Racism is a hard topic for parents to discuss with their children but Hollywood superstar Gabrielle Union doesn’t shy away from the subject with her kids. The mother of 2-year-old Kaavia and stepmom to Zaire (19), Zaya (14) and Xavier (7), recently spoke with Health Magazine about breaking the ice and having these difficult but very necessary conversations. She explained that she was a little unprepared at first and had to quickly adjust.
“You want to just try to give them hope, to keep those flames of hope from being extinguished. But we were late. And they were not prepared. This is especially true when you have hope, and you buy into the American dream of having a good work ethic and just being a good person. You think if you just follow all these rules, there’s this promised land of milk and honey. But then [your kids are] like, ‘I did that. And it’s vinegar. You told us …’ So, we’ve had to adjust our approach, especially in the last year,” Union siaid.
The Bad Boys II co-star also revealed that the deaths of George Floyd and Eric Garner forced her and her husband Dwyane Wade to address with their kids how to deal with the police and to be aware of America’s tumultuous history with Black people.
“With the older kids, we talk about how the world is, I’m not going to say changing, but at least acknowledging certain truths that we’ve known for the last 400 years. People might say different things, but the proof is always in the pudding. You have to watch their actions,” Union said.
The Think Like A Man actress told Health Magazine that she was also heavily concerned about Zaya who is transgender and the challenges she could face in the future.
“There’s so many roadblocks for her and her life. All we can say is, ‘We’re not going to leave you on the road by yourself. We’ll be here. But this is what it is. And it’s OK to still be shocked and hurt and surprised when people that you thought you could count on to be better aren’t,’ ” Union said.
