Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss recently opened up on the difficult conversations about police brutality she had to have with her son in the wake of Minnesota resident George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Floyd’s death has since sparked protests against police brutality and systemic racism nationwide.
Black parents telling their children about how to interact with police has long been a part of Black culture, and on a recent episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Burruss shared a story about when she and her husband had to talk to young Ace about police brutality, tearing up as she recalled the conversation.
“My son Ace, who’s 4, he was a policeman on career day,” said Burruss. “So when my husband, Todd, was trying to explain to him what was going on and why everybody was so upset and what was happening with the police, Ace was confused. He was like, ‘So the police are the bad guys?'”
“Now isn’t that crazy?” Burruss continued, with tears in her eyes. “To have to explain that to a 4-year-old — for you to be Black and have to worry about the police being the bad guys. I know y’all say I cry all the time but that’s an emotional thing for me,” explained Burruss. She addressed Cohen, saying: “Andy, I know you care about us, but you don’t have to think about that, you know what I’m saying? That’s something that we have to think about for our sons.”
Kandi Burruss also shared how her daughter Riley, who goes to a majority White school, used social media to find out which of her classmates supported the Black Lives Matter Movement and unfollowed the ones who didn’t. “She was like, ‘Okay, I am unfollowing every single friend or person that is non-Black that is not speaking up, who’s not showing that they are an ally with our community,'” said Burruss. “And she seriously did.”
Kandi Burruss and her husband, producer Todd Tucker, share two children: 4-year-old Ace and 6-month-old Blaze Tucker. They also have children from previous relationships: Kandi’s 17-year-old daughter Riley Burruss and Todd’s 23-year-old daughter Kaela Tucker.
