“Acknowledge the past”: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan call on the Commonwealth
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan have called on the Commonwealth to “acknowledge” its colonial past, even if it is “uncomfortable”.
Speaking in a video-link discussion on institutional and systemic racism with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, Harry said the UK has to reckon with its historic involvement in other countries that now make up the Commonwealth.
“When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past,” he said.
“So many people have done such an amazing incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge on there is so much more still to do.
“It’s not going to be easy and in some cases it’s not going to be comfortable but it needs to be done, because guess what, everybody benefits.”
The Commonwealth consists of 54 member states, nearly all of which were previously ruled by the British Empire.
Meghan added: “We’re going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because it’s only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships.
“Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing – which is a fundamental human right.”
Watch the discussion now and share your thoughts on the actions we can take to create a fairer and more just world: https://t.co/WR7grpu9fG#TeamQCT
— The Queen's Commonwealth Trust (@queenscomtrust) July 6, 2020
The pair also spoke about unconscious bias and the role it plays in people’s lives.
“We can’t deny or ignore the fact that all of us have been educated to see the world differently,” Harry said.
“However, once you start to realize that there is that bias there, then you need to acknowledge it, you need to do the work to become more aware.”
Meghan reflected on her personal experience with unconscious bias and racism.
“It’s not just in the big moments, it’s in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, either passively and actively,” she said.
“So much of what I’ve come to the understanding of, especially in learning even more about it of late and obviously having had personal experience with it as well, but in people’s complacency they’re complicit, and that I think is the shift that we’re seeing.”
The conversation came as the Black Lives Matter movement continues in the US, where the royal couple is residing.
Last week, Harry said he regretted not having done enough to “right the wrongs” of the “endemic” institutional racism in society for young people.
Last month Meghan addressed the killing of George Floyd in a video message to her old high school, saying: “The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing.”