Meghan Markle’s interview divided the world. In its aftermath, a troubling, but all too familiar narrative emerged. Meghan Markle is a liar. Where is the proof of these allegations? Meghan and Harry are privileged, what exactly is the problem?
Whether she intended to or not, Meghan’s story is shining a light on issues that equality advocates the world over have been voicing for decades.
It is a narrative that is strikingly familiar for underrepresented groups, and particularly for women of color who have navigated many of the issues Meghan raised in her interview. Bullying, tokenism, lack of support, emotional tax and feelings of exclusion and isolation are themes marginalized groups will strongly identify with. This is often compounded when they actively call our bias, commonly resulting in denial of the existence of any possible discrimination, a demand for proof of its existence and attacks on individual credibility. The act of calling out bias becomes more offensive than the possible existence of bias.
One needs look no further than Sharon Osbourne’s outburst post Piers Morgan’s departure from GMB to see how white privilege and white fragility plays out.
This narrative typically takes on an added layer when the person reporting bias and discrimination also happens to be an individual who is able to succeed in spite of systemic oppression’s, thereby challenging the idea of what an oppressed victim should like and creating the “ungrateful token” backlash.
The “ungrateful token” is deeply rooted in white privilege and white supremest practices and is often experienced as backlash by people of color who are expected to be silent and grateful for the access that dominant groups allow in what is still regarded as the dominant groups space. Dominant groups still maintain the power to choose how they will include, value and respect underrepresented groups. Up until the entry of Meghan Markle, the British monarchy was an exclusively White dominated establishment.
So, it came as no surprise then that Meghan Markle experienced a swift and severe backlash from racism denialists and white supremacist supporters.
But what took many by surprise was the reaction from people of color who dismissed Meghan and Harry as privileged folk who should be silent and grateful and quite frankly, just suck it up. Have visceral reactions stemming from outdated beliefs about the perceived trade-off between money and meaning or limiting ideas of what a victim should look like to be taken seriously, or ingrained ideas that those who are in a position of economic access should forgo their basic right to want to thrive emotionally, overshadowed their ability to acknowledge the power of Meghan’s story?
Whether she intended to or not, Meghan’s story is shining a light on issues that equality advocates the world over have been voicing for decades.
Covert Bias
Britain had long held onto the idea that it is anything but a racist society, commonly pointing to the fact that they never adopted structural discrimination policies and optically have a culturally diverse society.
Prince Williams curt reply “we are very much not a racist family” was testament to an ingrained belief that racism cannot possibly exist within the fabric of British society and institutions, emphatically denying any possibility of the existence of implicit bias.
Meghan has shone a light on a reckoning that is long overdue in Britain.
But one needs not to have frequented Britain to know how insidious racism, classism and xenophobia is woven into the fabric of British society. One needs look no further than Brexit as a recent testament and in fact the very existence of the British monarchy which is steeped in oppressive practices of colonization and slavery as historic evidence. Believing that Britain is anything but, is naïve at best. Meghan has shone a light on a reckoning that is long overdue in Britain.
More importantly it is validating an argument that equality advocates have put forward for decades — there needn’t be overt practices or policies in place for discrimination to thrive.
When South Africa emerged from Apartheid, which was a system of legislation that upheld racist policies, many people of color understood that it was just the beginning of a long process of establishing an equal society — as the establishment of a policy does not simply eradicate racism. Racist practices took on different forms, becoming more covert and insidious, largely making what was once visible, invisible. The work to root out racism from the fabric of South African society is ongoing and emotionally taxing, as the work now includes the added burden of making the invisible visible.
There needn’t be overt practices or policies in place for discrimination to thrive
Meghan’s story shone a light on the work we still have to do collectively and globally to unearth and dismantle the insidious, implicit forms of bias which create toxic societies, workplaces and institutions.
Representation and Belonging
When Meghan married into the Royal family, the very act of her doing so sent a signal which resounded the world over. If a woman of color can exist within the most famous bastion of white privilege — there are few spaces left in this world which people of color cannot access. Representation matters and there was wide acknowledgment as to how inspiring that was. We had all hoped that her story would be one of personal success and global change.
Tokenism is a harmful and limiting practice which often results in feeling of self-doubt, isolation and mental health struggles
Now years later, when Meghan Markle publicly spoke of her struggles in an organization in which she didn’t feel like she belonged, it again shone a light on what so many equality advocates continue to fight for. Representation matters only if we feel we belong and can be in control of our own narrative. If organisations do not move beyond representation to the creation of psychologically safe and inclusive environments where all voices are heard, valued and respected, the result is a culture of silence and toxic tokenism.
Tokenism is a harmful and limiting practice which often results in feelings of self-doubt, isolation and mental health struggles.
It was painful and deflating when the reality of the tokenisation of Meghan Markle set it. Perhaps because the whole event seemed so magical and story tale like that we had childishly hoped in the same way, Meghan would magically exempt from bias and exclusion in a fairy tale ending.
Her words were a reminder of the experiences of marginalized groups who have experienced “pet to threat” retaliation in organisations which are resistant to change and focused on performative, optical transformation instead of systemic changes.
Amanda Gorman tweeted, “Meghan was the Crown’s greatest opportunity for change, regeneration, and reconciliation in a new era. They didn’t just maltreat her light — they missed out on it.” Her words were a reminder of the stories of so many marginalized individuals who have experienced “pet to threat” retaliation in organisations which are resistant to change and focused on performative, optical transformation instead of systemic changes.
Her story has shone a light on the fact that representation and belonging are not interchangeable terms and offered a very public and high profile example of why so much work still needs to be done to move beyond representation to harnesses the power of diverse ideas and voices to drive real change.
Moving ahead
Meghan and Harry’s story is also still one of family struggles and healing. While this process plays out on a global stage, we wonder if they will ever get the resolve they require to move forward, like so many marginalized individuals who reflect on their own painful journeys.
I personally hope that the conversations this whole episode has sparked will lead Harry and Meghan to use their platforms and privileges to drive meaningful systemic changes and does not end up being just a very public therapy session. A renewed focus on inequality and social justice work driven by their own lived experiences, may actually be the closure they so need.
