Michael Jackson Memories How Will You Remember The King of Pop?

Will Michael Jackson’s epitaph hail him as the King of Pop, noting his creative genius and contributions to the world or will it label him as an alleged pedophile even though being acquitted of all charges?  With the recent premature death of Michael Jackson and the disparaging statements made by Congressman Peter King, one wonders if the populace’s misperception of the Jackson case is, in any way affected by the outcome of the OJ Simpson trial in 1995, where the broader public sense is that there was a serious travesty of justice in the case.  Michael Jackson earned the name “King of Pop” through his creative contributions to the music industry and immense aide to community organizations throughout the world; and although he stood accused, he received vindication through a “not guilty” verdict and should not have his significant value to humanity diminished by unsubstantiated claims.

When we peruse the annals of the past forty years, we would be remiss if we did not take note of the astonishing accomplishments of Michael Joseph Jackson.  From the tender young age of five until his death, at age fifty, Michael Jackson had performed for ninety-percent of his life.  From his days as the youngest member of the Jackson-Five, when a sweet-voiced child melted our hearts with Ben, we knew Michael Jackson was special.  Throughout his career, Michael constantly amazed us, from Thriller to his infamous “moonwalk” performed for the first time in the Motown 25 televised reunion that aired in May of 1983 (Markowitz, 519).  As described by Robin Markowitz in the Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, “After this, there was a buzz of excitement surrounding Jackson, as if each new gesture brought with it a revelation.”  (Markowitz, 519 par. 2)  He was a wonderful philanthropist who gave freely of himself and his wealth to make the world a better place to live in.

In 1993, Michael Jackson would stand accused when two boys came forward with allegations that he had sexually molested them.  One of the boys was the underage son of one of Jackson’s former employees (Markowitz, 519 par. 5).  We really do not know many of the details from the first case.  We know that the case concluded civilly and the investigation closed.  What we should recognize, however, is that cases such as these do not go away.  Had the allegations had any validity, one would presume that the State of California would have prosecuted Michael.  To believe that any of the 1993 allegations were true is to assume that the State of California ignored these assertions.  Monetary settlements do not negate the crime and therefore, the correct assumption would be that the allegations would not hold up in a court of law.