Black and White: how Dangerous kicked off Michael Jackson's race paradox
黑与白：《Dangerous》如何成为迈克尔·杰克逊种族悖论的源起
For a figure as enigmatic as Michael Jackson, one of the more fascinating paradoxes about his career is this: as he became whiter, he became blacker.
对于像迈克尔·杰克逊这样神秘莫测的人物来说，他职业生涯中最引人注目的悖论之一就是：当他变得更“白”的时候，他变得更“黑”了。
To elaborate, we must rewind to a crucial turning point: the early 1990s. In 1991, Jackson released Black or White from his Dangerous album. It was his most successful solo single since Beat It.
欲闻其详，我们得回顾一个至关重要的转折点：上世纪九十年代初。1991 年，杰克逊发布了他 Dangerous 专辑中的 Black or White。这是他自 Beat it 之后最成功的单曲。
The conversation surrounding Jackson at this point, however, was about his race. Critics said, he might sing that it “don’t matter if you’re black or white”, but then why had he turned himself white? To this day, many assume Jackson bleached his skin to become white—that it was a wilful cosmetic decision because he was ashamed of his race. Yet in the mid-1980s Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo.
然而，那时围绕杰克逊的话题却只关乎他的种族。批评者说，他或许能唱，“不管你是黑人还是白人，这都不重要”，那他为什么要把自己变成白人呢？直至今日，许多人仍旧认为杰克逊故意采取整容手段漂白皮肤变身白人，是因为他为自己的种族而感到羞愧。然而其实在上世纪 80 年代中期杰克逊就已被诊断为白癜风。
For Jackson, then, there was no ambivalence about his racial identity and heritage. The first indication of this came in the video for Black or White, in which ebullient faces of various races seamlessly blend from one to another. The message seemed to be that we are all part of the human family regardless of cosmetic variations.
对杰克逊自己来说，他关于种族认同和黑人文化的态度并不自相矛盾。第一个证据就在 Black or White 的 MV 中，种族各异、热情洋溢的面孔一个接一个交替渐变。这似乎是在传达这样的信息：无论我们外表如何变化，我们都是人类大家庭的一部分。
The second indication is Remember the Time. Featuring some of the era’s most prominent black luminaries, the video is set in ancient Egypt. In contrast to Hollywood’s stereotypical representations of African Americans as servants, Jackson presents them here as royalty.
第二个证据是 Remember the Time。该 MV 由几个当时最杰出的黑人名人主演，并将场景设于古埃及。与好莱坞一贯把非洲裔美国人描绘成仆人相反，杰克逊把他们描绘成皇室贵族。
Jackson demonstrated that race is about more than mere pigmentation or physical features. While his skin became whiter, his work in the 1990s was never more infused with black pride, talent, inspiration and culture.
杰克逊证明，种族不只是一个人的肤色或生理特征这么简单。尽管他的皮肤越来越白，但他在上世纪 90 年代的作品却蕴藏了大量的黑人骄傲、才华、灵感和文化。
————— 文章来源 / 卫报
重点词汇
paradox/ˈpærədɑːks/
n. 悖论
e.g.
It's a curious paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
enigmatic/ˌenɪɡˈmætɪk/
adj. 神秘的；难以捉摸的 (enigma n.)
e.g.
She is something of an enigma.
enigmatic smile
elaborate/ɪˈlæbərət/
v. 阐述；详尽说明
rewind/ˌriːˈwaɪnd/
v. 倒带；回放
e.g.
rewind live television
bleach/bliːtʃ/
v. 漂白
wilful/ˈwɪlfl/
adj. 故意的；固执的
e.g.
I eat huge quantities of sweet, in wilful disregard of my health.
cosmetic/kɑːzˈmetɪk/
adj. 美容的；表面的
e.g.
cosmetic surgery
They were offered a few cosmetic improvements to their working conditions, but nothing of significance.
diagnose/ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊs/
v. 诊断出（病症）
e.g.
The specialist diagnosed cancer.
She was diagnosed with diabetes/as having diabetes.
vitiligo/ˌvɪtə'laɪgo/
n. 白癜风
ambivalence/æmˈbɪvələns/
n.矛盾心理
e.g.
The metropolis is a place of ambivalence, a place of promise and of threat.
ebullient/ɪˈbʊliənt/
adj. 热情洋溢的；精力充沛的
seamlessly/ˈsiːmləsli/
adv. 无缝地
e.g.
a seamless dress (adj.)
feature/ˈfiːtʃər/
v. 给...显著地位；由...主演
luminary/ˈluːmɪneri/
n. （某领域）知名人士
e.g.
luminaries of stage and screen
stereotypical/ˌsteriəˈtɪpɪkl/
adj. 有着刻板印象的
pigmentation/ˌpɪɡmenˈteɪʃn/
n. （生物的）天然颜色；色素沉着
e.g.
Vitiligo is an incurable pigmentation disorder.
infuse/ɪnˈfjuːz/
v. 将（某特性）注入
e.g.
Today's lesson infused new life into your weekend.
