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It was all black for Black or White man

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-09 08:46

They came to praise Michael Jackson, not to bury him.

The good that he did lives after him.

The evil, if any, will be the stuff of tabloid headlines.

So let it be with Michael.

For if he did do evil, he has answered grievously.

For if he did good, he was ill-served in his memorial.

For one after one, the mourners - like Brutus and Marcus Antonius - tried to twist his memory to meet their ends.

The performances themselves were fitting for a king, but as the musical memorial continued, I detected discordant notes.

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Yes, the eulogies were fulsome: From Nelson Mandela (not present) to Queen Latifah, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King; and performances by Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and Jennifer Hudson.

All black people. (Yes, many Americans who have made it big in music are black, but still)

And there was Mariah Carey, accompanied by Trey Lorenz, to start the tributes.

Amid flashes of the man who sang It Doesn't Matter if You're Black or White, I wondered about funerals.

He hath brought many riches to home,

Whose collections did the family coffers fill;

When that the poor have cried, Michael hath wept;

Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.

Yet, one after another, the mourners painted to us the picture of supreme ambition: The perfectionist, who knew he was destined to be a Caesar. They talked about his determination to be the best in the world; indeed, Motown founder Berry Gordy anointed him the "best entertainer in the world".

Yet, the biggest applause at Staples Center seemed to be when it was announced that Jackson was the biggest contributor among pop stars to charities.

Did this in Jackson seem ambitious?

The only digression, and touching moments, came from Brooke Shields, who endearingly acquainted us with the world of child celebrities. The best thing they shared, she told us, was laughter. And playing pranks.

Yet, Rev. Al Sharpton - whom critics describe as a political radical who is to blame, in part, for the deterioration of race relations - seized the moment to declare that there would have been no Oprah, nor, indeed, Obama, but for Michael Jackson.

"It was Michael Jackson that brought blacks and whites and Asians and Latinos together. It was Michael Jackson that made us sing 'we are the world'," said Sharpton.

Yet, his eulogy seemed more black demagoguery than a tribute to a man who, in his own way, tried to bring the world together.

Sharpton even appeared to denigrate Live Aid, "because Michael sang We are the World to feed the hungry long before".

Was he talking about the guy who wanted to heal the world and make it a better place?

And a (black) US congresswoman, who told us an anecdote about 15 heads of African states being spell-bound by Jackson in her office, seemed to be reveling in the race card.

Yes, the whole affair seemed to be more civil rights victory than a celebration of Jackson's life.

And monochromatic.

We all did love him once;

Not because he was black.