Anti-Meghan Markle hate is about white fragility.
When Harry met Meghan, a docuseries on love, royals and deeply embedded anti-Black racism.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's new Netflix Docuseries has peeled back the curtain on their inner life and, perhaps most critically, Meghan's experiences with anti-Black racism within the Royal Family and media.
Here us out, we aren't here to tell you that Harry and Meghan deserve to be praised. We wholeheartedly acknowledge their privilege and wealth through this new 100 million dollar Netflix deal (though this money is earned a hell of a lot more noble-y than any money the British Monarchy has ever "made").
We're here to ask if you aren't actively against the anti-Black racism Meghan has experienced, where is that resistance actually coming from?
Keep Calm and Abolish the Monarchy
We're pretty sure it's clear why we're anti-monarchy, but here's a quick recap:
To many BIPOCs, the monarchy is a reminder of a painful past that subjugated populations across the world for hundreds of years and the ongoing suffering today as a result.
Colonization is a system that benefited a handful of people at the expense of millions through centuries of enslavement, exploitation, colonialism, and genocide.
The British have invaded 90% of countries throughout history. In 1914, which was before WWI, the Great Depression and WWII, the British ruled 23% of the world's population. A big part of why the British "granted" Independence (which is fucked considering they were the ones that stole it) was because it was too expensive to keep all these colonies in line - but then they formed the Commonwealth.
Media Scapegoating
One of the most prominent themes of the docuseries was the way the British media worked with the Institution (behind-the-scenes staff of the British Monarchy) and "exploited" the firm (working royals and face of the Institution) was. The weird relationship between the media and the Institution allowed a trade-off in stories that ensured the media had constant access to royals while the Institution worked to protect the working royals.
But protecting working royals wasn't done equitably. Unsurprisingly, there was a hierarchy, so the docuseries discussed how the Institution routinely used Meghan and Harry as scapegoats to, for example, protect the reputations of William and Charles.
When you add in the additional and unavoidable component of Meghan being a Black woman and the UK having such deeply embedded anti-Black racism, the way she was written about was unprecedented in its hate.
Media and Racism
While many members of the royal family would tell Harry and Meghan that everyone coming into the royal family has had to deal with press coverage and rude remarks, as noted, Meghan experienced the added element of her race.
When news broke about Meghan giving birth, a BBC reporter tweeted an image of a monkey.
This mixed raced child wasn't even alive for a week before he started to experience the deeply embedded anti-Black racism.
Drastic differences in media coverage for Meghan & Kate
What is the difference between their avocados? The colour of the person eating them?
Kate has three kids and also has pets; why isn't her dress "impractical?" Because they don't actually care about the white dress
Coordinated Hate against Meghan
On Twitter, Meghan didn't just face anti-Black harassment: she faced a coordinated and well-funded anti-Black campaign aimed at harm and defamation.
A report by Bot Sentinel found that just 83 Twitter accounts were responsible for 70% of the hateful posts about Meghan Markle. This highly coordinated hate campaign had a massive reach - over 17 million users.
Final Thoughts
If the royal family and the British media can't accept an independently wealthy light-skinned Black woman, then what does it mean about the rest of us? Especially when the vast majority of countries in the commonwealth are made up of people who look like Meghan.
Meghan Markel has a platform to tell her story, but what about the stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour that the royals have come across and harmed who don't have a platform? And that's not even adding in the historical violence.
The anti-Black racism Meghan has been facing - by the royals, the media, and people is because, to many, it is "normal." This Anti-Meghan hate reflects the inability and unwillingness of so many people to self-reflect on their own complicity in racism, specifically and anti-Black racism.
And our inability to address this blatant white fragility reflects how normal white supremacy is in our society - bc fuck, even becoming a princess doesn't let you escape it.
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