Halle Berry is in the midst of a bitter custody battle with Gabriel Aubry, who apparently does not like it when people refer to his daughter as African-American, so he'll probably be less-than-thrilled to hear his ex telling the world that Nahla is "Black!"
Halle, who looks hot on the cover of the March issue of
Ebony magazine, says about her mixed-race daughter:
"What I think is that that’s something she’s going to have to decide. I’m not going to put a label on it. I had to decide for myself and that’s what she’s going to have to decide-how she identifies herself in the world. And I think, largely, that will be based on how the world identifies her. That’s how I identified myself. But I feel like she’s Black. I’m Black and I’m her mother, and I believe in the one-drop theory."
(The "one-drop" theory refers to an ancient state law that required a person to be classified as Black no matter how many Caucasian ancestors they had, if there was even just "one drop" of African-American blood in their lineage.)
Berry, who is bi-racial herself and struggled with her own racial identity goes on to say, "I identify as a black woman, but I’ve always had to embrace my mother and the white side of who I am, too. By choosing, I’ve often [wondered], 'Well, would that make her feel like I’m invalidating her by choosing to identify more with the Black side of myself?'"
Even though Halle has recently dated non-African-Americans (Aubry and Olivier Martinez), she says she still feels "very connected" to her community.
"I want Black people to know that I haven’t abandoned them because I’ve had a child with a man outside of my race and I’m dating someone now outside my race who is Spanish and French," Berry said in the candid interview. "I have never been more clear about who I am as a Black woman[...] And who I really am is a Black woman who is struggling to make my race proud of me, who is struggling to move Black women forward in the profession I’ve chosen." Berry was the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award, which she did in 2001 for her role in
Monster's Ball, where she plays a woman who gets involved with a white racist (played by Billy Bob Thornton's character.)
Halle goes on to say, "The truth that it’s taken me a long time to learn how to love myself, and color isn’t really a part of what I look at when I’m deciding who I want to spend time with. I look for the soul, the person, the evolution, what he believes in, who [he is as a person] and how does it affect me in a positive way."
Although Halle has been reticent to talk about her personal life in the past, this bitter custody battle with Gabriel Aubry has prompted a
public statement from the actress' rep, saying, "Halle has serious concerns for her daughter's well-being while in the care of her father for any extended period of time and is prepared to take all necessary steps to protect her. She has attempted to resolve these custody issues amicably with her daughter's father, Gabriel Aubry, directly, but given his lack of cooperation, Halle has no choice but to seek swift judicial intervention."
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