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[Trojita]

I had a black friend with it in school, can confirm, she was fuckin' tired of the questions and pointing. Examples of vitiligo:

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it progresses randomly too, so one day she woke up with a pale arm.

Wow she is gorgeous.

 

[jmdajr]

I guess this is Lil 'Kim now.

edit: guess I'm late on this!!!!

 

[AColdDay]

I had a black friend with it in school, can confirm, she was fuckin' tired of the questions and pointing. Examples of vitiligo:

it progresses randomly too, so one day she woke up with a pale arm.

they look kinda awesome.

Totally agree. How crazy does that have to be: to experience a good part of your lifetime of people assuming you are one race, then slowly transitioning to another. Like it would be incredibly interesting to interview these people after they transitioned to see how differently the world treated them.

 

[HStallion]

There is also a theory that MJ was accidentally castrated as a youth when he was given a treatment for his acne that was later found out to cause sterilization in those it was used on. Its not totally far out there and could be used to help explain his erratic and child like behavior as he got older as well as why his voice stayed so high well into adulthood, though his father being a complete piece of shit and his other problems only exacerbated this.

 

[kmax]

I think she's beautiful, regardless the color.

 

[Rei no Otaku]

That's pretty mind blowing.

How long does it take for vitiligo to take over?

Was about 15-20 years from when it was first noticed to when I lost almost all my pigment.

Totally agree. How crazy does that have to be: to experience a good part of your lifetime of people assuming you are one race, then slowly transitioning to another. Like it would be incredibly interesting to interview these people after they transitioned to see how differently the world treated them.

I'm half-black, and was never really dark skinned, but people do treat me differently. People always assume I'm completely white. I hear lots of things people wouldn't say to me if they knew the truth. Things like: "Those people probably deserve what the cops do to them." I always enjoy telling them the truth after something like that.

 

[HStallion]

Was about 15-20 years from when it was first noticed to when I lost almost all my pigment.

I'm half-black, and was never really dark skinned, but people do treat me differently. People always assume I'm completely white. I hear lots of things people wouldn't say to me if they knew the truth. Things like: "Those people probably deserve what the cops do to them." I always enjoy telling them the truth after something like that.

I'm not part black but I'm mixed race and its always funny when people drop some loaded bombs thinking I'm a white dude, when not tanned I come off white, and then me being like,"Hey you know I'm yada yada and that shit ain't cool" The awkward apologies and reasoning afterwards are always great. Honestly I'd just rather someone just be like,"Yeah I said some racist shit, deal with it!" instead the song and dance they try and play off.

 

[ThisGuy]

I'm not part black but I'm mixed race and its always funny when people drop some loaded bombs thinking I'm a white dude, when not tanned I come off white, and then me being like,"Hey you know I'm yada yada and that shit ain't cool" The awkward apologies and reasoning afterwards are always great. Honestly I'd just rather someone just be like,"Yeah I said some racist shit, deal with it!" instead the song and dance they try and play off.

I guess you could say I'm quadroon (more complex than that). But this shit gets old as hell. And honestly, when someone is upfront about their racism, it's not really better. You can 'appreciate' the honesty. But it's still lame. Imo.

 

[Ran rp]

 

[n64coder]

I believe that white people can also get vitiligo but I don't think it's as noticeable as it would be for a black person. Vitiligo is really tough for a black person since the contrast is much greater. It would be great if they could understand the cause and find a cure for it.

 

[HStallion]

I guess you could say I'm quadroon (more complex than that). But this shit gets old as hell. And honestly, when someone is upfront about their racism, it's not really better. You can 'appreciate' the honesty. But it's still lame. Imo.

Oh it doesn't make what they said any better if they're upfront about it but I also don't like the lengths people will go to make themselves feel better after they get called out for some ignorant BS. I just prefer people be up front and not try to bull shit me, even if its about stuff like racism. Don't tell me you don't normally speak like that and it was a one time thing or that you don't feel prejudice or what not, just say you said some fucking stupid intolerant shit and maybe we can talk about it or something instead of just trying to make yourself look less shitty and actually making yourself look worse because you're trying to defend yourself.

 

[platocplx]

He had vitiligo, and used makeup and other products to even out his skin. Was the reason for the glove, too, since it started in his hands.

People are really, REALLY brutal to those with vitiligo, socially, especially in the 70s and 80s.

yeah its super sad, almost as bad as people who are albino.

 

[Shouta]

I believe that white people can also get vitiligo but I don't think it's as noticeable as it would be for a black person. Vitiligo is really tough for a black person since the contrast is much greater. It would be great if they could understand the cause and find a cure for it.

Asians can get Vitiligo as well. One of my coworkers in Japan had it on her hands. It was noticeable but the contrast wasn't as big.

 

[frankie_baby]

I believe that white people can also get vitiligo but I don't think it's as noticeable as it would be for a black person. Vitiligo is really tough for a black person since the contrast is much greater. It would be great if they could understand the cause and find a cure for it.

I vaguely know a white guy with it on the top of his head, he has very short shaved hair and it just looks like large white patches under his hair

 

[SatanicNemesis2K]

For an example of vitiligo on white skinned people, Jon Ham had it on his hand, you could see some of it in episodes of Mad Men.

I recall reading that it was due to stress.

 

[Electric Eye]

Yes vitiligo occurs in all races and it's not even a genetic thing none knows what causes vitiligo all they known is that it's ones immune system attacking and ridding the body of melatonin you can wake up one day and have it, it's also not a disease so people in this thread need to stop calling it that as if your going to catch it from someone who has it.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Asians can get Vitiligo as well. One of my coworkers in Japan had it on her hands. It was noticeable but the contrast wasn't as big.

Yeah, I've seen it a few times where I live. I even had a teacher at Kindergarten who had it, and I won't it kinda scared me as a kid, though I never mentioned it. Feel really bad about that now.

 

[Spinoff90]

Doesn't Prince Michael I have the same condition or am I thinking somebody/something else?

 

[Scarecrow]

I had a black friend with it in school, can confirm, she was fuckin' tired of the questions and pointing. Examples of vitiligo:

it progresses randomly too, so one day she woke up with a pale arm.

Looks kinda pretty to me. Like having your own personal color scheme. Is vitiligo deadly?

 

[Ogni-XR21]

This thread made me think if maybe public awareness would have changed if MJ would have been more open about this disease. Of course I can see why he would not go public with it, even moreso with his fucked up self image. But just imagine what it would have meant for other people with vitiligo to have someone as big as Michael Jackson talk about this.

 

[T-0800]

I have a friend who has the same condition. It's cruel that people make fun of it just because it is a celebrity.

 

[.shin]

Doesn't Prince Michael I have the same condition or am I thinking somebody/something else?

Yeah, Michael's son has vitiligo spots on his fingers in the same spots Mike did as a child.

Also, the first few posts in this thread are disgusting.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Looks kinda pretty to me. Like having your own personal color scheme. Is vitiligo deadly?

A person with that condition can't handle the sun at all without sunscreen and even then it might still have some effect on them. It's why Michael could often be seen outside holding an umbrella.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Yeah, Michael's son has vitiligo spots on his fingers in the same spots Mike did as a child.

Also, the first few posts in this thread are disgusting.

The fuck did I do?

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

It is interesting to know this is actually a disease.

I have seen this on black and asian people before, but never on a widespread scale on their body, and thought it was caused by burns or something.

 

[Shadax the wizard]

I believe it's called an Auto-immune disease, meaning the immune system targets it's own body for unknown reasons. I got the little cousin of Vitiligo - Halo Nevus, where the pale patches appear in circular fashion around birthmarks. They completely got rid of every birthmark on my entire body, which was kind of interesting.

 

[Bold One]

Discussions like this always make me think of that Ebony article from 1985.

Looks like Antonio Valencia

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

Man think how much it could have helped young people with skin disorders if he would have owned it. I could understand in the beginning being ashamed, but after becoming the biggest star in the world?

It was a different, less sensitive era. He would have garnered sympathy but he also would have become a punchline in a way his ego probably couldn't handle and lost his status.

 

[LiquidSolid]

I believe that white people can also get vitiligo but I don't think it's as noticeable as it would be for a black person. Vitiligo is really tough for a black person since the contrast is much greater. It would be great if they could understand the cause and find a cure for it.

Yeah. If you want a famous example of a white guy with vitiligo, look up the wrestler Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson. It's not that obvious unless you already know what it is, see here:

Heads up: I have vitiligo. It's pretty much everywhere and most noticeable on my arms and hands but thankfully, mostly avoided my face. The worst part isn't how it looks though, it's that it makes it insanely easy to get sun burnt, which combined with the hole in the ozone layer above New Zealand, absolutely sucks. I went from only getting sun burnt a handful of times during my childhood, to not being able to stand out in the sun for 45 or so minutes without sunscreen. It sucks.

 

[U2NUMB]

I had a black friend with it in school, can confirm, she was fuckin' tired of the questions and pointing. Examples of vitiligo:

it progresses randomly too, so one day she woke up with a pale arm.

They look amazing to me.. but I can only imagine the looks one would get. Earlier someone said that some people let it take over and sort of embrace it. What does that mean? Is there treatment to slow it down? I would imagine letting it do its thing would be the path I would pick simply to get it over with but who knows.

Also someone else mentioned interviewing someone who lived a while looking like one color only to transition and then live as what looks like another. Must be an amazing perspective.

 

[Messofanego]

I have a cousin from my father's side who has vitiligo, she is pretty and I don't think she had much insecurity as I think it's not socially disliked in Pakistan. People get it, it's just accepted.

That's pretty badass looking.

 

[n64coder]

It is unfortunate that I never knew that Michael had this condition. All I remember seeing stuff like "Wacko Jacko did nose surgery & skin bleaching" because he didn't want to be black. Never realized until recently that he didn't like his nose (perfectly normal reaction that many people have) and that he was suffering from this condition. I can only imagine the toll that it took on him mentally since he was always in the spotlight and the public is not 100% accepting of people with this disorder.

More public awareness will go a long way to help educate the public.