Kristin Davis says she fears for her adopted black daughter, Gemma Rose Davis, after fully understanding her white privilege. And she vows to reassure her of her worth and beauty. More of her powerful statements inside...
Actress Kristin Davis is experiencing what most mothers of black child are feeling: FEAR.
The “Sex And The City” alum said she thought she understood what it meant to have white privilege, but after she adopted her daughter, 5-year-old Gemma Rose Davis, she understood it on a whole new level.
“I am white. I have lived in white privilege,”she said while speaking at The Greene Space in New York City.
“I thought I knew before adopting my daughter that I was in white privilege, that I understood what that meant. But until you actually have a child, which is like your heart being outside you, and that heart happens to be in a brown body, and you have people who are actively working against your child, it’s hard,” she said. “It fills me with terror.”
The 51-year-old actress, who campaigned for Hillary Clinton, said her fears grew even more after Donald Trump was elected as our next president. She shared how she felt waking up the day after the election.
“My initial thoughts on Wednesday morning was that I wanted to move to the woods and learn to shoot a gun,” Kristin said. “It makes no sense. I’m fully aware. I’m 100 percent aware that it literally makes no sense … the fear of what is happening and how am I going to make sure that no one hurts my child, even in a subtle way, which was already a fear I had, obviously, but it just became so, so heightened.”
Kristin says she’s going to do everything in her power to continue to encourage her daughter and to keep strong, black woman figures, such as Serena Williams, in her home.
“I have to tell her, ‘Your curls are beautiful, your black skin is beautiful,’” she said. “’You’re beautiful. You’re powerful. You’re a goddess’ … because she needs to know this.”
She gets it. And we're glad she's using her voice so others like her will get it too.
Photo: Splash