Chip And Joanna Gaines Share 'Uncomfortable' Conversation On Race With Emmanuel Acho
In this video about racial injustice, Chip and Joanna Gaines sit down with their children and Emmanuel Acho to learn together and share an ‘uncomfortable’ conversation about race.
Emmanuel Acho is a FOX Sports analyst and former NFL player. And in the Summer of 2020, he began hosting a social media video series called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. The idea behind the series is to provide a safe place to have the tough, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about race relations. The types of conversations that are needed to foster compassion and healing. And with the goal of bringing all of God’s children together in mutual respect and harmony.
“I realized I could stand in the gap and bridge the gap and communicate the message that my black friends have to my white brothers and sisters who can help alleviate our problem in society,” Emmanuel shared. “I felt called, I felt commissioned to deliver the message.”
Chip and Joanna wanted to talk about the racial turmoil with their family, and they knew that it was an important conversation where they could all learn from Emmanuel.
“When I saw your video… I mean, bottom line, our family wants to hear what you have to say,” Chip explained.
Later, Chip went on to share an analogy about how cancer has not directly affected his family, but how they have become big advocates to help fight cancer. The same is now true for them and racial injustices.
“I don’t have a whole lot of personal experience with cancer and the challenges that people face in that way. But I’m telling you, once I learned about it and understood it and it affected my soul — I couldn’t unforget it,” Chip explained. “And when I saw your video, I couldn’t unforget it… It was like a light bulb went off in my head and I was like, ‘I think I’ve been blind to this reality for maybe my whole life.'”
Chip then asks Emmanuel, “How do we attack and solve a problem that I would say some people in our community don’t even understand that we’ve got?”
“I think that in America we have to remember history is meant to be remembered but history isn’t always meant to be celebrated,” Emmanuel shares. “I think that we have racism so engrained into our culture, we don’t even realize we are blind to it.”
Both the Gaines family and Emmanuel Acho have a desire for a better future for this country. And the conversation they had was truly powerful and inspiring.
“Do we still have a long way to go? No doubt about it. But I am hopeful to a degree because of this — because of interactions like this. And more importantly, because of you all,” Emmanuel said, gesturing toward Chip and Joanna Gaines’ kids. “If we truly want to bring forth change it not only starts with you and I, but it’s also about the next generation.”