Gabrielle Union reveals why she has to tell step-sons 'chocolate girls' are attractive too

Gabrielle Union might be busy on #WadeWorldTour2018 with husband Dwyane Wade, but that does not stop her from teaching her stepchildren and nephew a thing or two about women.

After heading home for the Essence Fest in New Orleans, Gabrielle Union made sure to squeeze in some time to speak with her three boys this summer, specifically her stepsons Zaire and Zion, and her nephew Dahveon, who lives with them. Their conversations are on the topic of colorism, something that gets overlooked by many.

According to Refinery 29,Union asked the boys about the "hottest girls in their high school", requesting to see their Instagram pages. Much to her surprise, the same girls popped up for all three of them, and had similar features with one another.

"Literally, probably about 10 girls I looked at had the same light skin, curly hair, tiny waist, butt, boobs — it was the same girl over and over again."

When Gabrielle asked her sons and nephew to show her the most beautiful dark-skinned girl they've ever seen, they could not show her a photograph.

"So I asked them to show me the most beautiful chocolate sister they've seen. They say there are none. I was like, 'Why do they get exed out so fast? What is happening in your brain that is causing you to look at these women through a prism that is distorting their actual selves?'"

To prove her point that the beauty of a black woman is very much the same as those with fairer skin and that they are also worthy of recognition, the activist showed the teenagers Ryan Destiny's Instagram page. They proceeded to tell her "Oh, she bad!". However, Gabrielle made them realize that there are so many Ryan Destinies out there, and they don't always have to be actresses or supermodels to be recognized.

"I pull up every Black model, women from all over the world, and they're beautiful. But they don't see the beauty unless it comes from an actress or a supermodel or a video vixen. They have to have somebody else tell them that a chocolate woman is attractive for them to believe it."

Dwyane Wade's wife herself has been experiencing this for years in Hollywood, and also as a beauty entrepreneur outside of the entertainment industry too. Now, she sees it as an important task for her to raise her children knowing about inclusion, and about being open to diversity.