With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it’s only natural that Kim
Kardashian has her daughter on her mind — but what she’s thinking might
surprise you.
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.
