In an interview with the evening Standard this week Prince Harry has admitted that his wife Meghan has opened his eyes regarding structural racism in Britain and worldwide. The interview was held to mark the beginning of the Black History Month in the UK that has started yesterday.

In the interview, the couple spoke about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the USA following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. The protests gained worldwide recognition and support. Around the world people took to the streets to show support and solidarity with the BLM movement. Meghan and Harry also spoke about the violent clashes between protesters and the police and condemned violence in general.

Meghan opened Harry’s eyes to structural racism

In the light of the Black History Month in the UK, Harry went on to say that he was oblivious to the structural racism that is still prevalent in the UK. In the interview, Harry credited his wife Meghan to have opened his eyes to racism in the UK. Especially the racism that comes in subtler ways than racial slurs, for example. Harry’s so-called “awakening” concerning this issue was illustrated by him giving following example:

“I wasn’t aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the UK and globally as well. I thought I did, but I didn’t. You know, when you go into a shop with your children and you only see white dolls, do you ever think: That’s weird. There is no black doll there.”

Many celebrities support the Black History Month in the UK, especially on social media, where British celebrities share their Instagram accounts with black women in a campaign called “Share the Mic Now”. The campaign wants to give black women a voice and end their underrepresentation in media and society. Victoria Beckham, for example, shares her powerful Instagram account with TV broadcaster June Sarong. Victoria Beckham’s account boasts more than 24 mio. followers and those followers now will get to see June Sarong’s narratives and perspectives on political and societal topics in October.

Where are William and Kate on this issue?

Meghan and Harry are centre and front to the Black History Month campaigns in the UK and thus painfully highlight the absence of William and Kate on this topic. Harry’s elder brother William and and his wife Kate certainly do support amplifying black voices in the UK, but Meghan and Harry managed to be spearheading Black History Month in the UK. Like in the US, many people of color took to the streets in the UK to support the BLM movement. Like in the US, there were many violent outbursts and clashes between protesters and the police. Thus, it is important to support Black History Month in the UK. So we think that William and Kate should do more to show their support for black people in the UK. If it is possible for Meghan and Harry to support Black History Month from hundreds and thousands miles away in the US, it should definitely be possible for William and Kate to do more for Black History Month in the UK, where they live.

We are hopeful that with 28 more days to go until November, William and Kate will follow Meghan and Harry’s passionate lead on Black History Month UK. It would be a wonderful effort and if both couples joined forces to fight racism in the UK and worldwide.