Charlize Theron has two adopted Black children.(Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
As the mother of two adopted Black children, actress Charlize Theron has been paying close attention to the way the Donald Trump administration has behaved regarding Black lives. It should come as no surprise, then that she is considering moving out of the U.S. if things don’t improve.
Reflecting on growing up in apartheid South Africa, Theron tells the May issue of Elle magazine that she’s always been aware of racial inequality.
“I don’t even know how to talk about the last year under our new administration,” she says of the cabinet that demolished an Illinois housing project and displaced hundreds of Black residents. “But racism is much more alive and well than people thought. We can’t deny it anymore. We have to be vocal. There are places in this country where, if I got a job, I wouldn’t take it. I wouldn’t travel with my kids to some parts of America, and that’s really problematic. There are a lot of times when I look at my kids and I’m like, If this continues, I might have to [leave America]. Because the last thing I want is for my children to feel unsafe.”
Theron also vowed to let young August and Jackson know about the differences between the treatment their white mother gets compared to them as Black people.
“We’re not there yet, but trust me, we talk. I want them to know who they are, and I want them to be so f—ing proud of who they are,” she begins. “Building confidence for them right now is an oath I made to myself when I brought them home. They need to know where they come from and be proud of that. But they’re going to have to know that it’s a different climate for them than it is for me, and how unfair that is. If I can do something about that, of course, I’m going to.”
And while Theron, who is an American citizen and retains South African citizenship, did not specify where she’d move to, many ardent Trump supporters assumed she’d go back to her native country. They also balked at the idea that the actress could have any issues with an America where killing unarmed Black people is a common occurrence.
“Charlize Theron said she is moving back to her home country because of all the racism that is here in America,” someone tweeted. “Her home country is South Africa. Things are just peachy there, apparently.”
“She should go back to South Africa where equality reigns,” another said.
“Charlize Theron worried about her safety due to ‘racism’ in Trump’s America” someone tweeted. “Why don’t you go home to South Africa and take up farming? See how that works out for you…”
