Khloé Kardashian says parents are ‘setting’ their kids up for failure when they ‘don’t talk about race’
Khloé Kardashian, 37, is opening up about the nuances of raising a Black child in today’s America.
The reality star and founder of the inclusive clothing brand, Good American, sat down with Leomie Anderson on her podcast, Role Model, where she touched on the importance of educating parents and children about race.
“I will be always learning and trying to do the best I can do as being her mom, but I’m obviously not a woman of color,” Kardashian told Anderson about her daughter True, 3, whom she shares with basketball player Tristan Thompson.
“I want her to be exposed to as much inclusion and variety as possible,” she continued. “I don’t want her living in a bubble. Because we do have a privileged life, I want her to know all types of life, all types of living and be very aware of that.”
Kardashian, whose father was the famous lawyer Robert Kardashian, added that her late father “always exposed us to the realities of life.”
“I know some people get uncomfortable with talking to their kids about race,” she added. “Like, they think, Oh we live in a bubble. We never have to address that my child is Black. Of course you do! You’re only setting them up for failure when you don’t talk about race and things they’re going to endure when they’re in, quote, the ‘real world.’”
The fashion mogul added that while she wants True to be “surrounded by love,” she also wants to her to be “very aware that she is a woman of color,” explaining, “I have to educate her as best I can while still educating myself at the same time.”
“Something I already know I’m going to have trouble with is letting her make her own mistakes,” Kardashian says. “That’s how we all learn in life.”
“I know it’s a never-ending journey being a mother. It’s not just when they’re 18 that you forget about them — you really think that as a kid, but you’re always their mom,” she said. “I need to let True make her own mistakes. That’s how she’s going to learn.”
To get there, Kardashian argues it comes down to teaching True real lessons about the power of spreading kindness in the world.
“I think a good reputation is more valuable than anything else in the world,” she said. “Lead an honest life that you’re proud of. It’s the most simple things that we forget: Do unto others as you want done to you, and really just lead with kindness. I know it sounds so simplistic, but we as humans muddy up the most simplistic things in life. If we stuck to the simplicities of the world, my what a better world this might be.”
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