The Good News About Joseph Jackson

With the recent, (accidental or homicidal) mysterious death of Michael Jackson, his life is being analyzed from top to bottom. Who will parent the children? Will the mother of the children come forth? Is Michael's biological mother, Katherine, too old to rear the young children? Will Joe Jackson have input on the child rearing of Michael's children?

One thing's for sure: I think Joe Jackson is getting a bad rap and not being accurately portrayed. The Jackson story is an all-American success story, with Joe Jackson at the center. Joe Jackson was a black man with a stay-at-home wife raising a large family. The couple had 10 children -- one child, Brandon, was Marlon's twin and died at birth. Mr. Jackson was a laborer working in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana. He played guitar on the side in local bars as an outlet for his creative talent and to supplement his income. He saw musical talent in his children. He did what parents do and taught his children what he knew. He saw an opportunity for them and developed their talent. When they acquired a reasonable amount of success, he quit his steel mill job and fostered his children's raw gifts. Perhaps, he hoped, they could move out of Gary. Perhaps they could have a career in show business. Perhaps they could live their dream and none of them would ever work in the steel mill.

Jackson knew the value of discipline, practice, determination and focus -- the basic steps to success. He had boys, and boys sometimes require discipline. Sometimes they even need spanking or whippings. It is the old school way of black fathers of Joe's generation and customary in black families. Every black family has a Joe, and the kids grew up to be somebody. Joe was about the business of making his children into something. He was coming out of Gary. He was coming out of the ghetto. He was providing his children with a better life. His young son, Michael, was the most talented of the Jackson crew, and he showed great promise. He had older brothers who taught him, and he had a natural talent. They were probably hard on cute, little Michael, but so it goes with younger children. Joe saw talent and developed it. As a child, Michael missed some things, like the playground and children's games because Poppa Joe made them practice, rehearse and record. Joe had a plan. That doesn't make him a bad guy. It makes him a disciplined father.

Black fathers, for the most part, catch flak. The white media, on the outside looking in, only sees abandonment and neglect, among other things, but here's a father who was in the household, who raised his children, who whipped them as he saw necessary and he's portrayed as a criminal. He was a good father. He provided. He nurtured. He developed. He disciplined. The end result is that his plan worked. They left Gary; he gave them all musical careers; he made them all stars.

So what that he whipped them? Perhaps a page could be borrowed from his child-rearing book. Perhaps he could give lessons on child-rearing practices. Perhaps he could teach other parents how to develop skill in their children. Perhaps he could develop a lecture series on leaving the ghetto and not giving a damn what they say. Perhaps Michael had hang-ups about not playing on the playground. Perhaps he was a victim of his gifted talent and hanging around his older brothers before he was old enough to appreciate that some things caused problems. But don't we all leave our childhoods with some hang-ups? Did your parents make you do your homework before you went outside to play? Or read before you could watch television? Or do your chores before you could have company? Don't we all have an "I-wish-I could-have-done-something-that-I didn't-get-to-do-as-a-child" moment? You either grow up and have hang-ups or you grow up to appreciate your parents' child rearing practices because it made you who you are.

Joseph and Katherine Jackson were great parents and need to be considered as such. Bravo. Kudos. A job well done. Their children became successful. One of their children became famous globally and will go down in history as the greatest entertainer ever.

The discipline worked.

Forgive the white media, for they cannot always interpret our stories, but the white media needs to get over it.

Take another look and applaud them as an American success story.

They left the ghetto. They have made their mark in American history. They had a plan to overcome American racism. They played to their talents and won. Look where they came from and look where they ended up.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the good news about Joseph Jackson.

Comments

[Gemmi Haley]

Joe Jackson said he feels that there was foul play, and he believes that Michael was murdered. I believe that as well.The culprit was Joe Jackson himself. He psychologically and physically abused those kids, they all have emotional issues, Michael, worst of all. The fact that Joe caused his children to all grow up to freaks, isn't enough for Mr. J. After sponging off his children children for thirty years. He is only about himself, he is scared that he is losing his gravy train. Of course that was evident at Michel's memorial, were he started trying to promote his "Record Label?" And he already taken an interest in Micheal's youngest child. Has Joe Jackson not lived in a civilized society? I can not believe that he was so unaware of how of how incredibly TACKY his behavior is. He stole their childhood, now he is trying dictate their death. .

BTW Joe being left out of all will documentation, was not an oversight

[TonyaHerring]

"Just think all it cost Joe Jackson was a meaningful relationship with his son". "Great parenting Joe".

[crutnacker]

Joe Jackson was a GOOD father? Getting your kids out of the ghetto in Gary, Indiana by exploiting them to no end does not make you a good father. Giving your kids beatings and mocking their appearance isn't discipline, it is abuse.

The only proof anyone needed that Joe Jackson was a horrible father was his behavior on camera after Michael's death, using the occasion to promote his own record label, and then saying he'd like to send Jackson's own kids, fresh off their father's death, on tour as the Jackson 3.

A good father ultimately has the respect and love of his children. Joe Jackson's simply another typical stage parent, exploiting his kids for as long as he can, looking for fame he was never able to achieve.

[jade7243]

"Jackson knew the value of discipline, practice, determination and focus -- the basic steps to success. He had boys, and boys sometimes require discipline. Sometimes they even need spanking or whippings. It is the old school way of black fathers ..."

Sorry, Hermene... but I vehemently disagree. NO CHILD, black or white, deserves to be hit by an adult. PERIOD. The basic steps to success do NOT include beatings. Far too many black children grow up in a culture of violence where hitting, and worse, are the means to resolving problems. It is high time that we end the complacency that suggests that is okay. It is not. It is not okay in the streets and schoolyards, and it is not okay in our homes. You want to end the tragedy of young men in prison? Stop teaching them that violence solves problems.

Joe Jackson was wrong then and that "old school" belief that one can "beat some sense" into a child is wrong now.

People like you need to stop apologizing for a child abuser like Joe. The lesson to be learned from the Jackson family is that nothing -- even abuse at the hands of your father and condoned by your mother -- will stand in the way of a child (or children) who hold within them the desire to succeed

[Debra Robbins]

Good grief, are you out of your mind? Joe Jackson was a horrible father and while his kids may have made money and become famous they also have deep psychological problems. If you want to talk about a good example of a black father you might want to use Tiger Wood's father instead.

[MonkeyDaddy]

This is hilarious. I haven't seen you on HuffPo before, but I look forward to reading more of your short humorous pieces. It put a smile on my face for the whole day, thank you.

[savagetiger]

I actually agree with her. Micheal Jackson played had self induced victim syndrome - and a drug problem.

Not daddy's fault. Perhaps Joe should have just left him in the street to fend for themselves - what would there childhood have been like then?

This is, of course, tongue in cheek, but don't dismiss the argument - its quite good.

[MonkeyDaddy]

I do agree with one of the observations in the post: "look where they ended up".

[Dianora]

I'm not even sure what to say to this breathtakingly offensive and horrific column. So it's okay to physically and psychologically abuse your children as long as you make money off of it? Is this really a piece from The Onion and we're all being punk'd? There are reports that Michael was so afraid of his father that when his father walked into the room, Michael would spontaneously throw up. A little boy, that scared of his own father. And that's something to be commended? Doesn't Michael's long life of obvious psychological problems mean anything? The way Janet and LaToya have also sculpted their faces to meet their father's ideal of beauty, i.e., non-African noses? Nope, it's all okay as long as they made money, apparently. Wow.

I'd rather be poor and not get beaten and psychologically abused, but hey, that's just me.