Kristin Davisis opening up about being a white mom to two black children — and how no matter what she learns along the way, she will never fully be able to walk in their shoes.
“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,” shesaid in the video(titled, “Should White People Adopt Black Kids?”) when asked about white privilege.
“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,” she added.
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And that wasn’t the onlyexample of “institutionalized” racismDavis observed when it came to her daughter. At another point, later one, she noticed a young white girl holding a swing for her friend across the playground, even though Gemma had been patiently waiting her turn to.
Davis went to school administrators about the issue, who dismissed her and said, ” ‘We just see them all the same. We don’t see color,’ ” the mother of two recalled.
“It was a very harsh moment of understanding,” she shared. “I don’t know how everyperson of color has gotten through this. I don’t understand how you could take this every day.”
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“It lit a fire under me where Icouldn’t be relaxed or casual[about racism],” she continued. “But I will never be black, no matter how hard I try. … That is the truth, and we have to accept it. 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,” Davis 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.”
source: people.com
