As many parents, both famous and not, increasingly move to keep their children off social media and out of the public eye, Sterling K. Brown is taking a different approach.
On Monday (Feb. 23), the 49-year-old actor shared his philosophy on parenting and social media during an appearance on Dax Shepherd’s “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd.”
After Shepherd, who shares two children with Kristen Bell, explained that he and his wife famously keep their kids out of the limelight, Brown offered a nuanced perspective.
“Your children are obviously White. My children are Black. I feel like the more I put them on social, the safer they are,” the father explained. “Any proximity that Black boys can have to some sort of celebrity or access or … status [or] leverage. I’m trying to make sure that they make it home.”
Brown, who shares two sons, Amaré, 10, and Andrew, 14, with his wife, Ryan Michelle Bathe, said the family of four also has clear boundaries when they’re out together in public.
“If I am out with Ryan and the boys, we have a policy of no pictures. And the policy is because they deserve to have a regular night out. It’s their time,” he shared. “Because Ry and I have a certain amount of spotlight or whatnot, doesn’t mean that they should receive less of us.”
Brown has been candid in the past about raising boys, including last year when he praised his oldest son, Andrew, for how he handled a racist incident during a soccer game. At the time, Brown said his son was spat on and called a slur by a rival player, and the referee waved it off. Ultimately, Andrew handled the situation with decorum and dignity.
“He’s a more evolved person than me. I would’ve beat his ass,” Brown quipped. “I do take great delight in seeing that, ‘Oh, he’s a more mature person than I was at age 14,’ and that’s all you can do is try to do a little bit better than what your parents did for you. And hopefully he’s able to do a little bit better as well.”
