Kristin Davis Says Her Black Daughter Experienced Racism as a Baby
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Motherhood is tough, and, according to Kristin Davis being a white mom to two black children makes the role even more challenging.
During a Red Table Talk sit-down with Jada Pinkett Smith, the actress describes the racism her adopted children — Gemma Rose, 7, and her new baby boy — endure on a regular basis.
When asked about her white privilege, Davis said, “This is what I want to say, from a white person adopting [black children]: You absolutely do not fully understand. There’s no doubt. There’s no way you could."
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She continued: “Because you can understand that you live in white privilege, and that's a theory, and you can see things. But it's one thing to be watching it happening to other people, and it's another thing when it's your child. And you haven't personally been through it. It's a big issue."
Davis says she first observed racism towards her daughter when she was just a baby. The SATC alum said people would come up to her and say things like, her newborn would become "a great basketball player," which left Davis "horrified." However, her turning point of realizing the effects of institutional racism happened after Gemma was treated unfairly on the playground at her school and the administration told Davis they didn't "see color."
"It was a very harsh moment of deep understanding," Davis recalled. "I don't know how every person of color has gotten through this... I don't understand how you could take this every day."
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"I will never be black... and therefore I will never be able to say to Gemma, 'I understand how you feel because this happened to me.' That's what's painful and hard," she added. “It made me on a mission to find a place where she was exposed to everything. It made me on a mission to put her in situations where I was the only white person.”
Gemma now goes to a more "inclusive" school, and is finally a big sister a black baby brother, who Davis adopted in 2018. Jada said she worried for Davis raising a black boy in America, and the actress replied: "I worry too. Every day something happens, and I think about it.... every night I worry."
