Niecy Nash may be an actress and comedian—but she’s a Black mother just like the rest of us. Even more, she’s a Black mother with a Black son.
And in the wake of George Floyd’s death, she’s speaking out about her concerns as a Black mother, because even being the son of a celebrity mom doesn’t make you exempt from “living while Black” in America.
The 50-year-old Claws star revealed that just days ago, her own 28-year-old son Dominic had a taser pulled on him by police officers after he was pulled over for a small traffic infraction.
“My son got stopped leaving my house last Sunday,” she shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “And they pulled a taser on him for a rolling stop. And then proceeded to question him and ask him, ‘You have on a T-Mobile shirt. Do you work there? Because if you do, how did you afford this car? Because this is a 2020.'”
Nash continued, “They don’t know if he was a manager. They don’t know if he was an owner. They don’t know if he had a rich mama. But what they probably felt like was, ‘How did this young Black boy get a car that I don’t even have?’ And we fitting to make you suffer for it.”
The actress said she’s received many questions, asking what to do to support the Black community, but Nash said she’s still “trying to figure out what to tell my own son” to ensure he’s get home safely.
Nash is also a mother to two daughters, Dia and Donielle, with her ex-husband Don Nash.
“While I receive phone calls where people are saying, ‘What can White people do? What can non-Black people do?’ I’m trying to figure out what to tell my own son,” she said. “I used to say, if you just comply, get home, and if there was a wrong that happened, we’ll right it later.”
But Nash said after Floyd’s murder at the hands of White former police officer Derek Chauvin, she’s not even sure that’s the right advice “because he complied. He was in handcuffs. He was on the ground with his hands behind his back. So I don’t even know.”
Still, the actress and her Reno 911 castmates are doing their part as they collectively donated $10,000 toward Floyd’s funeral, being held Tuesday in Houston.