With Christmas just around the corner, Gabrielle Union has opened up in the new issue of “O, The Oprah Magazine,” where she interviews Tamron Hall, Union, about why hubby Dwyane Wade isn’t down with their kids believing in Santa Claus.
“I’ll say to my husband, ‘Let’s tell the kids their Christmas gifts are from Santa.’ And my husband is like, ‘There’s no way in hell I’m letting these kids think that old white man is sneaking into our house and doing anything for them,’ ” says Union. “Because he didn’t grow up believing in Santa Claus.”
Union are Wade share 10-month-old daughter Kaavia James while the NBA star is also father to sons Xavier Zechariah, 5½, Zion Malachi Airamis, 12, and daughter Zaire Blessing Dwyane, 17, plus he’s guardian to nephew Dahveon, who turns 18 this month, per PEOPLE.
“We have these conversations when it comes to raising our children about where to draw the line between fantasy and ‘Hey, that’s not how life works,’ ” Union adds.
Hall noted that “Modern parenting is especially difficult for parents of color” because “we have to talk about not only ‘Are we gonna say Santa exists,’ but also ‘Is Santa Black?’”
The veteran journalist, whose syndicated talk show premieres Monday on ABC, added, “Again, this is exactly the conversation that we want to have on the show, because some families might not even realize this is a thing. So we want all perspectives.”
Hall welcomed son Moses four moths ago, and she hopes to continue conversations such as this on her talk show.
“Something as simple as Santa Claus could cause a big debate, so why not have a conversation with real parents of all backgrounds talking about how they approach Santa Claus, and what race he is?” she said. “It might sound small, but these are the everyday things we’re thinking about.”
