Halle Berry: “I’m Black, So I Consider Nahla To Be Black”

Halle Berry has said she considers her daughter Nahla, who is at the centre of a bitter custody battle, to be ‘black’. Her comment emerged a week after the fight between Berry and her ex boyfriend Gabriel Aubry over the two-year-old turned ugly. It was alleged by multiple sources that the French-Canadian model once used a racial slur against the actress, calling her a ‘n*****.’ And Aubry reportedly ‘went nuts’ whenever anyone would refer to their daughter as ‘black’. The Oscar-winning actress, 44, tells Ebony magazine ‘I feel like she’s black. I’m black and I’m her mother and I believe in the one-drop theory.’

Although it was only made law in the early 20th century for decades before that it was used in some states to determine who was black, regardless of how many white ancestors they had or even if they looked Caucasian.It varied from state to state but sometimes even if someone had one great-great grandparent that was black and the rest of their ancestors were white, they were still considered black. When asked to define her daughter’s race, Berry – who has both white and African-American heritage – tells Ebony: ‘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.’

This is at odds with a report on website TMZ which alleges the French-Canadian model did not like his mixed-race daughter being identified as black .
Sources connected with the former couple told TMZ: ‘Whenever Gabriel would read a story about Nahla that referred to her as “black,” he would go off, insisting his baby was white. ‘Gabriel would tell Halle and others they should demand a “retraction” when such references were made regarding his daughter.’
Aubry, 34, has not yet responded to the allegations.

Berry says that she struggled to determine her own racial identity. Her parents had a turbulent relationship and, while being raised by her white mother, the actress sees herself as being black. She says: ‘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?”‘
Ironically Berry – who is currently dating French actor Olivier Martinez – speaks about interracial relationships. She says: ‘Well, first thing I want to say is that I’m very connected to my community and 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 of my race who is Spanish and French.

‘I have never been more clear about who I am as a black woman. ‘The people I have dated sort of hold up a mirror to me and help me realise more of who I really am.’ Last week Berry pulled out of the movie New Year’s Eve to focus on her legal battle with Aubry. Tellingly she says in the article: ‘Being a mother is probably the most important thing in my life right now. Career is important, but nothing really supersedes my role as a mother. That’s the most important thing I’m going to do in this life at this point.’

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