HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Denzel Washington has some advice for parents when it comes to educating their children on how to help make the world a better place.
"Don't be a hater. Don't let hatred destroy you. Overcome it, move on, educate them, if you will," said Washington on Monday's Early Show, as he remembered Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Hollywood star, who has four children with wife Pauletta, John David, 23, Katia, 20, and Olivia and Malcolm, both 16, says he tells his kids the world is not perfect, but they should not be bogged down by those imperfections.
"I try to teach my children there are going to be obstacles," he says. "Someone may not like you just because they don't like themselves. But, don't you get bogged down."
The 53-year-old star, who played civil-rights leader Malcolm X in a 1992 movie, says that his family talked about King, Jr. and the 1960s civil-rights movement often while growing up.
"My father was a minister in the Church of God and Christ," said Washington. "There was talk of this other guy, Malcolm X, that was not allowed to somehow be talked about. And of course, there was Martin Luther King."
Washington is currently starring in the film "The Great Debaters."
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