ROYAL NEWS
Meghan Markle says she and Prince Harry are ‘doing everything’ they can to fight racial injustice
The Duchess of Sussex discussed racism in a new video saying, ‘In people’s complacency, they’re complicit’
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have both spoken out against racism in recent weeks, and now have teamed up with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to discuss racial injustice in a new video. Speaking from their home in Los Angeles, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are president and vice president of QCT, participated in the weekly session on fairness, justice and equal rights last Wednesday— on what would have been Princess Diana’s 59th birthday. During the conversation, Harry said, “When it comes to institutional and systemic racism, it‘s there and it stays there because someone somewhere is benefitting from it. We can’t deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been brought up and educated to see the world differently. However, once you start to realize that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to acknowledge but then you need to do the work to be able to become more aware.”
Meghan pointed out that it’s not “even in the big moments” where racism and unconscious bias hides and thrives, but in the “quiet moments.” She said, “It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, either passively or actively.” The Duchess, who has had “personal experience with it,” added, “In people’s complacency, they’re complicit.”
Harry acknowledged the history of the Commonwealth, which his grandmother Queen Elizabeth is head of. He said, “Certainly when you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past. And I think so many people have done such an amazing, incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge that there is so much more still to do.” “It’s not going to be easy and in some cases it’s not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits,” the Duke continued. “I think there’s a hell of a lot that we together need to acknowledge, but I only see hope and optimism in the fact that we can only do this together.”
Like her husband, the Duchess noted “we’re going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now” in order to move forward. She explained, “Because it’s only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place as you’re pointing out where a high tide raises all ships. Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing, which is a fundamental human right.”
Meghan expressed her and Harry’s solidarity saying, “Know that we are here, right there with you, standing in solidarity and certainly doing everything that we can from our end. We’re going to get there and we have a lot of renewed faith and energy in that having had this conversation.”
The QCT kicked off its series of open discussions last month in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. Meghan and Harry, who stepped away from royal duties in March, have both been vocal speaking out against racism following the death of George Floyd, which has sparked protests around the world. “Institutional racism has no place in our societies, yet it is still endemic,” Harry recently said in a congratulatory video message for the 2020 Diana Awards. “Unconscious bias must be acknowledged without blame to create a better world for all of you.”
