Sometimes conversations about race can be, well, uncomfortable. But in order to bring light to this important topic, sometimes those conversations have to happen. That’s why former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho began his YouTube channel “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man.”

“I want to remove the barriers for why we’ve never had these conversations,” he notes in his channel description. “I want to provide a free space for curious white people to answer the questions they’ve always had but have been too nervous to ask.”

The channel has gained much popularity since he began just in June. It got so popular, in fact, that Chip and Joanna Gaines, along with their five children, joined Acho in one of his episodes to discuss racism and to ask questions. 

In his most recent episode, Acho sits down with parents Aaron and Jamie Ivey and their four kids—their black, white and mixed kids, that is. In the episode, Acho asks those questions that likely a lot of people probably have wanting to ask the family, but never have.

One of the first questions asked to the family is why they—two white people—chose to adopt black children when perhaps they could’ve adopted European, Asian, or, of course, white children.

That’s probably one of the most commonly thought questions when people see the Ivey family, but the answer may surprise you. The family didn’t in fact go into their adoption process saying they must adopt black children. “We were just open,” Aaron explains. “We were open handed.”

Jamie then goes on to explain that when they walked into the adoption agency, they were told that one of the greatest needs was for someone to adopt black and biracial boys. So instead of looking into the less needed, they just thought it made sense to go for that.

“We did not have any idea what it meant to be a black person, because neither of us is black,” Jamie explains, adding that they were “colorblind” and would, of course, love any child they adopted.

Acho also asks the children some pretty “uncomfortable” questions—anything from whether it’s awkward for them to introduce their white parents to their friends (apparently it’s hilarious!), or more deep questions like what it feels like to see black men in the news have their lives taken by white people.

That brings him to asking Aaron and Jamie if they fear for their black children’s lives and if the kids would rather have black parents raising them.

The answers may surprise you—or perhaps they won’t! Either way, these are important questions and an enlightening conversation that you can view at your leisure. Check it out below.

What do you think of this intriguing episode of “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man”? Will you be viewing his other episodes as well?