Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Wikipedia)
Prince Harry issued an unprecedented statement lashing out at the racist backlash he and his new biracial girlfriend Meghan Markle have faced. The British royal has been with Markle – an American actress – for what Kensington Palace said is “a few months.” She is the child of a Black mother and a white father and currently stars in the USA Network series “Suits.”
Since news of the pair’s relationship went public last month, reports have zeroed in on her parentage. An article by The Daily Mail described Markle as the “girl” who is “(almost) straight outta Compton.” The piece stated that her mother Doria Ragland’s Crenshaw, California neighborhood had 47 crimes last week. After noting the area is also home to the Bloods gang, the piece reported on Ragland’s financial woes.
Another article on the website fetishized how Markle could “thicken [the royal family’s] watery, thin blue blood and Spencer pale skin and ginger hair with some rich and exotic DNA.”
And online, at least one social media user referred to Markle with a racial epithet.
https://twitter.com/solosaysit/status/794003116253450244
Today, Kensington Palace issued a statement on Harry’s behalf hoping to cease the racist harassment Markle and her family experienced.
After noting Harry has carefully crafted his relationship with media to focus on his charity efforts, it states the press crossed the line.
“His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment,” the statement read in part. “Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”
Kensington Palace has issued a statement this morning about the harassment currently being experienced by Meghan Markle and her family. pic.twitter.com/EuFZ4fmUIj
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) November 8, 2016
It went on to describe the way the press hounded Markle’s mother at her home. They also attempted to bribe the actress’ ex-boyfriend. The palace also noted Markle’s family called police after reporters and photographers tried to illegally access their property.
But Markle has faced issues based on her race before.
In a 2014 piece for Elle UK, she opened up about the issues she faced as a biracial woman. She noted her mother was called the n-word and how it moved her to tears. The actress shared she had trouble getting cast because she was not “Black enough for the Black roles and I wasn’t white enough for the white ones.”
And when Wendell Pierece was cast as her “Suits” character’s father, racist fallout occurred.
“I remember the tweets when that first episode of the Zane family aired,” she said. “They ran the gamut from: ‘Why would they make her dad black? She’s not Black’ to ‘Ew, she’s Black? I used to think she was hot.’ ”
Ultimately, Markle decided she does not need to choose whether or not she is white or Black.
“While my mixed heritage may have created a gray area surrounding my self-identification, … I have come to embrace that,” she said. “To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman. That when asked to choose my ethnicity in a questionnaire as in my seventh-grade class, or these days to check ‘Other’, I simply say: ‘Sorry, world, this is not Lost and I am not one of The Others. I am enough exactly as I am.’ “
