'the bitch' (ever needed a clearer example of why a human female is being called that?)for example- that list is practically endless. Racism, misogyny and hatred of anyone 'other' than oneself all function on the same basic level.
Take the term 'boy', for example. To most students of English it means simply that- 'boy'. For a lot of people though 'boy' (very much justifiably so!) also has other connotations within the framework of slavery and segregation. What do you do? Expect other people to internalize those sentiments toward the word 'boy'? Just explain it? Observe the context?
Language is never a static thing. Not only did Michael object to the term- which in itself is enough reason not to use it- but language isn't a dead thing.
I think Michael and his suffering are a good way to seed the seedlings of good will. I would think that a great number of people would refrain from using that moniker if they were aware of the larger context of de-humanizing a human being- and how this was done to Michael.
Those that still use it after being explained- are beyond help.
But I think even Michael's suffering can be used toward a larger goal, explaining how the stripping of humans in the media is not okay, whether they are called Michael Jackson, 'anchor babies', 'illegals', 'aliens', 'Japs' and God knows what else. (very US specific terms, but every country has their own derogatory slang toward people that are being perceived as subhuman- which is why it very easy to apply that world wide within the linguistic framework of each language. Just think of any immigrant group that are being labeled in your own country- same principle.)
