Superstar actress Gwyneth Paltrow has very strong opinions on some of the differences she’s noticed between her Black women friends and her White women friends.
While appearing at The MAKERS Conference in Beverly Hills this week, the Emma actress spoke with Dr. Ella Bell and said that Black women have a certain sense of community and knack for helping each other that White women don’t seem to have.
“My Black women friends know themselves, love themselves, in a way that I think White women are not taught to,” Paltrow said. “I think White women are taught to be competitive with one another — which is something I’ve tried to work so hard to dispel, because I don’t believe in competition between women — but we’re raised to be competitive, to be jealous, to look over each other’s shoulders.”
“And, at least in my circle of Black women, they do not do that,” she continued. “There’s an immediate acceptance and safety and appreciation.”
The Oscar-winning actress went on to note the lessons she’s learned from her Black friends and says she believes “White women have a lot to learn from Black women.”
“I’ve learned so much from my Black friends about ruthless self-acceptance and full love of self,” Paltrow told the audience. “And I think we as White women in this culture have a lot to learn from our Black sisters and the way in which they respect themselves. And I’m not sure exactly where that comes from.”
“I can ask you that question. I would actually love to know why you think that African American women have that, and it’s like in a collective — it’s like an interwoven beautiful connection — and how you think, as White women, we can start to cultivate that within ourselves and in our own friendships,” Paltrow said to Dr. Bell.
In the past, Paltrow has a been an outspoken advocate when it comes to race and social issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. The 51-year old actress is close friends with Beyoncé’ and has also hosted numerous political fundraisers at her home for a number of political hopefuls including former President Barack Obama.
