Leah Messer is facing issues she’s never had to consider before as the Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star contemplates growing her family with husband-to-be Jaylan Mobley. Jaylan’s sister opens up to Leah about what she’ll need to take into consideration when it comes to raising a Black child in an emotional PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday’s all-new episode of the MTV show.
The topic arises before Jaylan’s sister arrives for a birthday boating celebration when Leah’s friend Nicole wonders about Jaylan and Leah’s potential plans to have a child together. “Have you thought about how it may be different raising a Black kid versus a white kid?” asks Nicole as a white woman raising a Black son.
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“Oh yeah, there’s a lot that’s different about that – a lot that I get to learn, me and Jay get to talk [about],” answers Leah, who shares 12-year-old twins Ali and Aleeah and 9-year-old Addie with exes Corey Simms and Jeremy Calvert. Leah asks Nicole about her experience as a mother, Jaylan’s sister Jess arrives and quickly joins in on the conversation.
“Honestly, I think the hardest part is just trying to figure out what to say and how to say it, you know, because they’re kids,” Jess explains of having “age appropriate” conversations about race with kids. “But it’s important when dealing with that, you just have to listen to them, just understand how they feel. Just get a feel of it, because it is different and it is hard.”
Jess shares that she recently had a conversation with her son about growing up as a Black man in the U.S., telling him that “some things are not gonna be easy” for him, “and you have to carry yourself a certain way because some people are just gonna naturally look at you different.” Leah’s other friends soon chime in with their own experiences as the mothers of Black children, telling her they’ve had to warn them not to take their Nerf guns outside because of concerns for their safety.
Nicole shares through tears that seeing her son react to these kinds of conversations is heartbreaking because she can tell how much it pains him. “It hurt me because I could see how it made him feel,” she explains. “And I don’t think people realize [that] how nasty their ways are really affects people.” It’s a conversation that hits Leah hard as she embarks on the next chapter of her life, with the MTV star announcing in August that she and Jaylan were engaged to be married.
“Hearing one of my friends talk about their struggles with their son dealing with racism, it’s completely heartbreaking,” Leah tells the camera. “I think we continue to do whatever we possibly can to not only educate ourselves but educate our children and continue to create change so our kids don’t have to live in an environment like this.” Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.
