white supremacy trumps blood: white mother disowns biracial daughter for kaepernick support

College student Kiara Lawhon, born to a white mother and a Puerto Rican/Black father, wasn’t into politics until, like many of us, her consciousness was raised with the prevalence of Black Lives Matter and the recent activism of Colin Kaepernick.

And like many young people, Lawhorn took to her social media to post her support for the #TakeAKnee athletes and start a dialogue. While she found support from friends, and unlikely —her mother.

I put #TakeTheKnee on my facebook & my mom is pissed. she’s white. pic.twitter.com/w5sbcP2Swj

— kilo 🌹 (@kiaralawhon) September 24, 2017

But the familial disagreement hasn’t ended there. And despite Kiara’s attempts to share her perspectives as a biracial black woman with her mother, her mother has chosen to cut off financial support for the thriving college student, including tuition.

Since the events with her family unfolded publicly, Kiara spoke with VIBE about the incident, growing up in a multi-ethnic household, and growing into her own political resistance.

“Growing up in a white family, they disagree with how I feel and refuse to understand my side of things,” Lawhorn told VIBE. ”This has led to a lot of tension between my family and I, but I’m going to continue supporting the ‘Take The Knee” movement and any other peaceful protests that fight against racism, inequality, social injustice, and police brutality.“

When asked what message she has for non-black parents of black children, Kiara offered this message for those families:

“I would tell these parents to allow their children to express their feelings, support their people, and participate in any peaceful protests they deem necessary. They may not always agree, but they need to try and understand. With all due respect, a white individual cannot speak on, or for, the people of color that go through traumatizing experiences every single day. Even if nothing has directly happened to their child, it is happening to plenty of people that look just like their child. If you cannot understand or empathize with the problems black people, as well as many other people of color, face every single day, do not have biracial children.”