Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ as a Protest Song

The Power of Protest Music

There are many categories of protest music, which in all its manners, bears realization and gives a better perception of issues like hate, racism, and intolerance in the society. Protest music has a way of being an encouraging call for the silent and destitute citizens, which is extremely powerful in getting grasp of listeners all around the world. This is a significantly further compelling tool to deliver alertness rather than your typical newspaper article, book, or television news stories, which may be dull, dramatized, and can possibly hide the truth. Although critics have a different point of view on what Michael Jackson is suggesting in his song, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, he is very blunt about the violence and hate people of color experienced. Protest songs are great at making social impacts, which start changes towards improvement, while confronting rank-ism and motivating people to make positive revolutions. In Micah White’s ‘The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution’, she states that, “Progress is made by protest” (White, 54). By saying this, Micah is claiming that protests can start changes to society that may be beneficial to average citizens and their lifestyles. The only way to effectively start a movement is through protests and standing up for what you want or believe, just like Michael Jackson did with his catchy song, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, when he felt as if his rights were obsolete.

Michael Jackson: Beyond the 'King of Pop'

The ‘King of Pop’ was just his alter ego, but Michael Jackson was truly inspiring and influential to the world. Michael was born with a disease called vitiligo, which Wikipedia defines as, “a long-term skin condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment. The patches of skin affected become white and usually have sharp margins. The hair from the skin may also become white. The inside of the mouth and nose may also be involved” (Wikipedia). This skin disorder soon caused him some hatred throughout his career by analysts. Born August 29, 1958, Michael was quick to become one of the remarkably momentous developmental icons of the 20th century. Unfortunately for Jackson, he was linked to disputes regarding allegations of children sexual abuse and molestation. These accusations made him protest the indifferences of the government, hate, and racism in ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, released on June 16, 1995 off his album, ‘HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I’ on March 31, 1996. In 1993, Jackson was hit with many allegations about child molestation that led him to feel as if he had no rights. The trials were brutal and the media was quick to judge Michael from the get go in order to entertain its audience and create intriguing news. In his song Michael says, “Tell me, what has become of my rights? Am I invisible ‘cause you ignore me? Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now” (Jackson Bridge, 2). Despite overpowering depositions on Jackson’s innocence, the media conducted countless attempts speaking negatively to depict his guilt. This made Jackson furious with the court system because he was judged instead of being virtuous until proven guilty.

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Addressing Racism and Brutality in 'They Don’t Care About Us'

In spite of what commentators may say about Michael Jackson’s song, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, asserts the brutality and animosity, people of color experienced. The quintessential protest song, in Wikipedia’s words, “is a song that is associated with an evolution for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs. It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre” (Wikipedia). A good protest song needs to be addressing an issue that is relatable by a majority of citizens or the targeted culture, while getting straight to the point without being complicated. Making music is much more than making money for Buffy Sainte-Marie, as she stated in ‘The Power of Protest Songs’, “It has to do with how useful it is to making the world better, to crystallizing raw emotions into thought because of a well-turned phrase, reaching people and ripening those inner inspirations they’re just starting to understand” (Sainte-Marie, 10). Michael Jackson was very devoted to his race and proud to be an African-American. When interviewed by the renowned Oprah Winfrey, she asked about rumors of having a white child star in a commercial play the role of Michael Jackson as a kid, when he quickly denied and said, “…I’m a black American. I’m a black American. I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am…” (Jackson, EW.com). He protested against the causes of social bias while standing up for civil and ethnic impartiality for people of all races and religions, but due to his skin color critics thought otherwise. This was unfortunate for Michael because he didn’t want people to view him as a racist or disliking his own race. In his song, Jackson sings, “Don’t you black or white me” (Jackson Verse, 2), which refers to segregation and people tending to put others in categories due to skin color, heritage, or religion.

Music as a Tool for Activism

In today’s society many people view music as merely entertainment, but music can be a powerful source when it comes to activism. Protests have happened over the multitude of history and will continue to happen while changing society for the better. In Micah White’s book ‘The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution’, she states, “Activism is crucial to a healthy society because revolutions drive social progress…” (White, 54). Michael Jackson made this song to protest the deprivation of his rights, racism, and hatred, which found to be effective while others believe it had no social impact. Micah White paraphrases the theorist Lyford P. Edwards stating that, “…humans crave new experience, security, recognition and response (touch and love). Protests are the expression of the human spirit desiring these elemental wishes and freeing itself from the fetters of convention” (White, 58). The deprivation of something impactful is what tends to get people to take a stand towards creating a better future. Protest songs are a form of effective activism by stating facts or personal experiences that are relatable to citizens while being accessible universally and safe. Micah states in her book, “The lack of effective forms of protest only brings society closer to civil violence” (White, 57). She explains that protests are needed in order to make changes, but rioting is not a safe nor effective way, and society as a whole needs to work on alternatives to protest effectively without violence. Activism is necessary in order for positive outcomes to occur as long as resources for protesting are being used wisely.

Criteria for an Effective Protest Song

In order to be considered an efficient protest song, it needs to be expeditious and captivating, while relating to the average person. In her book, ‘The Power of Protest Songs’, Buffy Sainte-Marie emphasizes that, “For me, a good protest song is like good journalism: brief, well focused and catchy for the short attention spans of ordinary people” (Sainte-Marie, 10). The typical protest song is associated to movements for social change, and for Michael Jackson, it was a way to express the voices of the unheard about the on-going issue with racism. According to the Merriam-Webster definition, “Racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (Merriam-Webster). Michael Jackson did an outstanding job being forthright about racism and even expressing his own emotions and experiences in his lyrics, “Black male, blackmail” (Jackson Verse, 3), which made it relatable to citizens of color. Michael is stating that black males are often stereotyped or profiled before they even get a chance to show who they really are. Unfortunately, its assumptions like these that cause many people to jump to the conclusions, which we still have issues with today.

Racism: A Persistent Issue

Many people would say racism died out years ago, but I on the contrary, strongly disagree and believe racism is still alive wistfully. Many people believed Jackson disliked blacks because of his skin color, unaware of his skin condition. Jackson told Oprah in an interview when asked if he doesn’t like being black, “It’s something that I cannot help, but when people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me,” he says, his voice shaking. “It’s a problem for me. I can’t control it, okay?” (Jackson, EW.com). He was a proud African-American. Protest music died down for a while but a made a large comeback due to tragedies caused unjustly to African-Americans. With an uproar in police brutality, civilians are protesting ‘Black Lives Matter’, especially through modern hip-hop/rap music. Artists, musicians, and other activists are able to find self and group identity while protesting for positive outcomes. In the magazine, ‘The Atlantic: The Return of the Protest Song’, Salamishah Tillet states how hip-hop greatly influences the economy, “In some ways, it makes sense for hip-hop artists to shape their music to our new political movement” (Tillet, 15). This is important because it gives people a voice and anyone can make a protest song. Racism still occurs in schools, at work, and public places as well. Often, stereotypes are taken into consideration when people begin to profile somebody off assumptions, thus causing racist or derogatory actions. Many shootings have occurred against African-Americans by police officers, which ignites the ‘Black Lives Matter’ rally more and more anything offensive happens.

Protest music can do much more than the emblematic influence from violent acts, by signifying brutality unjustly due to hate and racism. Michael Jackson became a voice for the exploited and silent victims of hate and racism. In one of Jackson’s most controversial songs, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, he uses his lyrics as an entreaty countering racism and a cry for authoritative people to stop neglecting human rights. Over the myriad of time, protest songs have been an effective form of advocacy in a way that grasps the attention of an ample audience. Michael Jackson’s ‘They Don’t Care About Us’ is a protest song as a reaction to his memorable lyrics, whilst being profoundly authentic and brusque, which helps galvanize actions to be appropriated opposing cruelty and acrimony around the world.

Works Cited

1. Jacskon, Michael. ‘They Don’t Care About Us’. Song Lyrics & Knowledge. Genius, Genius Media Group Inc., 1995, http://genius.com/Michael-Jackson-they-dont-care-about-us-lyrics
2. Li, Shirley. ‘Michael Jackson Told Oprah Winfrey He'd Never Want to Be Played by a White Actor’. EW.com, EW.com, 28 Jan. 2016, 2:17 Pm EST, http://ew.com/article/2016/01/28/michael-jackson-white-actor-casting-oprah-interview/
3. Merriam-Webster Contributors. ‘Racism’. Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism
4. Sainte-Marie, Buffy. ‘The Power of Protest Songs’. American Indian Magazine. Spring 2013, Vol 14.
5. Tillet, Salamishah. ‘The Return of the Protest Song’. The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 20 Jan. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/01/the-return-of-the-protest-song/384631/
6. Wikipedia Contributors. ‘Protest Song’. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2019, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_song
7. White, Micah. ‘Why Activism? The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution’, by Micah White, Vintage Canada, 2017.