*”Sex and the City” star Kristen Davis is mom to two adopted black children; daughter Gemma and a son whose name she reportedly has not publicly revealed. The actress joined Jada Pinkett Smith, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones for the latest episode of “Red Table Talk” for an educational talk about interracial adoption.
Before the interview even began, Adrienne told Jada she thought the conversation would be “interesting” … but noted that she had certain feelings about white folks adopting black kids “because I think it’s really hard raising black children today.”
Once Davis joined the roundtable, she admitted that being the mother of two black children made her examine her own white privilege.
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Today on #RedTableTalk, @KristinDavis opens up to @jadapsmith and #Gammy about her experiences as a white mother raising Black children, the adoption process, and how her kids have impacted her life as a woman and mom. Streaming now: https://t.co/zUeRspvI5D ❣️ pic.twitter.com/veaMD4d2Su
— Red Table Talk (@RedTableTalk) July 8, 2019
“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,” Davis explained. “It’s one thing to be watching [racism] 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 also spoke candidly about some of the racism her daughter experienced, tearing up as she recalled a moment from when Gemma was just a baby.
“When I was holding her in my arms, people would say to me, ‘Won’t she be a great basketball player?’” she recalled. “I would just have to be like… ‘This is a baby. How could you say that without just being… mortified!?’”
She also shared an incident from when Gemma was older and waiting for the swings on the playground.
“This one girl, in particular, would stop swinging, would hold the swing, would call to another white girl across the yard and say, ‘I’m holding the swing for you,” she explained. Davis admits that she doesn’t know if race played a role in the moment, but she suspected it was. She was left stunned, however, when she reported the incident to school administrators and they blew her off.
“I will never be black no matter how hard I try,” Davis said. “I will never be able to say to Gemma: ‘I understand because this is what happened to me.’” As such, the actress said she makes sure to often expose her children to the black community.
“I don’t want to miss something or under the crazy white privilege assumption that everything is going to be fine,” she explained. “We have to deal with reality and we have to prepare them.”
Scroll up and watch the episode via the player above.
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