Gabrielle Union on why husband Dwyane Wade doesn't want their kids believing in Santa Claus
Gabrielle Union recently conducted an honest interview with Tamron Hall for OprahMag.com about everything from embracing motherhood and raising children to finding balance in life.
During the conversation, the actress asked Hall, who welcomed her son, Moses, in April, if she felt that the way in which she was brought up and her background would impact her parenting style.
Union shared that that has been the case in her family. She and husband Dwyane Wade share four children: 10-month-old Kaavia James Union Wade, and three sons from Wade's previous relationships, Xavier Zechariah, 5, Zion Malachi Airamis, 12, and Zaire Blessing Dwyane, 17.
"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,'" she explained. "Because he didn't grow up believing in Santa Claus."
"And 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,'" she continued.
Hall seemed to understand the sentiment and shared in response, "Modern parenting is especially difficult for parents of color — we have to talk about not only 'Are we gonna say Santa exists,' but also 'Is Santa Black?'"
She explained that important discussions like that are what she hopes to highlight on her new daytime talk show, "Tamron Hall Show."
"Some families might not even realize this is a thing. So we want all perspectives," she shared. "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?"
"It might sound small, but these are the everyday things we're thinking about," she added.
"Tamron Hall" debuted on Sept. 9 and is distributed in national syndication by Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International.
Walt Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
