Amid the worldwide protests centering on black people and police brutality, Robert De Niro shared his thoughts about being the father of biracial children.
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During a Thursday appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the Academy Award-winning film icon was asked, “Have you had the conversation about race with your kids?”
“My children are all half black and I don’t have … even me, I take certain things for granted,” De Niro confessed.
He added that the topic of race is not one discussed much within his family and how he now relates to the grim realities other parents face with their kids interacting with police.
“When people say that they tell their kids, ‘Keep your hands when you’re stopped by anybody or cops, keep your hands on the steering wheel, don’t make a sudden move, don’t put your hands below, don’t do this,’ you understand that. That’s scary and it has to change,” the 76-year-old actor, who has six biracial children, said.
“A lot of people have been saying the cops have to help in the community and have a sensitivity, and there are good cops of course who have that already,” he continued. “But there are some who don’t, and they shouldn’t be there.”
“Anybody who hurts another person for no reason other than self defense or the defense of the people around shouldn’t be doing that job,” he furthered, adding, “I’m not a cop so I don’t know the day to day stuff that they go through but still, there has to be a change and people have to be trained and be more sensitive to certain things… that’s got to change.”
De Niro has 48-year-old daughter Drena and 43-year-old son Raphael with ex-wife, actress Diahnne Abbott, who appeared in the films “Taxi Driver,” “New York, New York” and “The King of Comedy.”
With his ex-partner, model, actress and former restaurateur Toukie Smith, he has two sons — 24-year-olds Aaron and Julian.
His 22-year-old son Elliot and 8-year-old daughter Helen are with his ex-wife, former TWA flight attendant turned socialite and singer and Grace Hightower.