Realistic conversations.
Today, Phaedra Parks virtually stopped by Daily Pop and opened up about the unfortunate, yet necessary conversations she's had to have with her sons about racism. Per Parks, these discussions have been "difficult" as her boys with ex Apollo Nida, Ayden, 10, and Dylan, 7, are "young" and "very innocent."
"Unfortunately, because of the time that we live in, they're conversations that have to be had," Parks explained to E!'s Justin Sylvester. "Because, they could be the next hashtag."
As she continued, the Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition star said she wanted to remain "realistic with [her]self" amid the "countless hashtags."
"It doesn't seem to be coming to an abrupt end for our people, people of color that is," she added. "So, I have to really have those very hard conversations with my boys and say, 'Hey, unfortunately, this is the history of this country and this is how you might be viewed.'"
This conversation comes amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter demonstrations in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.
In her discussion with Sylvester, Parks said her own parents didn't discuss the situation "as much" with her as they had "overcome some of the obstacles."
"I think because it's such a hard subject to talk about, and a lot of times you don't want to delve back into it because it's so painful, you don't have those conversations about the history of what's happened and race relations in this country," Parks expressed.
Continuing with her point, Parks theorized that this "is why it repeats itself."
She noted, "People don't understand the differences and they don't understand the struggle of what it's like to be, you know, racially profiled. To be in a situation where you're judged based on skin color versus your resume or the content of your character and your qualifications."
Although this topic is "really tough" to discuss, Parks said she's "happy" there's an ongoing conversation.
"It is about time, honey," she concluded. "Time was up and now it's about time."
Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition returns Thursday, Jul. 2 at 9 p.m. on WEtv.