Willow Smith Said She Felt Shunned by the Black Community Because of Her Upbringing
Though the Smith family has been in the spotlight since the ’90s when Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were starring in various films and TV shows, a new light has been shown on their family in recent years.
With Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch series, Red Table Talk, fans are getting a more in-depth look at the Smiths relationships, family, and home life. In fact, Willow Smith just revealed that she used to feel shunned by the Black community because of her relaxed upbringing.
Willow Smith said her parents are her greatest inspiration
It can be challenging to grow up as a child of two of the most famous people on the planet. However, Smith said she never saw her parents’ superstar success as a hindrance. Instead, the “Whip My Hair” singer saw them as an inspiration.
As a result of that, she and her brother Jaden have been vocal about never wanting to disappoint them. She explained to Interview Magazine,
All I saw was my parents trying to be the best people they could be, and people coming to them for wisdom, coming to them for guidance, and them not putting themselves on a pedestal, but literally being face-to-face with these people and saying, ‘I’m no better than you, but the fact that you’re coming to me to reach some sort of enlightenment or to shine a light on something, that makes me feel love and gratitude for you. They always give back what people give to them. And sometimes they keep giving and giving and giving.
As a result, Smith has focused her career on creating art and giving back to the less fortunate.
Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have an extremely relaxed parenting style
Though Smith and her brothers Jaden and Trey are adults now, as they were growing up, the Smiths were often in the tabloids because of their relaxed parenting style. In fact, many critics have said that their lax views on discipline and formal education were much too relaxed.
However, the Smiths have been adamant about treating their children like equals and not their property. “We respect our children the way we would respect any other person.,” the Ali actor told E! News. “Things like cleaning up their room. You would never tell a full-grown adult to clean their room, so we don’t tell our kids to clean their rooms.”
On an episode of Red Table Talk, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor articulated why he felt that punishment was a disservice to his children. He explained,
We don’t do punishment. The way that we deal with our kids is, they are responsible for their lives. Our concept is, as young as possible, give them as much control over their lives as possible and the concept of punishment, our experience has been — it has a little too much of a negative quality.
Willow Smith Said she felt shunned by the Black community because of her upbringing
Though the Smith kids have become well-rounded adults who have their own paths and imprints on society, The Anxiety singer explained that she often felt shunned by the Black community because of her upbringing. In a recent episode of Red Table Talk, she articulated.
Specifically with me, the African American community, I kind of felt like me and Jaden were shunned a little bit, like we’re not going to take pride in them because they’re too different. Even some of our family members I would feel they thought you’re too different.
Thankfully, Smith doesn’t feel that way anymore.
