In a post on her blog, the future Mrs. Kanye West admitted that having a child has given her a greater understanding racism and just how much it still exists in the U.S.
“I never knew how much being a mom would change me,” she began. “To be honest, before I had North, I never really gave racism or discrimination a lot of thought. It is obviously a topic that Kanye is passionate about, but I guess it was easier for me to believe that it was someone else’s battle.”
But what sparked her shift in focus, exactly? “Recently, I’ve read and personally experienced some incidents that have sickened me and made me take notice,” Kim lamented. “I realize that racism and discrimination are still alive, and just as hateful and deadly as they ever have been.”
While she doesn’t go into detail about these “incidents,” it’s safe to assume they’re related to her mixed-race daughter and her future husband. A few contenders that come to mind include West’s alleged January assault of an 18-year-old man who made racist remarks to Kim, as well as her encounter with comedian Christian Stephan at the Vienna Ball in February when he approached her dressed in blackface, pretending to be Kanye. It’s true that Kim has dated men of color before (from Ray J to Reggie Bush to her previous husband, Kris Humphries, whose father is black), but never one as polarizing as West. Perhaps that fact, combined with motherhood, has brought Kim’s activist side to light.
“I feel a responsibility as a mother, a public figure, a human being, to do what I can to make sure that not only my child, but all children, don’t have to grow up in a world where they are judged by the color of their skin, or their gender, or their sexual orientation. I want my daughter growing up in a world where love for one another is the most important thing,” she declared.
In keeping with her humanitarian streak, just hours after sharing these thoughts, Kim attended the USC Shoah Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Gala. “Honored to be at the USC Shoah Foundation event to support Armenian genocide testimonies,” she shared on Instagram. “I’m sitting next to the most inspiring 100 year old Armenian genocide survivor.”
While we whole-heartedly support Kim in her discovery that racism is still a thing and her desire to help end it, it’s worth noting that Khloé beat her to the punch ages ago. Back in 2009, Kim’s sister shared a blog post succinctly titled, “I Need to Vent!” in which she addressed “cruel and unnecessary remarks about race” made by her fans.
“I personally am shocked that in this day and age people are still so judgmental and racist — it blows my mind!” she stated before adding, “How does one person’s color, weight, height, language define who they are? It is sad that people are so mean and so willing to promote their ridiculous views! It’s almost like they think it’s cool to be racist and prejudiced. Leaving comments like that are just wrong!”
Still, at least the bride-to-be feels compelled to act now. According to Kim, the first step she needs to take to fight racism is to “stop pretending like this isn’t my issue or my problem.” Sounds like a solid start to us. “Because… the California teenager who was harassed and killed by his classmates for being gay, the teenage blogger in Pakistan who was shot on her school bus for speaking out in favor of women’s rights, the boy in Florida who was wrongly accused of committing a crime and ultimately killed because of the color of his skin, they are all someone’s son and someone’s daughter and it is our responsibility to give them a voice and speak out for those who can’t and hopefully in the process, ensure that hate is something our children never have to see.”
Even though we don’t always love everything Kim says (or wears, or does), we have to give her kudos for bring up this issue to her millions of fans and followers. She’s starting to sound like a mother, indeed.
