Sterling K. Brown praises his son for keeping a cool head during a racist encounter

Sterling K. Brown shares the surprisingly “mature” way his 14-year-old son handled being called the n-word during a soccer game. 

Sterling K. Brown is praising his son for being more emotionally mature than he is, based on how he handled a recent incident. 

During a recent roundtable for season 2 of his hit show “Paradise” on Hulu, the 49-year-old actor shared the way his teenage son responded when he was called the n-word during a soccer game, People magazine reported.  

“My 14-year-old was in a soccer game where a young boy spat on him, and he saw the spit and he walks up to the ref and he goes, ‘Ref, this dude just spat on me.’ And the ref was like, ‘I didn’t see it, so I can’t do anything about it,’” the “Washington Black” star explained.

He continued, “Then, afterwards, the young man came up to him and called him the N-word and just kind of kept it going. And my son didn’t tell me until after the game, and I was like, ‘Yo, man, how come we didn’t beat his ass?’ And he was like, ‘Because that wouldn’t have solved anything. He already did what he was going to do. The ref didn’t respond to it or whatnot. So I didn’t want to make you any more upset, which is why I didn’t tell you until after the game.’”

“So he’s a more evolved person than me. I would’ve beat his ass,” Brown quipped. 

Brown, who shares two sons with his wife, actress Ryan Michelle Bathé—Andrew, 14, and Amaré, 9—reflected on his sons and their emerging emotional maturity throughout the discussion.

“I look at my children now — my children have never been in a fight. The 14-year-old or the 9-year-old,” said the “This Is Us” alum.

Many reacting online have echoed the Emmy-winner’s sentiments, expressing their admiration for Andrew’s composure during such an upsetting encounter. Several, in kind with Brown, have admitted they likely would’ve responded more viscerally and applauded the teen’s emotional intelligence under pressure. 

Others, upset on the teen’s behalf, question whether standing up more forcefully to the bully or involving the parents in the moment could have sent a stronger message about self-defense.

Either way, his measured response left his father both proud and awed.

“I do take great delight in seeing that, ‘Oh, he’s a more mature person than I was at age 14,’ and that’s all you can do is try to do a little bit better than what your parents did for you. And hopefully he’s able to do a little bit better as well,” he said.