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Gigi Hadid talks raising a mixed race child with Zayn Malik; Felt 'too white' to stand up for Arab heritage
Gigi Hadid thinks that her and Zayn Malik's daughter "Khai [Hadid Malik] will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities."
In an extremely candid interview with Vice's i-D, Gigi Hadid spoke passionately about how she and Zayn Malik are approaching parenthood when it comes to their darling daughter Khai Hadid Malik, who ZiGi welcomed in September 2020. Even though much of parenting is instinctive, there's the added factor of Khai being raised as a mixed-race child. Hence, lots of it is actively thinking about how to address that.
"We think about it and talk about it a lot as partners and it's something that's really important to us, but it's also something that we first experienced ourselves. Because both of our parents are their own heritage. We are that first generation of those mixed races," Gigi began before adding how that comes with "first generational experience" where one realises they're "the bridge!" Hadid noted that it's not something her parents experienced or can really help her through. It's also something that she's always thought about her whole life.
"In certain situations, I feel – or I'm made to feel – that I'm too white to stand up for part of my Arab heritage. You go through life trying to figure out where you fit in racially," the 26-year-old supermodel revealed before pondering, "Is what I am, or what I have, enough to do what I feel is right? But then, also, is that taking advantage of the privilege of having the whiteness within me, right? Am I allowed to speak for this side of me, or is that speaking on something that I don't experience enough to know? Do you know what I'm saying?"
As for Khai's upbringing, Gigi stated, "I think that Khai will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities." But, Hadid also thinks that it would "nice to be able to have those conversations" and see where Khai comes from with it, without her parents putting that onto her. The thing that Gigi is most excited about Khai is "what comes from her" "and being able to add to that or answer her questions, you know?"
Gigi and Zayn's evolved parenting style when it comes to baby Khai is surely inspiring!
