It's a necessary conversation, says the cast of Queen Sugar while discussing interracial relationships
OWN's 'Queen Sugar' is about a black family — their lives, their struggles within the family and with the community, their own demons and, most importantly, their relationships. The drama that has had two successful seasons so far was renewed for a third season which will premiere on May 29.
In the series, Nova Bordelon (Rutina Wesley) dates Calvin, who is a white police officer. Nova's character is a journalist as well as a passionate activist. Though they love each other, Calvin and Nova have to part ways because he's white. In a recent press conference, the cast of 'Queen Sugar' shared their own experiences with interracial dating.
Kobe Siriboe, who plays Ralph Bordelon, said, "It’s such a necessary conversation. It hasn't been unpacked and it’s taboo. When I was growing up, my mama said, 'You better not bring no white girls home!' That’s my African mother. That's no attack on her character or white people but think about it. Let’s be real. She's not saying, 'Don’t bring no white girl home.' She's saying, 'Don’t bring the oppressor home'. She's saying, 'Don’t bring the people who shamed me and disrespected me home.' That’s not an attack on white people. Black is not a color. White is not a color. We're human. We have melanin. Some people don't. White is a culture. Black is a culture. 'Don’t bring that culture home that doesn’t respect my culture.'"
Wesley added, "There are people out there doing it. Those ties have to be seen, heard and felt supported. There has to be a huge amount of trust there, and conversations have to be had. That’s where I'd love to be a fly on the wall with a couple that is like that, and just listen to what they talk about when they come home, and how a black woman can be supported by her partner, whether he’s white, other or whatever he is, to feel like she’s seen.
"I don't think it’s always possible, but I know people who are doing it and people who are thriving in relationships like that. All you need is support, love, and to feel seen for you to fly, and I think that with Nova, not that Calvin wasn’t supporting her, I just don’t think he knew how. Maybe she also never asked for that support."
That and the fact that "he was married" added Siriboe, as the crowd cheered.
Dawn Lyen Gardner who grew up with a black father and a Chinese mother also shared her point of view. "My mom is down for the cause. She didn't have to proclaim it. She's down for the cause in the way that she loved my father and his family, the way she saw them and fought for them to be seen. That's as pro-black as it gets. It's hard to say something pro-black or anti-black when it comes to love and relationships, wholeness and partnership. That’s a hard thing to immediately decide."
She plays the character of Charlie Bordelon, who is a powerhouse businesswoman, a basketball player's wife, and manager.
