Michael Jackson and Louis Farrakhan

Louis Farrakhan is speaking out about Michael Jackson and racism and the media.

Transcript

DON LEMON: Michael Jackson belonged to black people, and that black people understood Michael Jackson in a way that maybe whites didn't. And the study showed, Pew poll shows that 8 out of 10 African Americans were following this closely. There were other polls that showed 2 out of 3 African Americans were following this very closely. How do you respond to that?

LOUIS FARRAKHAN: Well, black people understand me. And you can ask most black people that have ever heard me, know something about me. They understand me. They don't view me as the media has portrayed me.

And whenever you become strong, whenever your truth will undermine the falsehoods that the society seems to be built upon, you become a threat. So when you become a threat to the powers that be, they use the power of the media first to demagnetize you by making you appear as what you are not. And after they take you away from the magnetic appeal that you have with the people, then you are either assassinated or you're made poor and raggedy. So when you get back to your people, you have no growing power and you have no money.

So to strip Michael of his legacy, to strip him of the catalogue of The Beatles and Elvis, to strip him of the great financial strength that he potentially has is to give him back to us in his move toward self-awareness, self-love. He always loved humanity. The problem was he did not have that love so much of himself, but he was growing to see the beauty of himself.

LEMON: You said he didn't have that love of himself. Talk to me more about that.

FARRAKHAN: In this way... most black people, not only here, but in the Caribbean, in South America, Central America, in Africa, we have been the victims of the tyranny of white supremacy and black inferiority. So we're ashamed of the flatness of our nose, the thickness of our lips, the kinkiness of our hair.

So all of the pictures that I saw on CNN while I was in Africa, they showed Michael as a 9-year-old, a 10-year-old in his black color, his thick lips, his nose, his hair. And then they showed this gradual progression of Michael.

And the message, you don't have to say it, the message was that when he was young somebody told him he wasn't beautiful, and he wanted... when you have money, like most rich people in Hollywood or entertainers, movie actresses, business people who don't like their nose or their lips or their breasts or their behind, or whatever they want to improve on, money makes them able to do that. So he was improving, in his mind, on himself by changing his nose, his lips. But that's the journey outward.

LEMON: But are you saying that he didn't want to be black, that he wanted to be white or look white?

FARRAKHAN: Well, the evidence is there. That's the evidence of the outward journey. But the inward journey, that's the most beautiful journey of all. He was journeying toward himself, and he's journeying toward the unification of all human beings with mutual respect.

So when he made that song, 'doesn't matter if you're black or white,' because the outside lost its meaning. The real meaning is not the color of your skin. It's the spirit that energizes you and moves you to action. That's the real person. And that's why Jesus said, 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.'

LEMON: What was your relationship to the Jackson family, Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson?

FARRAKHAN: Well, I don't know the Jackson family as well as my children. My children grew up with the Jackson family. My children adored the Jackson family. They were... my son Mustapha, my son Joshua, my daughter, they were involved in many ways with the Jacksons.

I met Michael several years ago, and I loved him long before I met him. But after meeting him -- such a gentle spirit, such a beautful human being.

Yes, the tragedy is how Michael was portrayed. And I must respectfully say to the media, you as a media person, Mr. King as a media person, all of the people that are in media -- if the sins of any of those who are before the world were exposed, you would lose your magnetism.

My mother said, 'You don't have to lie about anybody because the truth about everybody is bad enough.' Nobody comes this way without sin. Nobody comes this way without fault. But the flesh, this, argues against the spirit. And the flesh ofttimes wins. But when death comes, the flesh and the veil that the flesh uses to hide the spirit is buried.

Mozart had a terrific life. Beethoven, Nat King Cole, you name it, all of us have problems. But when death comes, it puts a period to our life. The flesh goes back to the earth, but that essence that caused us to transcend time is what lives. Michael lives.

LEMON: Michael Jackson's children -- young. You heard his daughter, Paris, at the memorial service speak out about her father. What would you say to them? Any advice?

FARRAKHAN: I thought her words were so touching, because in the little that she said, and the way she said it, and the way the family formed around her and around each other, told such a beautiful story; because now we can see the humanity of Michael. He loved his children. He was a wonderful father. And then to see all of the family unite in a bond of love, isn't that what we want to see?

Translation: Michael Jackson was a victim of the tyranny of white supremacy.

When a black man becomes too powerful he's either assassinated or stripped of his wealth.

Clearly, Farrakhan's view of society is woefully outdated.