Lenny Kravitz On Race, Being On The Road, And Ruff Ruff The Magic Dog
Lenny Kravitz On Race, Being On The Road, And Ruff Ruff The Magic DogFacebookTwitterFlipboardEmail
Growing up in New York City in the 1960s, musicianLenny Kravitz didn't spend much time thinking about being biracial. The only son of an interracial couple, he says, "I knew that my mother's skin tone was what it was and I knew that my father's skin tone was what it was. ... I thought nothing of it."
But things changed when he reached first grade: "My parents were the only ones that didn't match," he says. "And this kid jumped out and pointed his finger and said, 'Your father's white and your mother's Black!' "
Kravitz says that moment opened up a conversation with his mother about race and perception: "[My mother] wanted me to understand there were two sides to me, and she didn't want me to feel like I had to pick one or one was better than the other."
"She said, 'Your father is a Russian Jew. This is his background. And I want you to be proud of that. And ... we are of African descent by way of the Bahamas. And that is your culture and that is beautiful as well. And I want you to accept that, but society is only going to see you as Black. They're not going to see the other side,' " he says.
