Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Taraji P. Henson Says Her Son Was Racially Profiled While Visiting USC

The “Empire” actor told Uptown magazine she chose not to send her son to the University of Southern California after he was stopped by an officer on campus.



Actress Taraji P. Henson and son Marcel Henson attend the screening of "From The Rough" at ArcLight Cinemas on April 23, 2014 in Hollywood, California.


Jason Kempin / Getty Images


The "Empire" actress described her son's experience with officers, telling Uptown magazine in an interview she wouldn't have felt comfortable with him attending the school.


Henson said 20-year-old Marcel was stopped by police on the USC campus for "having his hands in his pockets." The encounter made up her mind that he wouldn't transfer to the California school; instead she sent him to the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C.


"I'm not paying $50K so I can't sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus," she told Uptown .


Marcel was also stopped by police in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale without cause, she said. He was let go without a ticket, she said, but not before officers searched his car.


In the interview, Henson also talked about how proud she was to work on a show that has addressed a number of stereotypes.


"That's what art is supposed to do: expose this shit. You know, we're dealing with subject matter that's not really dealt with," she said.




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