Of course there is, and has always been, racism in the recording industry. This is America, isn't it?
In the early days of the 20th century, there was a popular record called "Pickaninny Paradise" instructing black youngsters how to be subservient to their white overlords and thus earn a place in heaven - or at least that section known as Pickaninny Paradise.
The modern-day version of that attitude is evident in the way corporate honchos with no interest in hip-hop per se earn millions off the talents of black and Latino youngsters who are more excited by baubles and BMWs than with protecting their artistic rights.
It should be no surprise that anyone makes such an accusation - something Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran have done, something artists over the years have done. But Michael Jackson complaining at this stage in his career? That's a bit much.
"If you fight for me, you're fighting for all black people, dead and alive," Jackson told about 350 people at the headquarters of Sharpton's National Action Network on Saturday. Interestingly, he sounded remarkably like Cochran when, representing O.J. Simpson in 1995, he told black journalists: "We know that our cause is right and our cause is just."
First O.J., who seemed to run from his racial identity until he found himself in hot water, wanted to be taken as a symbol of the black quest for racial equality. Now it's Jackson's turn - he who has done all he could to erase his black features with all sorts of plastic surgery.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
At Sharpton's place, fawning fans didn't separate the record industry issue from Jackson's issue with his boss at Sony, Tommy Mottola, about whom he said: "He's a racist, and he's very, very devilish." The fans, about 150 of them, took up the chant when Jackson rode a double-decker bus to Sony headquarters.
Even Sharpton had to distance himself from that rant and come to Mottola's defense. "I have known Tommy for 15 or 20 years," Sharpton said. "And never once have I known him to say or do anything that would be considered racist."
In dancing around Jackson's comments, Sharpton seemed like the rotund reverend of old defending his support of Tawana Brawley: He could only go by what she told him. In this case, he can only go by what Jackson believes and so stands "firmly behind" him.
What he should have done is tell Jackson to take his private dispute to the source and leave the civil rights crusade to others. "I'm not just fighting for myself," Jackson said. "I'm fighting for all artists." Right. Where was he before his latest album, Invincible, tanked, at least by Jackson standards?
Yes, there's an issue here. "The record industry at the top needs to become more inclusive," Sharpton said the other day. He gets no quarrel from me on that.
I take seriously the fight to eradicate racism in all walks of American life. But I don't want Jackson as the symbol of that cause. Others should be as discerning.
by E.R. Shipp
Knight Ridder-Tribune
E.R. Shipp is a columnist for the New York Daily News. She won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1996. Readers may write to her at the New York Daily News, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10001; e-mail: eshipp2002@hotmail.com.
