The ‘Jon & Kate Plus 8’ alum responded to a TikTok user who asked if racism was “ever an issue” in her family while being a mom to mixed-race children.
Kate Gosselin is reflecting on raising mixed-race children.
On Monday, the Jon & Kate Plus 8 alum opened up about her experience facing racism in her family, sharing how she navigated being a mom to eight children, whom she welcomed with her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, who has Korean heritage.
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Kate — who shares 24-year-old twins Cara and Mady, along with 21-year-old sextuplets Hannah, Leah, Alexis, Joel, Aaden, and Collin with Jon — posted a TikTok video to announce her plans to go live on TikTok on Friday, asking fans to send in their questions. In the comments section of the video, however, the TLC star already took the opportunity to answer a fan question about racism.
“was racism ever an issue for your family? i’m wasian too and a year younger – i suffered A LOT. how did you handle it? ♥️,” the user asked, to which Kate, 50, replied with a lengthy comment.
“Yes! However, when I was pregnant with Cara and Mady, I worried CONSTANTLY about it bc we were in a predominantly white community,” she began. “BUT I started noticing advertisements, billboards etc with one white parent and one Asian parent… it started happening a lot and I think this was a time when (sorry for lack of a better word) it was looked at as ‘cool’ to be mixed race! It was when tiger woods was becoming famous etc.. maybe that is why?”
“Idk but as young kids they didn’t go through too much. Until they were older and things changed a lot 🙁 and not for the better..,” she added.
The fan went on to reply to Kate’s response, writing, “it got worse as i got older too! i also live in a predominantly white area.”
“thank you for taking your time to answer ♥️,” they continued. “i always found comfort watching you guys when i was younger knowing there was other kids just like me 🥰 i’m very proud of the asian half of me – i hope they are too!! ⭐️”
The Gosselins’ family life in Pennsylvania was documented on TLC’s Jon & Kate Plus 8 from 2007 to 2009 — and then post-divorce as just Kate Plus 8 until 2017.
Kate’s latest TikTok video comes just a few days after she opened up about the lasting impact her split with Jon had on their children.
In a TikTok Live stream last Wednesday, the reality star got candid after a fan asked how to get through a divorce.
“I don’t know if you have kids or don’t have kids, but I just, I made decisions based on how I would want to be treated, honestly,” Kate shared. “And I didn’t buy into all the drama and the hate, and the ugly. And I had kids involved, so I wanted it to be as peaceful for them as I possibly could.”
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Kate, who filed for divorce from Jon in 2009 amid cheating allegations, explained that her goal at the time was to “not stir up trouble.”
“I did not hire an attorney that wanted to stir up trouble; I just wanted it to be peaceful, and I wanted the best for my kids,” she continued. “A lot of things happened that I could not control that did not turn out well for my kids, but I did my best. We just got through it to the best of our ability.”
Looking back, she admitted, “it could’ve been a lot calmer and a lot nicer if everybody was willing to play nice.”
