Kerry Washington Talks Being Afraid Of Running Into Police W/ Her Kids: That Cop May Have Never Seen ‘Scandal’

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington Talks Being Afraid Of Running Into Police W/ Her Kids: That Cop May Have Never Seen ‘Scandal’

As the racial uprising and unrest continue throughout the nation and world, black celebrities are speaking out about their own fears when it comes to encounters with police officers.

Emmy-Award winning actress Kerry Washington is one of the latest to express her concern with running into the police with her children, daughter Isabella, 6, and son Caleb, 3, who she shares with her husband Nnamdi Asomugha. She’s also stepmom to Nnamdi Asomugha’s teenage daughter.

She said on a teaser for Jemele Hill is Unbothered podcast:

“It’s crazy when somebody says like, ‘How dare you, Kerry Washington, have a voice. You’re a so-privileged Hollywood actor person. No matter what I do, no matter how many Emmy nominations, I am still scared at times to scooter in neighborhoods with my kids where I feel like somebody could call the cops.”

She added that she might not be recognized from ABC’s hit series “Scandal,” which Kerry Washington starred in from 2012 to 2018.

“Because that cop may never have seen Scandal. I still have that very real fear.”

She continued and said,

“nobody should be silenced because of their job.”

She said that despite her celebrity status, she’s still a black woman and a black mother.

“When I speak about this country, I speak as a mother, I speak as a woman, I speak as a Black person. I speak as a kid who grew up in the Bronx, across the street from the projects. I don’t speak as a Hollywood elite. I speak as somebody who’s the mother of Black children, as somebody who had student loans way longer than I thought I would. I speak as somebody who cares about my community and the community that my family lives in, my extended family… I’m never going to be quiet because somebody else thinks I should.”

She went to say:

“Whenever somebody says to an entertainer or an athlete or an actor, ‘You shouldn’t have a voice,’ to me, that’s a reminder to stay in my voice because I can’t let people silence me. I feel like sometimes we get tired of hearing it, but I have to remind myself people fought so hard for me to have a voice. Like as a woman — women went to jail in petticoats … for us, as women, to be able to vote.”

She said that as a mom, she doesn’t want to hide the concern but instead feels the need to address it and find a way to help her little ones get through it.

“I know that might sound crazy and corny, but I really try to think about, what do I need to be doing right now to take care of myself so that I am present for them, to be able to answer the questions of, ‘Who is this girl, Breonna Taylor, on my T-shirt?'”

“And, ‘Why do we want to arrest the cops?’ To be having those conversations with young children, it requires a lot of presence and ability to navigate their journey with this information and to be there for them. Because there’s so much uncertainty in the world.”

“I don’t think my job as a mom is to take away all the uncertainty, because dealing with uncertainty is part of the human experience, but can I navigate the uncertainty with them and try to mitigate what is age-appropriate? It’s challenging. It’s an ongoing conversation.”

What do you think about what Kerry Washington had to say? Comment and let us know.