Tina Knowles has never shied away from keeping it all the way real and speaking her truth. But the latest revelation she’s sharing when it comes to her experience at the Kentucky Derby is as upsetting as it is unfortunate.
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Seeing as Knowles is the mother to Beyoncé and Solange Knowles and is an accomplished woman in her own right, her star power has brought her to many prestigious events and spaces. So it’s no wonder why she would make an appearance at the Kentucky Derby, especially given her Southern roots.
However, in Peacock’s newly released, three-part documentary “High Horse: The Black Cowboy”— which confronts and reclaims the Wild West while revealing the story of the Black cowboys— Knowles opened up about the bad experience she had when she attended in 2024.
Appearing in the third episode, the “Matriarch” author revealed that when she was waiting to walk the red carpet, an unidentified woman staffer went past her and let a white couple cut in front of her to walk instead.
“It was a very big wake-up call for me to attend the Kentucky Derby and to see this closed-off culture,” Knowles said in the documentary. “I mean, just blatant, on the red carpet, someone came up and said, ‘Oh, Tina Knowles is next.’ And the other young lady walked up and said, ‘Oh no, because we need a…’ And ran right into my face, and I said, ‘… a white person?’
Knowles continued: “[She] just went behind me, got the couple behind me and got them on. It’s racially charged there. There’s a lot of racially charged energy.”
The Kentucky Derby has yet to respond to her comments. But even if they do, are we really surprised at this encounter? Despite the fact that the first person to ever win the Derby was a Black jockey named Oliver Lewis, it doesn’t mean that we, as Black people, will be welcomed in this historically segregated space. Hopefully, now that Knowles has spoken up, we can start to see some changes—but we won’t hold our breath.
“High Horse: The Black Cowboy,” which also features Jordan Peele, Bun B, Pam Grier, Lori Harvey, Glynn Turman, The Compton Cowboys and former Root staffer Michael Harriot, is available to stream now on Peacock.
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