Off the Wall: Race and Michael Jackson

Like Elvis Presley before him, the demise of Michael Jackson has engaged the entire world, and the parallels are spooky. Both Presley and Jackson lived isolated, somewhat bizarre lives, eventually destroying themselves with drugs administered by doctors on their payrolls. This was a proven fact in Presley's case; there is strong evidence in Jackson's.

But while Presley was mourned primarily as a great entertainer, Jackson is being sold by his supporters as much more. In fact, if you listen to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, the troubled singer was the second coming of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At Jackson's memorial service, Sharpton put forth that Jackson brought blacks and whites together, teaching us all how to love.

Wow, who knew?

A Pew Research poll shows that African-Americans are far more interested in the Jackson story than are white Americans, and some speakers at the memorial referred to Jackson as a black icon. But how can this be? Jackson bleached his skin to make it lighter and presumably paid white men to donate sperm for his three in-vitro children, at least two of whom were carried to term by a white woman.

Does that sound like a black icon to you? What is really going on here?

My colleague Bernard Goldberg says this is an example of a minority group sticking together, rallying around one of their own. It is true that many African-Americans celebrated the acquittal of O.J. Simpson of murder, as well as a jury finding Jackson not guilty on child molestation charges. I guess it's natural to root for the home team, especially when history has been brutally unkind. Black Americans well understand the injustice of the past.

But the truth is that Jackson's contribution lies in entertainment and little else. He is not a role model. His admitted conduct with children is simply unacceptable for any adult. His use of cosmetic surgery is troubling to say the least. And the enormous amount of money he spent on prescription drugs speaks for itself.

Of course, television news is driving the deification of Jackson. Now that he's dead (very possibly from an accidental drug overdose), Jackson has become a hero. How does that happen? What kind of con is this?

I'd like to put that question to every single national anchorperson who sat there doing play-by-play at the memorial service, but I do not believe I'd get a cogent answer.

• Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor."