Joanna Gaines is talking about the racist treatment her young woman witnessed being directed at her Korean mother in a touching Instagram post shared amid a wave of attacks against the Asian community, including the shooting last Tuesday in Atlanta.
THE Top fastener star, 42, shared his thoughts while celebrating his last book, The world needs who you were made to be, being translated into Korean, his mother Nan’s first language. Gaines’ father is of German and Lebanese descent.
“Seeing the words in my book translated into my mother’s first language is a great honor for me,” wrote the Texas home and lifestyle guru, sharing a photo of her translated book. Gaines also shared a photo of his childhood with Nan.
“I remember when I was a little girl hanging out with my mother and seeing how, in a moment, a person’s frown or a sneaky comment tried to belittle her rich history and beautiful culture,” she continued.
“We cannot lightly ignore the power that our words and actions carry. The world needs who we were all made to be and all the incredible and beautiful differences that each of us brings with us.
“Perhaps, if we say enough, it will ring true and become the message that soothes even the hardest of hearts.”
The raw message from the mother of five was met with praise and pleas for solidarity.
“These photos and this post took my breath away,” wrote country singer and activist Chely Wright.
“I hope that parents talk to their children about the importance of stopping racism and what everyone can do as spectators if they witness an act of racism,” said another comment. “We need to defend others and learn ways to prevent this from happening.”
“Thank you for using your platform to speak and draw attention and awareness to our people!” added another fan. “Enough! People take our passivity for weakness and they couldn’t be more wrong!”
“Yes and thank you for posting from your Korean-American sister,” said another comment.
Gaines had already opened up about her heritage and the conflicting feelings she felt as a child.
“My mom is totally Korean and my dad is Caucasian,” she writes in her book. “Kindergarten boys would make fun of me for being Asian, and when you’re that age, you don’t really know how to process it; the way you interpret it is, ‘Who I am is not good enough.’ Go ahead today and my Korean heritage is one of the things I’m most proud of. I’m trying to make up for lost time – the culture is so beautiful. I think finding out who you are and what you were made to do is a journey of a lifetime. “
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