Prince Harry says his marriage to mixed-race wife Meghan Markle opened his eyes to unconscious racial bias — as he called for everyone to join the “global movement” of protests.
“Unconscious bias, from my understanding, having the upbringing and the education that I had, I had no idea what it was. I had no idea it existed,” the 36-year-old duke said in a Zoom chat with a UK Black Lives Matter activist for GQ magazine.
“And then, sad as it is to say, it took me many, many years to realize it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife’s shoes,” he said of Markle, whose mother is black.
Harry insisted that “no one’s blaming anybody” for having a bias they are not even aware of, saying, “You can’t really point fingers, especially when it comes to unconscious bias.
“But once you realize or you feel a little bit uncomfortable, then the onus is on you to go out and educate yourself, because ignorance is no longer an excuse,” he said.
“It’s going to take every single one of us to really change things and anyone that’s pushing against it really needs to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.”
Harry was speaking to Patrick Hutchinson, the Black Lives Matter activist who went viral in June after photos caught him slinging a white counter-protester over his shoulder to save him from clashes during a London protest.
Harry called Hutchinson, 50, a “guardian angel” — and said everyone should “get on” the protests.
“Now in 2020 we have protestors of every color, every background, every religion, every age. This is a global movement,” Harry told the Black Lives Matter activist.
“The train has left the station. If you’re not on it now, then get on it because there’s so much that we can do.
“And being a dad myself, the whole point in life, I guess, for me, is to try to leave the world in a better place than when you found it,” the prince added.
“I genuinely feel as though the world is actually very much heading in the right direction. But, inevitably, a lot of the pain has to come to the surface before we can actually turn the page and start the new chapter.”
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