Tiffany Haddish is opening up about why she has fears about becoming a mother.
During an appearance on Carmelo Anthony's weekly YouTube series, What's in Your Glass, on Monday, Haddish, 40, discussed how racism has played into her fear of having children.
"I'm a little older now and people are always asking when I'm gonna have some babies," the comedian began.
"There's a part of me that would like to do that, and I always make up these excuses like, 'Oh, I need a million dollars in the bank before I do that, I need this, I need that.' But really, it’s like, I would hate to give birth to someone that looks like me knowing that they're gonna be hunted or killed," she said tearfully. "Like, why would I put someone through that?"
Admitting that the fears of raising Black children a real, Anthony — who is father to a 13-year-old son Kiyan — added, "It's scary to even think about."
"And white people don't have to think about that, that's something they don't have to think about," Haddish continued. "It's time to talk about that, and how we have to come together as a community and work as a unit. And maybe we don't all agree on the same things, but we need to just find some common ground and move forward as human beings."
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"I think we all have the same message at the end of the day," Anthony said of the Black community.
"We're all trying to figure out, how do you fix this? How do you stop this? And I think we have to figure out how to change people's hearts, and that's what I've been trying to do my whole career," Haddish added.
Later in their conversation, Anthony also asked Haddish to share a message to the younger generation of Black women.
"What is a message you want to send to them in the midst of everything that's just going on right now from an emotional standpoint [and] and mental standpoint," Anthony asked. "Because we're all going through our own experiences but they are next. Their perspective on what's happening will be totally different."
"My message to them would be to get informed, be as informed as possible, don't be afraid to get involved in your community and live your best life, be your best self, be you," Haddish said.
She added, "There is nothing wrong with you. Don't try to be the girl you see on the
… don't try to be me. Just be yourself because when you be yourself it saves you a whole lot of stress."
To help combat systemic racism, consider learning from or donating to these organizations:
- Campaign Zero (joincampaignzero.org) which works to end police brutality in America through research-proven strategies.
- ColorofChange.org works to make the government more responsive to racial disparities.
- National Cares Mentoring Movement (caresmentoring.org) provides social and academic support to help Black youth succeed in college and beyond.
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