Even celebrities such as Taraji P. Henson worry about racial profiling. The actress tells Uptown magazine that her 20-year-old son, Marcel, has been the victim of profiling on two separate occasions.
“He was in Glendale, California, and did exactly everything the cops told him to do, including letting them illegally search his car,” says Taraji of her son’s first encounter. “It was bogus because they didn’t give him the ticket for what he was pulled over for.”
The next occurrence of bias came during the young adult’s visit to USC. “He’s at University of Southern California, the school that I was going to transfer him to, when police stopped him for having his hands in his pockets. So guess where he’s going? Howard University. I’m not paying $50K so I can’t sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus.”
Marcel’s experience, coupled with other social injustices, has caused Taraji to create a film centered around the civil rights movement that took place in America during the 1960s. “We just sent the script to George Clooney,” says the star. “He’s looking for more endearing, emotionally moving projects to direct so we sent it to him. That’s what I’m really focusing on right now on my off time.”
You can catch Taraji on television when the second season of ‘Empire’ premieres in coming months.
