Paula Patton has recently opened up about why she doesn’t agree with using the term biracial although her parents are from two different racial groups.
While promoting BET+ series “Sacrifice, ” the actress was interviewed by SiriusXM’s Urban View “The Clay Cane Show” to talk about reprising her role as lawyer Daniella Hernandez. During the interview, the 45-year-old was asked about her dislike of the term biracial. Patton, whose father is Black and mother is white has spoken out the subject of race before and how she identifies as just Black. The California native has said she finds the label to be “offensive.” “It’s a way for people to separate themselves from African Americans, a way of saying, ‘I’m better than that,’” she said in a 2010 interview.
When she was asked how she felt about that statement after almost a decade later, the she said, “I feel the exact same way.” However, Patton says that isn’t to be confused with her not wanting to embrace her mother, but revealed, “It was my mother who let me know, ‘The world is going see you as Black and that is who you are.’ ”
She added, “So don’t have any questions about that. I’m very grateful for her. The politics of race in our country are such that when one wants to make it very clear that they’re not Black, it’s a way to keep them separate from Black people. We know; we’ve had a long history in this country of that, of it not being popular to be Black, to be honest with you. I’ve always found that to be an offensive term. I’m Black and I embrace it, that’s my family.”
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