Zoe Kravitz: ‘Racism is very real, and white supremacy is going strong’

Variety's Power Of Women: New York - Arrivals

Zoe Kravitz covers the new issue of Allure to promote her role in the ensemble comedy Rough Night. That’s the movie about a bachelorette party gone awry, and Zoe got to work with Kate McKinnon and Scarlett Johansson and more. I like Zoe’s career path these days – she’s working consistently in a variety of projects in film, TV and fashion, and she’s refusing to be typecast or limited. I think she’s done a lot of growing up in the past few years too, since she became more famous. I remember covering one of her interviews several years back and she just seemed like she was uncomfortable in her own skin. Now she seems more centered. You can read the full Allure piece here. Some highlights:

She’s not a hippie like her Big Little Lies character: “I think people always assume for whatever reason that I’m much more hippie-dippy than I am. I’m certainly not as patient as Bonnie is, the way she takes the high road with Madeline [her husband’s ex, played powerfully by Reese Witherspoon]. I can be quite confrontational at times.”

How her mom reacted to the Bill Cosby case: “I think she didn’t like hearing that. It bummed her out. Though she didn’t seem incredibly surprised about it. I don’t think she wants to hear about anyone being abused, especially by someone she spent so much time with. It feels sh-tty. You want to shower.”

New York is her home now: “I feel most at home in New York. I’ve been here since I was 15. I think part of [my fondness for the city] is the spontaneity that’s possible here. You can go get a coffee and run into someone you know. There’s life and diversity and art everywhere. In a lot of cities, that’s not possible to experience. It’s kind of European. I like walking; I like the subway. Every time I have to go to 30 Rock [NBC’s New York address] to do a talk show, I tell them I’ll take the subway. It’s so much faster. It makes me happy. But like most New Yorkers, I like the city 50 percent more when it’s warm outside.”

Fashion tastes: “I’ve always liked contrasts, contradiction. I think too much of anything doesn’t work — like if everything you wear is expensive-looking, you look stale. And if everything you wear is ripped and falling apart, you look crazy. I like when you can find a balance. I live in New York City. I walk around. I have to be comfortable. You don’t look cool or sexy if you’re uncomfortable; it’s not attractive.”

Racism and her mixed-race identity: “Racism is very real, and white supremacy is going strong… I am definitely mixed. Both my parents are mixed. I have white family on both sides. The older I get, the more I experience life, I am identifying more and more with being black, and what that means — being more and more proud of that and feeling connected to my roots and my history. It’s been a really interesting journey because I was always one of the only black kids in any of my schools. I went to private schools full of white kids. I think a lot of that made me want to blend in or not be looked at as black. The white kids are always talking about your hair and making you feel weird. I had this struggle of accepting myself as black and loving that part of myself. And now I’m so in love with my culture and so proud to be black. It’s still ongoing, but a big shift has occurred. My dad especially has always been very connected to his history, and it’s important to him that I understand where I come from.”

[From Allure]

I’m mixed race too and like Zoe, I went to schools with mostly white students. It changes the way you grow up and it affects your connection to your own roots and your own family. And like Zoe embracing her blackness, I’ve embraced my Indian half more as I’ve gotten older. She’s right about this too: “Racism is very real, and white supremacy is going strong.” Yes. It is. While I knew that racism is real and white supremacy still exists before the past year, I was surprised by just how far white people will go to keep their grip on power. They elected Donald Trump, for the love of God. That’s white fragility in a f–king nutshell.

Variety's Power Of Women: New York - Arrivals

Photos courtesy of Patrick Demarchelier/Allure.

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27 Responses to “Zoe Kravitz: ‘Racism is very real, and white supremacy is going strong’”

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  1. astrid says:

    like the photo with the bird. Really brings out her beauty

  2. me says:

    I’m an Indian girl who went to a very racist almost all white school. Day to day was brutal. Those kids made my life hell. Constant racist remarks. Yet I never stood up for myself…I simply ignored them. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do or not but as a kid I did what my parents told me to do which was not to give bullies any of your time. But I do remember them making me hate being Indian.

    • Original T.C. says:

      Peer pressure is real. Kids are cruel and there is this crazy need to blend in although everyone is insecure about something. I knew Asian students who would throw away home-made food from their culture to eat crappy school lunches because they would be made fun of or bullied. Some will make sure to have ONLY White friends so they don’t look too “Asian or foreign”.

      I had no self hate for my Black identity but hated the burden of always having to be perfect to represent my race in mostly White advanced classes. And then get picked on by my fellow Black peers for speaking like “a White girl” and taking “geeky” classes. I just wanted to be left alone to be me. But conformity is the rule in Elementary and High school. I was so happy to get to college and do my own thing!

      • me says:

        Yes, to this day I still always fee that pressure to be “perfect” because I’m representing an entire race ! Not to mention being female ! It is tough but yes, college was sooooo much better !

    • teacakes says:

      I can feel what Zoe is talking about – as a child/teen, it’s rough to be in an environment where you stick out just for your very existence -and it didn’t help that I got the short end of the stick from my fellow Indian kids too, for having a “funny” name because I was South Indian.

      It took a decade, and time spent actually living in the southern parts of India, for me to really connect with my heritage – even if it was through something as simple as the fact that no one f-cked up pronouncing my name.

      • me says:

        So glad you connected with your heritage…I did as well during many trips to India !

  3. Rosie says:

    She is absolutely stunning isn’t she?

    • CeeCee says:

      Totally gorgeous. Her parents are too. That whole family is just beautiful *fans face and sighs*

    • Kitten says:

      How could she not be with those parents? Bone structure to die for. Also, love that haircolor.

      And of course she’s right about racism. It’s still here, still going strong.

    • NtSoSclBtrfly says:

      Yes, she is.

    • Originaltessa says:

      Gorgeous. Her mother was/is also just so gorgeous. She was one of my idols growing up.

    • ichsi says:

      She is. And she seems to have her head screwed on right too.

  4. Lucy says:

    I love Zoe. Great interview and editorial!

  5. teacakes says:

    I remember Zoe being very cagey about her mother’s experience around Cosby in an interview around the time the Cosby survivors started coming forward, and going off what she says here I feel awful that Lisa had to at least guess at that side of him, enough to not seem surprised.

    Also obligatory swoon over how gorgeous Zoe is. But with parents like hers, it’s not surprising – or maybe it is, since beautiful pairs of people routinely produce offspring who inherit none of the je ne sais quois.

  6. Joannie says:

    She’s beautiful! Everyone should be proud of their heritage no matter the color of your skin. I was teased mercilessly too being the only redhead in my school. Kids can be cruel to anyone who is different. It isnt just about the color of your skin.

    • Tanya says:

      Thanks for stating the obvious Joannie. But, comparing your torment to the torment people face by the color of our skin isn’t the same and never ends. Thanks for playing!

      • Psu Doh Nihm says:

        Hey, that’s not nice. You don’t get to invalidate her pain. She is entitled to it if she lived it, no matter what the reason. Perhaps she was mercilessly tortured as a child. YOU DONT KNOW, but that not the point, it’s not for you to decide if you have it worse than her or not. Her pain is real to her and it’s very insensitive for you to try to discredit her.

        Would you try to invalidate a handicapped persons pain because they arent black? Or someone who has been abused?

      • Ksenia says:

        Agree w Psu Doh Nihm—Tanya, why are you discrediting someone else’s pain and torment? I’m white but from another country and when I came to the U.S.–I was adopted–I was miserable at school, constantly teased, mocked, bullied for my English and general “weirdness.” It didn’t help that my adoptive parents were bullying and abusive, as well–so I belonged nowhere, not at school and not at home. I dreaded both places for years. Anyway, it really angers me to think of your self righteousness, like my pain and that of many others who are not POC is somehow “lesser” than or not as important or real as your own. We are all human; we all suffer, some of us a lot more than others, and not ONLY for the color of our skin.

    • BKittyB says:

      Yes kids can be cruel, but to me, something that can be changed or hidden like hair color, isn’t the same as being actively discriminated against and mistreated because of skin color, race or origin. I don’t think this is a fair comparison, although i am sorry for anyone who is teased for any reason.

    • Shelley says:

      There was really no need to centre yourself in a conversation about racism in this way. Bullying is terrible but there is no way, none at all, that being bullied for being a ginger equates to being bullied by racist kids. Racist bullying goes deeper than being bullied because of your looks. It is your entire existence that is being invalidated, and that of your parents.
      Playing this game of my struggle is equal to yours is called derailing and serves to distract people from addressing serious issues.

  7. HoustonGrl says:

    I know what she went through, in some ways. I came to the US in middle school (the worst age perhaps). People were always pointing out how I dressed, what I sounded like, my accent. Teachers actually made fun of me too. Even if it was meant to be light hearted in some instances, it’s really hard to grow up with everyone pointing out how different you are. It’s only as I got older that I began to appreciate being a weirdo.

  8. lyla says:

    Like Zoe, my parents are also mixed – but with white and asian. And on top of that they were immigrants. I grew up in multicultural LA and didn’t feel different from other people. It didn’t feel weird to speak a different language or look different. Then when I was in 5th grade, we moved out of state and ended up in a predominately white area. Seriously, I was the only “exotic” one in my grade. The only one who was able to speak more than one language. It was then that I was aware of my background. I started only speaking English with my parents. I wasn’t ashamed of my roots, but I did want to blend in more. I think I was also at that age where I didn’t want to bring any attention to myself for being different. I still spent summers abroad, so I was in this kind of limbo, where I felt like I was the odd one out on three different continents.

    I think it’s pretty common for mixed, immigrant, or children of immigrant kids who go to a predominately white school to just want to blend in. You don’t really embrace the non-white side until you’re older.

    On a different note, I agree with her wholeheartedly about New York and fashion. I love walking around and taking the subway in NYC. And I love contradiction in fashion. It’s all about balance. And yes, you definitely don’t look cool, sexy, or attractive if you’re uncomfortable.

  9. Isa says:

    i also love the bird. they are both beautiful.

  10. SM says:

    How come patience and taking high road is synonymous with hippie?

    • BJ says:

      Maybe the hippies she knows and grew up with ,like her mom Lisa Bonet, are like that.I went to school with a girl who I would describe as “hippie like” and she was definitely mellow,laid back,non confrontational.
      Of course all hippies are not like that.