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.
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