Tina Knowles-Lawson opens up about a weird encounter with a white woman regarding her daughter Beyoncé and son-in-law Jay Z.
During an interview with Gayle King on Thursday’s CBS Mornings, Tina shared this experience as part of promoting the new show she is executive producing on the OWN Network called Profiled: The Black Man. She recalled an incident where her son-in-law Jay Z was unfairly profiled by a random old white lady on a plane.
Tina Knowles-Lawson, executive producer of the new docuseries, “Profiled: The Black Man,” talks about the damaging stereotype that Black men are “dangerous” — and her hope to reshape society’s views. pic.twitter.com/s0c6P7VhzA
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 10, 2022
The woman asked Tina why she would allow her daughter, Beyoncé, to marry a “gangster” rapper. Ms. Tina’s response was the perfect clap back.
“I can remember getting on a plane, and an older white woman saying, ‘Oh, your son is a gangster rapper, right? How did you let him marry your daughter?’ It was just shocking to me, and I said, ‘No, actually, my son is a CEO,'” Tina recalled. “She didn’t think of him as a CEO or even a talented celebrity that was a great businessman. At that time, I remember thinking, ‘I can’t be mad at her because that is what the media portrays.'”
Related Story: Tina Knowles-Lawson Shares a Heartfelt Tribute to Son-N-Law, Jay-Z in Writing
Ms. Tina continued to say she was not mad at the woman because the media portrays black men negatively no matter what they’re able to accomplish.
“How many times has a Black man walked into an elevator, and someone clutches their purse? Or they walk by a car, and the doors get locked?” she questioned. “They could be a judge, they have no idea, but because it’s a Black man, especially if they’re of some stature, [they think] that they’re dangerous.”
This interaction prompted Tina’s decision to produce Profiled: The Black Man.
With the series, the matriarch is trying to “debunk those stereotypes that our men are dangerous.”
The series will tackle the various stereotypes that Black men have had to face hurdles to recognizing their full humanity.
