On her “Red Table Talk” show, Jada Pinkett Smith discussed some of the pain she still harbors from being racially discriminated against.
Her mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones, daughter Willow Smith and others joined the conversation as well, and Pinkett Smith talked about an experience she had in Virginia Beach. It was during the infamous 1989 Greekfest riot, where cops were openly seen beating Black folks.
“I have hurt attached to some of the experiences that I’ve had as well,” said the actress. “I remember going to Virginia Beach. Remember when they had the riots?”
“I was there by myself, terrified, trying to get back to my hotel and I’ll never forget these two white officers,” she added. “I was like, ‘I’m just trying to get down the street so I can get to my hotel’ and they said, ‘You better get your n—- b—- a– off this street right now.'”
In another part of the discussion, Pinkett Smith said she’s hurt that some white women don’t seem to empathize with Black women’s struggle since they should be familiar with oppression and exclusion from being female.
“You see there’s this huge gap between white women and Black women,” Pinkett Smith said. “I feel we as women should know better, I really do. Because we’re women, because of the struggles we have had as women. There should be a natural understanding and familiarity of our struggle.”
You can watch the full conversation below, where Banfield-Jones talks about her own experiences dealing with racism as a child.
