Angelina Jolie Says US 'System That Might Not Protect' Daughter Zahara Is 'Intolerable'

Angelina Jolie recently shared her thoughts on racism, discrimination and the current system in the country that won't protect her daughter, Zahara, and other people of color.

The “Maleficent” star is spending the coronavirus lockdown with her six children -- Maddox, 18, Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 14, and 11-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. But the pandemic isn't her only concern when it comes to her children. In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the celebrity mom spoke about the discrimination still running rampant in America in the wake of the protests fighting for racial equality and justice following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police.

Jolie, as a humanitarian and a UN special envoy, usually focuses on the plight of uprooted people in other countries. But the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing protests have shifted her attention to the problems currently embedded in the U.S. system.

During her interview with the magazine, she talked about how America, as it is now, is not as safe and welcoming for her eldest adopted daughter, Zahara, as it is for white people like herself, condemning it as "intolerable."

“Having six children, I am reminded daily of what is most important. But after almost two decades of international work, this pandemic and this moment in America has made me rethink the needs and suffering within my own country,” Jolie said.

"There are more than 70 million people who have had to flee their homes worldwide because of war and persecution – and there is racism and discrimination in America," she continued. "A system that protects me but might not protect my daughter – or any other man, woman or child in our country based on skin colour – is intolerable. We need to progress beyond sympathy and good intentions to laws and policies that actually address structural racism and impunity."

Jolie adopted Zahara in 2005 from Ethiopia. She was only 6 months old and was suffering from malnutrition at the time. Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Africa.

Jolie went on to emphasize that ending abuses is only the start and that fighting racism goes beyond all aspects of society, from the education system to politics.

When asked for advice regarding how to properly teach children about topics about race and racism, Jolie encouraged them to listen without assumptions. “Listen to those who are being oppressed and never assume to know,” Jolie said.

In related news, Jolie recently remembered her late mom, Marcheline Bertrand, on Mother’s Day. Bertrand passed away in 2007 due to cancer.

“When I look back to that time, I can see how much her death changed me. It was not sudden, but so much shifted inside. Losing a mother’s love and warm, soft embrace is like having someone rip away a protective blanket,” Jolie wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times.