Katherine Heigl has two adopted daughters; in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement, Heigl says she sees the world a little differently.
Naleigh, 8, was adopted from South Korea at 9 months. Adalaide was adopted at birth in the US. Both daughters are shared with Heigl’s husband, Josh Kelley.
Heigl reveals that she now knows she has been living in a “white bubble” and hadn’t delved into the topic of racism with either of her daughters until last summer.
Heigl’s own sister was adopted and the actress explained to Parents magazine:
“Because I was raised with adoption, looking beyond skin color was the norm for me and I just believed that love is love — it doesn’t matter what we look like.”
“But when I asked my sister if she had been treated one way when she was out in public with our parents and a different way when she was out by herself without them, she said, ‘Oh yeah, all the time!'”
Heigl explains that she realized she “had been so naive.”
“At first, I got very angry. But I had to calm down and realize, OK, this isn’t about how it makes me feel. It’s about how I need to protect my daughters and prepare them for the world because I can’t change society in one fell swoop.”
She further explained to the magazine that she has since dedicated herself to answering questions her children have about their backgrounds.
“They do have more questions as they get older,” she said. “We have said to them, ‘This is your story. We don’t have any information about your biological fathers, but we do have a bit about your biological mothers. If you guys want to talk more about them, you can have as much or as little information as you want. Tell us what you’re comfortable with knowing.'”
In two Instagram posts, Heigl admits that she felt her “whiteness” stopped her from “internalizing the reality” of racism.
Both came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing last year.
“My white bubble though always with me now begins to bleed,” the post reads. “It has taken me far too long to truly internalize the reality of the abhorrent, evil despicable truth of racism.”
“My whiteness kept it from me. My upbringing of inclusivity, love and compassion seemed normal. I thought the majority felt like I did. I couldn’t imagine a brain that saw the color of someone’s skin as anything but that. Just a color. I was naive. I was childish. I was blind to those who treated my own sister differently because of the shape of her beautiful almond eyes. Or her thick gorgeous hair. Or her golden skin. I was a child. For too long.”