Julie Henderson is a model and new girlfriend to Russell Simmons. Julie, as a White woman, has apparently been getting flack for dating a Black man. Here's what she had to say at Global Grind.
Julie's own words:
"I have been spending "special time" with Russell for about 4 months and in that time I have learned some subtle things about some in the black community that have surprised me. I must say that while it has been a bit of a challenge for me, it has also been a wonderful learning experience. I realize that in this day of Obama and change that there is still a tremendous amount of poverty, suffering and pain in the black community, and for that I am deeply sorry. But, I have to say the angry responses to those realities are sometimes misdirected....Just for the record, I am nobody’s white b*tch, gold digger or fame chaser. Nor am I any of the other mean things I have been called lately. I don't need anything from anybody, I come from a good family and I'm a young independent "successful" model making my way in NYC. (If you don't believe me google me or go to juliehenderson.net).
Finally, I just wanna say that Russell has been a great "special" friend and I'm sure as sh*t not giving him up cause some in America object to our friendship. I wanna close by saying, what Russell always says, Namaste. (That means the goddess in me recognizes the goddess in you)....Or, b*tch get your own man.
Love,
Julie"
This posting by Julie, elicited a response by Necole Bitchie, who is a Blogger on mostly ethnic celebrities. Here's Necole's response to Julie.
Necole's own words:
" Dear Julie,
As a woman of color who has come from the “Black Community” one that you say is “plagued with pain, suffering and poverty”, we grew up hearing those very words from our own people “black b*tch, gold digger, fame chaser”. Oh, and must I not forget the most disrespectful of them all “b*tch s*ck my d*ck”!
I hate to tell you this, but you are not singled out because you just happened to be a “white woman” dating a “black man”. This is just our reality. I am glad that you are now more aware of what we as black women have been subjected to in our own community for the majority of our lives. And you wonder why we are so “Angry”…
Welcome to my world!
Love Necole"
My Thoughts:
It really boggles my mind how a person (Julie Henderson) so out-of-touch with the Black mind set and be dating a Black man. Even if she didn't understand anything about Black people prior to dating a Black man, it would seem that she would have tried to understand once she decided to date one. If I chose to date a woman from Spain, I'm going to try and understand something about Spanish culture. It should come as no surprise to her that women of a culture that are losing their men for many reasons, have an issue with a woman who is not one of them, laying claim to one of the most success Black men around. What really disturbed me was the fact that she lashed back. WTF! You have gotten the man so why fan the flames? Let these people vent and they'll get over it.
I am a subscriber to Necole's blog because there aren't a lot of celebrity bloggers who do a good job of keeping up with ethnic celebrities like she does but I think she went for the bait on this one. The fact is that if Julie were not White, no one would be saying negative things about her relationship with Russell. No one should be surprised by Russell dating a White woman as he has always demonstrated a deliberate interest in women of all colors. Kimora Lee, his former wife, is a mixed woman. One very telling thing about this whole incident is that people still have no interest in empathizing with the historic suffering of African Americans. The fact that anyone in 2009 can be so oblivious to the condition of such a large portion of this society, says to me that this society is still not making enough deliberate effort to educate non-Blacks about the history of these people.
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