Tina Knowles Recalls Facing Discrimination At The Kentucky Derby, Says She Was Told To Step Aside For A White Couple On The Red Carpet

Tina Knowles Recalls Facing Discrimination At The Kentucky Derby, Says She Was Told To Step Aside For A White Couple On The Red Carpet

#TinaKnowles, the businesswoman and mother of superstars #SolangeKnowles and #Beyoncé, is speaking out about a racially charged moment she experienced at the Kentucky Derby.

In the new Peacock doc High Horse: The Black Cowboy, she shares that a staffer told her to step aside so a white couple could walk ahead of her on the red carpet, despite her turn being called. “It was a very big wake-up call for me to attend the #KentuckyDerby and to see this closed-off culture,” she says. Ms. Tina continues, “I mean, just blatant, on the red carpet, someone came up and said, ‘Oh, Tina Knowles is next.’ And the other young lady walked up and said, ‘Oh no, because we need a…’ And ran right into my face, and I said, ‘… a White person?’” She adds, “It’s racially charged there. There’s a lot of racially charged energy.”

The three-part doc, executive produced by #JordanPeele’s Monkeypaw Productions, delves into the overlooked history of Black cowboys and explores how historically white-dominated spaces such as the Kentucky Derby still carry a legacy of exclusion.