>Did Black Radio play Black or White? I can't imagine that song
>going over THAT well (I am thinking folks were more like
>"There goes michael being michael" and rolling their eyes).

no.

the song was released in 1991 ahead of Dangerous. MJ was still the biggest Pop star on the planet - this was the year when he crowned himself King of Pop. his star was fading b/c Hip-Hop had exploded and he hadn't released a new album of studio material since HH had gone mainstream in the late 80s. plus New Jack Swing had taken over R&B. but MJ was still the biggest and this new release was widely played on sight b/c it was a new MJ song - the first new MJ song in 4 yrs. yes, Black radio played it...at first. it didn't get played for long and i don't think it was a #1 R&B jam. but it was played.

i also remember hearing 'Who Is It' - ahead of the album and ahead of its official release on a single in 1992 or 1993. but i only heard it once or twice. i suspect Epic/Sony may have released 'Who Is It' as a promo single for black radio b/c they suspected 'B or W' may not hit at R&B. but then i doubt that b/c i only heard it once on black radio in STL and then i only heard 'B or W' for the next few weeks/months until the next single, 'Remember the Time'.

>Can you imagine all the thought pieces if an Black or White
>dropped now? Or if Kanye made a song with a similar theme?

yeah. of course, back then the main controversy about the song related to the video w/MJ grabbing his crotch when he danced and destroying a car w/a sledgehammer. it was deemed to sexual and too violent and that portion of the video was edited out.