While growing up, Michael Jackson was subjected to the numerous horrors of segregation and prejudice. There have been records of multiple incidents where, despite the fame, Michael was met with brutal racism.
One incident dates back to when Michael Jackson bought a Rolls-Royce. Then a police officer pulled him over — apparently unable to believe a young Black man could own one. Michael explained calmly that the car was his.
THE OFFICER RAN A CHECK ANYWAY, FOUND AN OUTSTANDING TICKET, AND HAD HIM TAKEN TO JAIL. His bodyguard Bill Bray, had to bail him out.
That wasn’t a one-off. It was a pattern.
He Was Targeted For Being Black
Hotels turned him away. Restaurants refused to seat him. When the Jackson family moved into a white neighborhood, residents organized protests to push them out.
Pet shops wouldn’t sell to him.
And when Thriller was dominating every chart on earth, MTV was still refusing to play his videos — because the network claimed it was a rock channel and didn’t play Black artists.
His label boss at CBS had to call MTV and threaten to pull every single one of their artists off the air before they agreed to play Billie Jean.
Once they did, it changed the entire channel — and the entire music industry. But Michael had to fight for it.
Michael Believed His Music Breaks All Barriers
THE GRAMMYS DID THE SAME THING TO HIM.
Off the Wall sold over 20 million copies and made history as the first solo album to produce four Top 10 hits from a single record. It was nominated for two Grammys and was entirely locked out of Album of the Year. Michael said it lit a fire in his soul.
That fire became Thriller.
He absorbed all of it. And his response wasn’t anger.
He said he wanted to become so big that he could rise above prejudice — to love Black people, white people, every race, and let the music speak for itself.
He did exactly that. But the world made him earn it in a way no artist should ever have to.