Let me begin by saying that racism is still alive, just in case anyone wants to still pretend and play the diplomat by sitting on the fence. I want to rant about it.
I saw some of the reactions to the Harry and Meghan documentary on Netflix. The fact that people are this mad at how someone chooses to speak about their lived experience is funny to me because such anger is biased. Where was this anger when Prince Andrew "allegedly" got caught in a web of underage sex trafficking with Jeffrey Edward Epstein? Well, "allegedly". People will express selective anger and defend their biased, dangerous, one-sided story meant to destroy someone as "freedom of speech".
Then, Jeremy Clarkson, the English broadcaster, wrote a column about Meghan Markle with comments in which he likened his disgust for her to the Walk of Shame scene in the Game of Thrones series. Such a vile and disgusting low that proves everything Meghan feared and wanted to escape from. Yes, Meghan is not perfect, but the hate screams so loudly that no one should pretend this is another joke. This is dangerous, a silent approval for hate.
And the apology was pathetic at best, a weak attempt and unbothered non-apology.
But Jeremy Clarkson is a hero apparently according to this tweet.
So the question now becomes, "Why is there so much hate? What is it about a Black person breaking the whiteness barrier of the monarchy that makes it unbearable for the gatekeepers? The type of comments you read on social media proves just how pained some white people feel that a melanated woman was that "worthy to deserve" Harry's love. The gang of social media accounts with the sole mission of gaslighting Meghan and frustrating her existence..... a gang of bitter human beings who were classified in the Netflix series as "middle-aged Caucasian women". Even her own half-sister, Samantha Markle, was on the hate bandwagon.
Meghan Markle's predicament since entering the British monarchy is a common experience for Blacks trying to fit in a white-dominated space. You are caught in a web of constantly trying to stay in line, working so hard to conform, and keeping up with your best behaviour but it will never be good enough for people who have determined to uphold the supremacy of whiteness in every space they can....people who can not look beyond skin colour, no matter the occasion. You can change your hair, suppress your accent, change your dress code, and lighten your skin......It will never be enough. No matter your qualifications or experience, when you meet these gatekeepers, they will always find something, no matter how small, to discredit and demean you. They are quick to remind you why you should not belong and why you must never dare to dream such lofty dreams of rising through the ranks.
Racism drains. It empties and ruins the best in people, no matter which side you are on. It eats deep into the fabric of our human existence, and it takes the world nowhere. We live in a society where some people are expected to stay down, way down at the bottom with crumbs, because of the colour of their skin. Then I am asking at this point, why should anyone suffer because of the skin they are born in? What is the justification for demeaning another human being over something that comes naturally because no one chooses where they are born?
When people want to uphold the monarchy but want the rest of us....including people from the former British colony to swallow our pains, our past, and just grief despite the history and tragedies of slavery, which have forever made the world unequal. As Luvvie Ajayi says...we do not owe them any grief or sympathy. It's not like they care about us anyway, so why should we?
Racism is so evil that it further divides coloured people because, with the "divide and rule" system, we are faced with the opportunity to sell each other short to appeal to the "grand masters". We double-cross each other and deprive ourselves just to belong to the elite, but even with all our money, and fame...people dedicated to whiteness will rather pick the most wretched of their kind over the richest of the rest. No one cuts us any slack, we are often judged by the worst of our group, and no one is interested in hearing how hard we keep trying to find our footing. So we are stuck scrambling at the bottom, sabotaging each other to get approval from people who wrote us off long before we ever had any chance to prove ourselves. Even when it is not necessary, we want to prove we are the best in the room, just to have something extra. We are the ones working three times as hard and end up with the smallest share most of the time. We are beginning the race at the start line with people who are already miles ahead, it is nearly impossible to catch up because no matter what we do, it will never be good enough.
What is painful about being an outsider is that when you feel the sting of racism and are surrounded by people who do not understand your struggles, it eats deep into your psychology and takes a mental toll on you. When you try to express the subtle racism you have experienced with people like the perpetrators, everyone else around you is so unbothered and consumed with the most frivolous things. I remember how my classmates were quick to debate inequality, and sustainable development in class, but some were willing to attend a blackface Christmas party.....It was even more chilling how they were silent when I raised my concerns in the class WhatsApp group. Yes, they can never understand why you are so mad until it hits home. You know how war felt like something distant until the Ukrainian War hit home and suddenly the conversations changed? Yet, they are quick to use hashtags and carry placards over a system they are not that committed to dismantling. Some will even say you are overreacting and that it is not that deep. Well, Meghan basically had to flee for her life and still has to watch her back.
Meghan Markle is all of us and those things we feel in spaces designed not to welcome us. It also opens up conversations on why we need to change how we see each other and form alliances that can thrive. We are obviously on our own as coloured human beings because no matter what we do, there will supposedly be "open" spaces where we will never belong.
This thing called racism, backed by shady science, is deep and systemic. It will never go away.