Prince Harry reveals his ‘awakening’ on racism during UK Black history month
The former British royal says that he didn't fully understand racism until he married his wife
Just as Black history month begins in the United Kingdom, former British royal Prince Harry reveals he’s had an “awakening” as it relates to racism.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle addressed the issue with England’s “The Evening Standard” in a Zoom call, reports People. He admitted that, as a member of the British royal family and distant heir to the throne, he’d been sheltered from racism and the experiences of Black people in London and beyond.
“Because I wasn’t aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the U.K. and also globally as well. I thought I did but I didn’t,” Harry said on the call.
“You know, when you go into 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?’ And 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 colored 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 said.
According to People, this was Harry and Meghan’s first joint interview with a British outlet since they made their exit from Britain in March just before the coronavirus hit. The two remain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but are no longer working British royals who have to follow the protocol of royal family members. Despite their move to California, they continue to support charitable organizations in the U.S. and the U.K., recently signing a Netflix deal to advance those efforts.
Read More: Meghan Markle applauds Black Lives Matter peaceful protests as ‘a beautiful thing’
Meghan and Harry conducted the interview from their Santa Barbara, California home and were dressed casually, Meghan in an asymmetrical brown top with brown leather pants while Harry wore a blue button-down shirt and grey pants.
The couple, who have shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement, also penned an article for the Standard, expressing more of their sentiments about race.
“For as long as structural racism exists, there will be generations of young people of color 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 realized,” the two wrote.
As for baby Archie, who will turn two next May, Meghan said he’s enjoying life in America.
“We are doing well. [Archie] is so good,” Meghan told the Standard. “We are very lucky with our little one. He is just so busy, he is all over the place. He keeps us on our toes. We are just so lucky.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
More About:Entertainment News
You Might Like
