Former Duck Dynasty star Rebecca Robertson Loflin recalled her own experience with racism in the latest episode of At Home with the Robertsons, a new Facebook Watch series hosted by Willie Robertson and Korie Robertson. Loflin said she and her family have heard anti-Asian racism during the coronavirus pandemic. Loflin came to the U.S. at 16 as an exchange student from Taiwan and became Willie and Korie’s foster daughter.
During Loflin’s appearance on Thursday’s episode of At Home with the Robertsons, Kori said they “fell in love with her from day one.” Loflin is still close to her mother, who lives in Taiwan. She and her husband, John Reed Loflin, are parents to 2-year-old son Zane Israel. When they were at a restaurant recently, she experienced racism firsthand.
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“Someone that we know came over, an acquaintance of John Reed’s, and he just came over and was like, ‘John Reed, you’re so lucky because your wife and kid are Chinese you can just send them to the grocery store to get toilet paper because everyone would just run away from them,’” Loflin recalled, notes Entertainment Tonight. “That was the beginning of quarantine when we were all out of toilet paper or whatever.”
The person thought it was a joke, but Loflin said it was not funny at all. “First of all, we’re not Chinese,” Loflin explained. “Again, you know, I think it’s just people kind of being ignorant and they don’t think that’s racist.” John Reed chimed in that the person was “not my friend.”
This moment inspired Korie and Willie to talk more in-depth on the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes since the pandemic started last year. Korie said it was “really sad” that while there is a pandemic going on, more suffering has come to Asian people who are blamed for it. However, within the Robertson family, Loflin said she has felt the support of her siblings, specifically Sadie Robertson and Will Robertson.
“It’s just crazy ’cause I only know y’all as my brother and sister and know nothing different,” Loflin said. “But it’s cool to get to know about things y’all have to go through and experience, so, always want y’all to know I’m here for y’all and your friends, and anybody that’s going through something like what y’all have had to face.”
During the first episode of At Home with the Robertsons, Korie and Willie spoke about race with Love and Hip Hop stars Yandy and Mendeecees Harris, revealing that they saw racist comments when their son Will Robertson Jr. appeared on Duck Dynasty. Will, 19, is half-Black and was adopted by the Robertsons as a newborn. During Duck Dynasty‘s original run on A&E, they saw “all these racist people” making “all kinds of ugly comments,” Willie told the Harrises.
