The recurrent speculation surrounding Michael Jackson and his suffering from the skin condition vitiligo has been revisited in an educational way by a fan of the Thriller superstar.
An Instagram post from Robert Wilson, a lifelong supporter of the Grammy-winning music legend, on Saturday sees a lined-up image of Jackson next to one of Sammy Sosa, the former Chicago Cubs baseball player who underwent several treatments to purposely and permanently bleach his skin .
In his posting, Wilson notes the difference between Michael’s unwanted “light” skin and real medical problem, versus Sosa’s personal choice to lighten his skin tone to appear more Caucasian — something Jackson himself once strongly denied being involved with.
“The man on the left is suffering from vitiligo,” Robert said of Jackson, “a condition where the pigmentation in the skin is being destroyed by the body’s immune system.”
Speaking of Sosa, Wilson says, “The man on the right is using man made chemicals to de-pigment [his] skin.”
“See the difference? Are we clear now?”
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, the effects of vitiligo can be minimal with only “patches” of skin being affected by the condition, but it can also spread.
“Some people develop a few patches,” doctors for the AAD note of vitiligo , “[while] others lose much more skin color,” like the late Jackson did.
“Vitiligo can also affect other parts of your body,” the AAD goes on to say of the malady, adding, “[even] a section of hair can turn white.”
“[Some] people lose color inside their mouths [and] even an eye can lose some of its color,” they also explain of the effects of vitiligo.
Interestingly enough, the matter regarding Michael’s vitiligo found its way back to the mainstream in January of this year after a controversial segment of an anthology film featuring actor Joseph Fiennes, a Caucasian movie star, as Jackson, was planning to air in the U.K.
While Jackson wouldn’t have been around to see the completed tale, “Elizabeth, Michael, and Marlon,” as the Inquisitr reported earlier in 2017, he had long vocalized his abhorrence of the thought of a white actor ever playing him on-screen.
“I’m a Black American,” a defiant Jackson relayed to Oprah Winfrey during a 1993 interview , “and I am proud to be a Black American.”
“[Vitiligo] is a skin disorder that destroys the pigmentation of the skin,” he would express of the condition to Winfrey, “and it’s something that I cannot help.”
“When people make up stories about how I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me. It’s a problem for me. I can’t control it.”
In semi-related news, the music of Michael Jackson, who died in 2009, will be heard later this year in a Halloween special themed around the artist’s classic Thriller album , as also noted by the Inquisitr .
Michael Jackson’s full thoughts on vitiligo with Oprah Winfrey can be heard below.
[Featured Image by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images]
