作者：Jeffrey Fleishman，2009年7月8日《洛杉磯時報》
來源：MJJCN.com 翻譯：speechlessme
邁克爾·傑克遜是一位流行明星，像穆罕穆德·阿裏和邁克爾·喬丹一樣，他的天才使他成為全球奇跡並體現了人類的理想：人的非凡天賦使其成就與膚色無關。
傑克遜古怪、和孩子一樣逃避現實，當他從色譜的黑色滑至淺色時他可能是矛盾的。但是他讓這個星球喜歡了40年，人們在他身上看到了一個不屈服於種族主義、沒有被國家邊界所限制的非洲裔美國人，他的音樂和舞步觸動了人類精神的核心。
傑克遜住在一個被稱為烏有鄉（夢幻莊園）的莊園裏，也許這個名字很合適：因為自從他去世，整個世界，不僅僅是一個國家，都要求擁有他。他與穆罕穆德·阿裏、邁克爾·喬丹、老虎伍茲、巴拉克·奧巴馬一樣，來自相同的、為人所知的黑人傳統。他是一位美國文化偶像，是這個因提供可能性而受到敬重的國家的試金石。他們全都是黑人，在他們身上回響著這個國家往昔的罪惡、今天的奮鬥與成功，以及未來的希望。
藏在他們的聲名之中的是一個被美國奴隸制、歧視和1950年代用“分開但是平等”這樣的委婉語代替“種族隔離”所激發的世界。甚至直至今日，從遠處看這樣一個有著黑人總統的美國，會讓人感到一種幾乎覺察不到的對於膚色的不安，雖然膚色在這個宣揚民主和人權的國度被認為是虛偽之物。對於膚色的不安是一面鏡子，折射出這個世界上種族與教派的偏見，這些偏見比存在於美國國內的偏見還要根深蒂固，而且往往更血腥。
從非洲到中東，從中國到拉美，美國少數族群偶像一直在激勵著人們，給所有有夢想的人以希望。阿裏活潑而自信，具有詩人氣質；喬丹有著鋼鐵意志同時又像芭蕾舞者；伍茲執著而優雅；奧巴馬雄辯並具有號召力；傑克遜充滿魔力、熱情奔放。
他們就像可口可樂、甘迺迪、貓王和好萊塢一樣書寫了美國的定義。甚至在遙遠村莊的土路旁或叢林戰役間歇可怕的沉寂中，他們的名字不可逃避。
1998年在科索沃發生的薩族與阿族之間的戰爭期間，一群挎著子彈袋、背著卡拉什尼科夫沖鋒槍的衣著襤褸的男人們從樹叢中跳出來，攔住一位正在駕車的記者。他們舉著槍，輕聲而緊張地一個個說著什麼，然後其中一個繞過引擎蓋走到駕駛座旁邊。他敲著車窗，要求看證件。記者從口袋裏掏出美國護照。帶槍的那人放鬆了，斜靠著車，點燃了一支煙。他傾聽著遠處的炮擊聲，從臉上擦去雨絲。他呼出一口氣。
“你覺得邁克爾·喬丹的彈跳投籃怎樣？
然後，他笑了，把護照還給記者並帶著他的武裝同伴返回了林中。他並沒有提到當時的美國總統克林頓；也沒有提到美國憲法或華盛頓。使他與記者產生聯系並挑戰了語言和文化界限的，是那個能夠如此瀟灑地向籃球移步的人。那個形象的魅力令人著迷，難以解釋，他是所有人都能理解的快速記憶，無論它屬于阿族人的游擊隊員還是在險境中亂闖的美國人。
傑克遜也同樣獲得了全世界對他的著迷。從比莉金中的太空步、綴滿金屬圓片的手套到既有刺傷力又能夠撫慰人心的歌聲，傑克遜不需要任何附加說明。 像許多黑人音樂明星如Aretha Franklin 和The Supremes樂隊一樣，他也與白人觀眾產生共鳴。但傑克遜—在科技時代和表演天才的輔助下—不僅把他的影響力超越了膚色，還涵蓋至所有的民族。
世界的其他地方常常比這些美國黑人傳奇人物的祖國更早地接受他們。1940和1950年代的爵士樂手旅行至歐洲的俱樂部和其他聚集地表演，免受了種族歧視，並獲得尊重和平靜。而具有諷刺意味的是，爵士樂是美國政府在冷戰期間用來引誘共產主義的東方朝著西方演變的藝術形式之一。如今嘻哈樂以幾乎同樣的方式被推廣；打開一家阿拉伯音樂錄影電視臺，你看到的說唱樂手可能不在說唱關于槍支和娼妓，但是他們的說唱表達了態度和活力。
奧巴馬使美國民族再次變得醒目。他的選舉獲勝是一個象徵—對於全世界的許多人來說它再次肯定了美利堅合眾國的立國法案中潦草而就的文字確實有意義！它不僅僅對黑人藝人、音樂家和運動員來說有意義，而且還對於這個登上了這個星球最有權利的寶座的政治家來說有意義！回到四十年前那個留著非洲發型、穿著喇叭褲、嗓音中有著超越年齡的智慧的小男孩且舞且唱著愛情和ABC的時代，世界是不會相信後者能夠成為總統的！
如今很難逃離傑克遜的形象，無論是他自己的還是後人對他的模仿。某晚迪拜電視臺播出了一則廣告：男演員的側影以兩個細細的手指握住有沿軟呢帽，一隻腳成弧形立在打了燈光的舞臺上，似乎準備起舞或飛翔。該廣告是在賣香波，但是這個形象在瞬間內會被認出，比貨架上的任何商品都要容易被認出。
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/08/world/fg-jackson-world8
To the world, he was a star who transcended boundaries
Michael Jackson, in the same storied tradition as Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Barack Obama, was an American icon, a touchstone for a nation revered for the possibility it offers.
Jeffrey Fleishman July-08-2009
Michael Jackson was a pop star whose talent, like that of Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, turned him into a global wonder and the epitome of the ideal that a man's singular gifts make irrelevant the color of his skin.
The embodiment of eccentricity and child-like escapism, Jackson may have been ambivalent in his skin as he slipped across the color chart from black to pale. But the planet to which he endeared himself for 40 years saw in him an African American unbowed by racism and uncontained by national boundary with music and moves that struck at the core of the human spirit
Jackson lived on a ranch called Neverland, and perhaps that is fitting: Since he died, the world, not one country, has claimed him. He was -- in the same storied tradition as Ali , Jordan , Tiger Woods and Barack Obama -- an American cultural icon, a touchstone for a country that remains revered for the possibility it offers. Each of these men is black, carrying the echo of a nation's past sins, the struggles and successes of its present, and the promise of the future.
Tucked inside their fame is a world intrigued by America 's history of slavery, discrimination and the 1950s segregation euphemism of separate but equal. Even today with a black president, America , viewed from afar, carries a nearly imperceptible unease over skin color that is regarded as hypocrisy for a land that preaches democracy and human rights. That same unease is a mirror to the world's racial and sectarian prejudices, many of which run deeper and are often bloodier than those in the U.S.
From Africa to the Middle East and from China to Latin America , the inspiration of American minority icons continues to tantalize, giving hope to all who dream. Ali was brash and poetic; Jordan iron-willed and balletic; Woods persistent and graceful; Obama eloquent and charismatic; Jackson magical and ebullient.
They have, as much as Coca-Cola, JFK, Elvis and Hollywood , defined America to the world. Their names are inescapable, even along dirt roads in far-off villages and in eerie silences between battles in the woods.
During the war between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1998, ragged men with bandoliers and Kalashnikovs darted out from the trees and stopped a journalist traveling in a car. Guns raised, the men whispered tensely to one another, and one of them walked around the hood to the driver's side. He tapped on the window, demanding to see documents. A U.S. passport was pulled from a pocket. The man with the gun relaxed, leaned on the car and lighted a cigarette. He listened to the sound of shelling in the distance, wiped a light rain from his face. He breathed out.
"How about Michael Jordan's jump shot?"
Then, he smiled, handed back the passport and led his armed men back into the forest. He didn't mention then-President Clinton ; he didn't mention the Constitution or Washington . What connected him to the journalist, what defied the limits of language and culture, was a man who could float so beautifully toward a basket. That image was captivating and insoluble, a shorthand understood by all, belonging as much to an ethnic Albanian guerrilla as to an American wandering in a nasty place.
Jackson commanded that same international appeal. From the moonwalk to "Billie Jean" to the sequined glove to the voice that could both sting and soothe, Jackson needed no subtext. Like many black music stars, such as Aretha Franklin and the Supremes, he resonated with white audiences. But Jackson -- aided by a technological age and theatrical flair -- pushed it beyond that to encompass just about every nationality.
The world at times embraced America 's black legends long before their native land accepted them. Jazz musicians in the 1940s and '50s found respect and repose from discrimination by traveling to the clubs and haunts of Europe . And jazz, ironically, was one of the art forms the American government used during the Cold War to lure those in the communist East toward the West. Hip-hop is marketed much the same way today; turn on an Arab music video station and the rappers may not be mouthing off about guns and whores, but they're rolling with attitude and scatting with verve.
Obama has turned the American race rubric yet again. His election was a sign -- a re-affirmation for many across the world -- that the words scrawled on the United States ' founding documents have meaning. Not just for black entertainers, musicians and athletes, but for a statesman who reached the most powerful office on the planet. The latter didn't seem possible to the world four decades ago when a little boy with a big Afro, bell-bottoms and a voice with wisdom well beyond its years danced and sang about love and ABCs.
It's difficult to escape Jackson 's likeness these days, whether of him or those who strike his pose. The other night on Dubai TV, a commercial came on: An actor in profile held two delicate fingers to a tipped fedora, his foot arced on a lighted stage as if ready for dance or flight. The ad was selling shampoo, but the image was instantly universal, more recognizable than anything on the shelf.
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