Comments (0)Boris Kodjoe
`Soul’ Man
July 24, 2009
Boris Kodjoe, star of Showtime’s “Soul Food,” felt strongly enough about Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s recent arrest that he spoke out publicly about what it’s like to be an outcast in your own country.
The Austrian-born Mr. Kodjoe, 36, is African-American who had a Jewish maternal grandmother. He and his Baltimore-born actress wife, Nicole Ari Parker, live in Atlanta.
Mr. Gates, one of the nation’s most prominent African-American scholars, was arrested recently in his own house in Cambridge, Mass., for disorderly conduct. A white neighbor had called the police about a potential break-in at his house.
“When I’m opening the door of my own house, someone will ask me where the man of the house is, implying that I’m staff,” Mr. Kodjoe told CNN.
Mr. Kodjoe said the election of President Obama “has affected a change in people’s consciousness regarding such issues as racism and prejudice. … I think we’re moving in the right direction. But no doubt, there still is a lot of work to be done. It’s not just a problem here. It’s a problem worldwide. Racism is universal.”