Khloe Kardashian says parents who don’t discuss race with their children are ‘setting them up for failure’

Khloe Kardashian has spoken candidly about the importance of discussing race and inclusion with her daughter True Thompson, while encouraging other parents not to shy away from the topic with their own children.

The Good American founder discussed parenting and her hopes for her three-year-old daughter, whom she shares with ex Tristan Thompson, during an appearance on Leomie Anderson’s Role Model podcast, where she was asked what kind of world she wants True to “grow up in as a woman of colour”.

In response to the question of how she is navigating raising a Black daughter, the 37-year-old said that she has dedicated herself to learning while also teaching True.

“I will be always learning and trying to do the best I can do as being her mom,” she said, “but I’m obviously not a woman of colour.”

According to Kardashian, this means exposing her daughter to “as much inclusion, but variety as possible,” with the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star explaining that she doesn’t want the three-year-old “living in a bubble” because of her privilege.

“I do want her to be exposed to as much inclusion, but variety as possible,” the reality star said. “I don’t want her living in a bubble … because we do have this very privileged life and I want her to know all types of life and all types of living and be very aware of that.”

Kardashian then credited her late father Robert Kardashian with exposing her and her siblings to the “realities of life”, telling Anderson that he “was able to provide us a very good life, but he didn’t come from that, necessarily,” and that she hopes to instil the same awareness in her own daughter.

While speaking with Anderson about raising True, Kardashian also expressed her belief that parents should always discuss the topic of race with their children, as she believes not doing means “setting them up for failure”.

“I know some people get uncomfortable with talking to their kids about race,” Kardashian continued. “Or they think: ‘Oh we live in a bubble. We never have to address that my child is Black.’ I mean, of course you do. You’re only setting them up for failure if you don’t talk about race and the things they’re going to endure when they’re in, quote, the ‘real world.’”

And while Kardashian acknowledged that “we don’t want to overexpose our children”, or overwhelm them with information that they are too young to handle, she also noted that growing up in a bubble can also be “really jarring” and harmful.

“Even if you do live in a bubble, whoever you are, I think that can be really jarring then when your kids are set free, then they’re going to be so either devastated, hurt, traumatised, confused, overwhelmed,” she said, adding that she thinks it is the duty of parents to expose their children while they still have the safety and security of their parents.

The mother-of-one then acknowledged that her sisters being in a similar situation, and raising Black children, is helpful, as it means they are able to “have those conversations probably together”, before concluding that she plans to educate True “as best as I can while still educating myself at the same time”.

Overall, Kardashian said that she hopes to raise her daughter in a “world surrounded by love”, but also in a way where she is still “very aware that she is a woman of colour”.