Reading Leslie Heuer’s Dec. 2 column, “The King of Pop’s circus act must end,” I was surprised to learn that “the African-American community is in an uproar, believing it’s an issue of racism, and their hero is suffering persecution.”

I wasn’t aware the black community was in an uproar. Being black myself, I couldn’t care less about Michael Jackson. In fact, I could care less than someone who took the time to write a column about him. No one in my family or any of my black friends seem to care. Most of the black people I know haven’t considered Michael Jackson to be black for quite some time.

A quick news search on Google turned up not much in the way of outraged comments from the usual suspects (e.g., the NAACP, the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Urban League, etc.). Jesse Jackson simply called for restraint, saying the entertainer deserved a trial in court, not in the media, and expressed “grave concerns” about prosecutors’ handling of the case — hardly what I’d call “in an uproar.”

In fact, with the exception of supportive comments from his family (which is normal) and a few recording artists, most of the articles I found were critical of Michael Jackson with titles like “Reading Between the Lines: Is Jacko Black-O?” (Africana.com). One open letter to Mike from a black woman said, “the further you fled from black masculinity, the more international crowds lionized you. Today you are a grotesque.” She sounds outraged about something other than the criminal charges against the erstwhile King of Pop. So, who are these black people in an uproar? I’d like to meet them.

David G. Mosby

Alumnus