After Being Racially Profiled, Taraji P. Henson Sends Her Son to an HBCU


It seems as though Cookie’s no non-sense behavior may be somewhat of a reflection of Taraji P. Henson’s personal life, especially when it comes to her son.

The 44-year-old mom, who appears on the cover of Uptown’s February/March issue, opened up to the magazine about her son’s run-in with the police and how it’s impacting his college selection.

Back in 2012, Henson told Jimmy Fallon that instead of letting her son go straight to college after high school, she was letting him sit out for a short stint of time to look for a job so that he could understand the importance of hard work. Now, at 20-years-old, Henson’s son has faced another challenge while trying to be a normal college student that has caused the actress to make a mommy-in-chief decision for him.

[Related: Taraji P. Henson Confirmed as Celebrity Ambassador for 2015 American Black Film Festival]

“My child has been racially profiled. He was in Glendale, California and did exactly everything the cops told him to do, including letting them illegally search his car,” said Henson. “It was bogus because they didn’t give him the ticket for what he was pulled over for. Then he’s at the University of Southern California, the school that I was going to transfer him to, when police stopped him for having his hands in his pockets. So guess where he’s going? Howard University. I’m not paying $50K so I can’t sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus.”

With the recent accounts of college racism that have made headline news, do you agree with Henson’s decision to send her son to an HBCU? Sound-off in the comment section below.

Update: After the Glendale Police Department in California released a video showing an officer respectfully interacting with Taraji P. Henson’s son at a traffic stop, the actress has since issued an apology. She released the following statement on Instagram:

#TurningANegativeIntoAPositive #LoveTarajiPHenson 💋✌️

A photo posted by taraji p henson (@tarajiphenson) on

 


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