Jada Pinkett Smith has recalled the pain of being racially abused by police officers in a new instalment of her Facebook show Red Table Talks.
The actress and wife of superstar Will Smith discussed racism, and the racial divide between women of color and white women, in Monday’s episode of the show – alongside her daughter Willow Smith, 18, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones.
During the chat, Jada spoke about a painful incident which saw her racially abused by officers of the law.
“I remember going to Virginia Beach. Remember when they had the riots?” the 47-year-old actress asked her mother. “I was there by myself – terrified – trying to get back to my hotel.
“I will never forget, there were these two white officers. 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**ger b**ch a*s off this street right now,'” the Matrix Reloaded star recalled.
The discussion then moved onto the racial divide between African-American women and white women, with Jada admitting she felt especially disappointed by it as “white women understand what it feels to be oppressed”.
However, she also admitted to her having her own biases, especially with blonde women, who bullied her about her appearance.
“Blonde hair on white women just triggers me,” the Girls Trip star said. “I’ve had to catch myself.”
“Do you have a specific incident with someone who had blonde hair?” her mother asked.
“Absolutely,” Jada replied. “All throughout my childhood. I do remember experiencing being teased by white women in regards to my hair, how I looked, feeling belittled.
“I was going to do an interview with this blonde woman and I thought twice about it. I thought, “I don’t know if I want to do that.’ That was my first instinct because of how she looked! And I was like, “Oh! That’s no different.’ That doesn’t give me the right to clump all blonde women in one.”
