Korie and Willie Robertson are two of the main fixtures of A&E's Duck Dynasty. The pair are also mom and dad to five kids: daughters Sadie, Rebecca, and Bella and sons Willie and John Luke.
In 2021, the Robertsons launched their own talk show, At Home With the Robertsons, and the first episode tackles a huge topic: racism. In the episode, they reveal that the family had to deal with fans of the show who leveled multiple racist comments for years.
Korie told listeners, "People were like, 'Wait, who's the Black kid? Who does he belong to?' We're like, 'Our son?'"
Her husband, Willie, also joined in and pointed out that now their son can go back and see every comment people left. "When Duck Dynasty hit, when we were on television and you had all these racist people on there making all kind of ugly comments. For us, it was weird because then now he can see that."
For his part, their son was only 10 years old when the show debuted. He said when he was younger, he didn't think about being Black too much because he lived in such a white environment: "I was one of the only Black kids in my grade. My friends were white."
"I would look at myself in the mirror and be like, 'Oh, I'm just a little bit darker.'"
However, as time went by, he began to see differences between himself and the people he knew: "As I got older, I started realizing that, 'Oh gosh, I'm a lot different.'"
Korie also lamented the fact that plenty of racists still live among the rest of us today: "I hate it that there are still people that are racist in the world. I think it's a terrible thing and I just hope and pray that one day we will live in a world where racism just does not exist, where no one is judged for the color of their skin."
She also knows that, unfortunately, the world is still a messy place:
"But unfortunately, we do live in that world right now, that there are some people who still feel that way, and we've taught Will how to deal with that and we hope he's prepared."
The pair were joined by Yandy and Mendeecees Harris, the cohosts of VH1's Love & Hip Hop. Mendeecees pointed out that many white parents of Black children fail to properly prepare their kids for the realities of a racist world.
She implored the Robertsons to make sure their son was really ready for what he'll continue to experience, especially when he's around police and other authorities: "You haven't had to think about that, but these are conversations that [Yandy] has to have with his sons. We can cut off the beard. We can not get tattoos. We can prevent those things from happening, but you can't wash off your skin."
Yandy also spoke about what it was like for him to be a Black son of white parents: "I think love should be what connects a family. But I also think it's important for wherever you come from to know your history and also to know your roots."
