Royal Racism
January 9, 2020
AFUA HIRSCH, author and barrister, adds to the chorus of those who say Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been driven from her royal duties by the racism of the British people. Writing in The New York Times, Hirsch says:
I am not at all surprised. This was the bitter shadow of their sunny May 2018 wedding. How many of us suspected — hoping but doubting we were wrong — that what would really initiate Meghan into her new role as a Briton with African heritage would be her experience of British racism. And ironically, by taking matters into their own hands, Harry and Meghan’s act of leaving — two fingers up at the racism of the British establishment — might be the most meaningful act of royal leadership I’m ever likely to see.
Ms. Hirsch, who is black and Jewish, comes up with not one serious attack on Markle’s heritage. Everything, including a supposedly offensive brooch worn by Princess Michael of Kent and a stupid joke by a BBC journalist who was instantly fired, is petty. A woman of African descent is welcomed into the British Royal Family and given a $32 million wedding. And the British are racist!?
The Ashanti Royal Family of Ghana (below) does not look any more racially diverse than the British royal family. Would Hirsch consider it racist if it treated a foreign-born white woman with the same level of respect that Meghan has received?
Racial consciousness is part of human nature. But few societies have eliminated its overt expression for one particular group as much as modern Britain. Hirsch’s screed reads like a rant of jealousy. And behind this dark envy is a desire to get people to focus on race more, not less. Hirsch, who has argued that Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square is a symbol of white supremacy, is the author of Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging and is a product of British elite schools. She seems to have done well for herself in racist Britain. If highly altruistic whites didn’t get a masochistic thrill out of being accused of racial hatred and if they didn’t have genuine goodwill toward non-whites, she surely would not be enjoying such success. The very existence of her article proves that what she says is not true and that the opposite is true: white Britons are surrounded by a sea of resentment.
The Ashanti Royal Family of Ghana
If the media paid more attention to Britain’s communities of color, perhaps it would find the announcement far less surprising. With a new prime minister whose track record includes overtly racist statements, some of which would make even Donald Trump blush, a Brexit project linked to native nationalism and a desire to rid Britain of large numbers of immigrants, and an ever thickening loom of imperial nostalgia, many of us are also thinking about moving.
How about it, Ms. Hirsch? Why not go?
