Entertainment
Sandra Bullock ‘wishes her skin matched’ Black adopted children’s as star is praised for raw comments on racism
Sandra opened up about racism on the Red Table Talk (Picture: Backgrid)
Sandra Bullock has been praised for her raw and honest comments about race, including ‘wishing’ that she had matching skin with her Black adopted children.
The Bird Box actress is mother to son Louis, 11, and daughter Laila, nine, who she adopted on her own.
Being a mother to African-American children has opened the star’s eyes to the realities of racism in America and her own privilege.
Speaking to Jada Pinkett Smith on Red Table Talk, Sandra said: ‘To say that I wished our skins matched … sometimes I do.
‘Because then it would be easier on how people approach us. And I have the same feelings as a woman with brown skin, and it being her babies. Or a white woman with white babies.’
The actress is currently starring in Netflix drama Unforgivable (Picture: Reuters)
Jada’s daughter Willow Smith weighed in: ‘It’s the mother-child dynamic. There is no colour. We don’t have to put a colour on…’
Sandra interjected: ‘Maybe one day that will go away. Maybe one day we will be able to see with different eyes.’
In another interview, the Speed actress revealed a heartbreaking conversation she had with son Louis when he was a small child after she saw him wearing a hoodie.
Speaking to The Grio, she said: ‘I have a beautiful Black son, at the age of six he popped on a hoodie and I was like, “We’re gonna have a conversation. It’s different for you”. And I was like, “What does it look like you’re doing with the hoodie?” And he says, “Well, I look like I’m hiding”.
Sandra is a mother of two adopted children (Picture: WireImage)
‘“Do you have anything to hide?” He said, “No”. I said, “Then you don’t need to wear it outside”. I said, “People are scared and will react to you differently than if you were a white boy”. And he knows it. I let them see everything. I let them hear and know everything, see it all.’
The 57-year-old admitted she ‘doesn’t care’ if the truth ‘scares’ them as it’s her job to warn them about the dangers of the outside world.
She continued: ‘And it’s a scary thing to be a parent in general. It’s a scary thing to think that when your beautiful son grows up and becomes a man, someone’s not going to treat him the way that you treat him simply because of the colour of his skin.
‘It breaks my heart. It makes me full of rage. It makes me afraid. But all I can do is my job, protect them, enlighten them, and show them their power, show them how to be safe. But the system is not fair.’
The Hollywood star was praised for her honesty, with one commenting: ‘I APPLAUD HER 👏, she’s not teaching him the “bare minimum “ she’s going above and beyond.’
More: Racism
‘I knew it was a reason I liked her. She is teaching her child awareness but also whats going on in the world. Telling her child the truth about the world and living them no matter their color is the most important thing,’ another weighed in.
Impressed with Sandra’s articulation on the subject, one said: ‘I love how she worded this! Gotta talk to these kids with no filter in order for them to truly understand. I wish her and her family the best.’
Sandra is currently starring in The Unforgivable, a Netflix drama about a woman who has spent years in prison for murdering a sheriff.
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