Updates

Harry and Meghan call for end of ‘structural racism’ in the UK

Via

News Desk

Updated on July 16, 2021

1 Comment

See more articles on:

get top stories via email

The Duchess of Sussex has claimed she was inspired by nonviolent anti-racism demonstrations throughout the United States in recent months, and she is looking forward to speaking out “in a way that I haven’t been able to of late” now that she has come home to California.

Meghan, who is biracial, described returning to the United States amid a national crisis on race sparked by the police death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May as “devastating.” She did, however, find a “silver lining” in the protest movement, which she believes gives her hope that the “tide is turning.”

“From my standpoint, it’s not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias, but I think to see the changes that are being made right now is really – it’s something I look forward to being a part of,” she said In an interview with the 19th, a new non-profit newsroom focusing on women, politics, and policy reporting.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stated in July 2020 that the Commonwealth, which sprang from the British empire and is led by Prince Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, must recognize its colonial history, even if it is “uncomfortable.”

Harry and Meghan call for end of ‘structural racism’ in the UK

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have urged Britain to seize a chance for reform, warning that “as long as structural racism exists,” young people of color would be kept back.

The news came as the duke and duchess launched a campaign with the Evening Standard to honor Black British “trailblazers,” recognizing “a group of notable leaders whose influence is making a positive and lasting impact on British culture.” Danielle Oreoluwa Jinadu, a disability activist, Henry Stone, a poet, and Liv Little, the founder of gal-dem magazine, are among others on the list.

The pair recently encouraged US voters to “reject hate” in the election.

They shared their list of BHM NextGen Trailblazers with the Evening Standard, who were recognized for fighting prejudice and making a constructive contribution to British society. High-profile members of the BAME community, including England and British Lions rugby star Maro Itoje, Vogue editor Edward Enninful, Olympic boxing champion Nicola Adams, and Booker prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, nominated the individuals, who have inspired Harry and Meghan with their actions.

“Truth be told – and I was in the UK for a few years until we moved back here – I didn’t realise there was a Black History Month in Britain, and so to have that brought to our attention was really exciting from a standpoint of everything that is going on in the world,” Meghan said in a video interview with the newspaper.

“If you are white and British, the world you see often looks just like you” they said in the article, emphasizing the significance of young people seeing role models and leaders of their own skin color.

“For as long as structural racism exists, there will be generations of young people of colour who do not start their lives with the same equality of opportunity as their white peers. And for as long as that continues, untapped potential will never get to be realised,” they warned.

Since meeting his bi-racial wife, Harry, 36, who is sixth in line to the throne, has highlighted his own “awakening” to the lack of chances for individuals from BAME communities. “Because I wasn’t aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the UK and also globally as well. I thought I did but I didn’t.”

“We cannot change history, nor can we edit our past. But we can define our future as one that is inclusive, as one that is equal, and one that is colourful,” the duke and duchess said.

He added: “You know, when you go in to a shop with your children and you only see white dolls, do you even think: ‘That’s weird, there is not a black doll there?’

“I use that as just one example of where we as white people don’t always have the awareness of what it must be like for someone else of a different-coloured skin, of a black skin, to be in the same situation as we are where the world that we know has been created by white people for white people.”

He added: “It is not about pointing the finger, it is not about blame. I will be the first person to say, again, this is about learning. And about how we can make it better. I think it is a really exciting time in British culture and British history, and in world culture. This is a real moment that we should be grasping and actually celebrating. Because no one else has managed to do this before us.”

Race equality think tank Runnymede describes structural racism as “the set of circumstances artificially created over generations, through European colonialism, which holds ‘whiteness’ to be superior.”

Harry said he intended to utilize his position to raise awareness of the black community’s “massive” contribution to the UK.

The list’s release comes at a critical juncture in global race relations, after the May death of George Floyd by white US police officers in Minneapolis.

“The Duke believes structural racism exists in the UK and I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who disagrees with that,” a spokesperson for Prince Harry told the BBC after the story was published.

“He is not saying that Britain itself is structurally racist or that Britain is racist,” a spokesperson said the Duke was alluding to parts of British institutions.

When asked whether she had any thoughts on the UK’s Black Lives Matter campaign, Meghan said, “The impetus is from a place of recognising equality.” She characterized nonviolent demonstrations as a “beautiful thing” after speaking with one of the movement’s founders in the United States.