Harry and Meghan Interview with Oprah

[DramatistDreamer]

Something that some will never understand: As a black person, as a black woman, neither money not social standing will ever protect you from racism. In theory, if you are not black, you might be able to partly understand on an intellectual, observatory level but you will never be able to fully understand the full breadth of what this means and how this feels.

 

Did anyone see the experience that U.S. poet laureate Amanda Gorman talked abou over the weekend? This is a very common occurrence. I could personally tell you some stories.

 

Education, stays and money don't mean a thing in these instances and guaranteed the line of people seeking to blame black women for their own suffering will be long.

 

Yeah, and what about Andrew, who has been involved in scandals and scams (including the one involving ex-wife Fergie and her selling access to him with foreign businessmen) before. Man's got a track record, Meghan does not, ijs.

[Skin]

 

I disagree the colorism and racism expressed here is a bit of a game changer (at least in my view) in that it made the covert and implicit overt and explicit here. The UK as a whole tends to presuppose that they as a nation are beyond racism, and that classism is the problem, issue or culprit and that they are more advanced as a society than the US is. This chinks that particular armor. Especially when Oprah and Megan together hit on the topic concerning Archie's skin color. They know how damaging that information is. That's not something that I think the BRF will get away with. It's one thing to speculate, and quite another to have it confirmed in broad daylight like that.  

 

 

I agree with this, I think audiences will be unsympathetic to the fact that the BRF hasn't changed at all since Princess Diana 24 years ago. That's a long time to be on the "wrong side" of history. I've noticed more and more people from England coming out of the woodwork lately talking about how Diana was horrible, though, which makes me think the English are regressing and circling the wagons now that Harry and Meghan have left. 

 

I also agree completely that the British Royal Family serves a role not unlike that of the President of the United States, in that the BRF is a symbol of British pride and nationalism. I used to think it was a good thing to have a Queen in that it seemed there was a separation from pride from country (Queen) and politics (whatever political party you favor) instead of having them enmeshed in on another. In the US the President is a symbol of both nationalism, nation pride, and politics. In this a lot of American's view citizens not supporting the president as wanting America to fail. However it looks like now at least, the British Royal Family is protected in a similar way. 

 

There initially was a lot of talk when Meghan was first announced and married Harry, that she could "modernize" the Royal Family. It's interesting to note how that never came to pass. 

[JaneAusten]

Yeah I read about that and here is the link for those who didn't read the story. Shameful.

 

Amanda Gorman Says Security Guard Confronted Her, Saying She Looked ‘Suspicious’ - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

And I hope you know I was asking that question about Meghan and Harry living on their own money ironically. We know what it's about.

 

I have read people justifying the hits on Markle by saying "She didn't grow up black". Basically because she had a slightly more affluent upbringing, she doesn't get to pull out the race card.

 

And by the way when people started bringing up Andrew, people tried to use Oprah as a shield claiming she had no room to ask questions about him because she enabled Weinstein.  It was just an attack on yet another black woman, trying to diminish her voice too. I had to remind one of my colleagues who brought this up that Weinstein is in JAIL serving time while Andrew continues to be ignored by the entire media conglomerate in the UK. The fact that the TRF negotiated a deal to ignore Andrew and go after Meghan with press and media all over the UK, especially with the Murdoch's says all you need to know. That family has done more to damage democracy than any media entity in the past 70 years. Enabling the toxic monarchy is right up their alley.

[DramatistDreamer]

The British royal family has been around for hundreds of years, and have been at the center of countless scandals and they're still around. They're "modernization" has only gone as far as their purse and how they have managed to maintain their establishment despite reduced public financial support.

 

On a side note, Oprah really is the Queen of media! With all those ads that aired last night, you just know CBS was able to pay for several primetime lineups!

Daytime TV wishes...! Could you imagine?! Any of these remaining soaps that are in the fire financial straits that I keep hearing about could actually build/restore some decent sets.

[wingwalker]

So in general, I usually don't pay that close attention to the Royal Family. To me, I think having a monarchy is archaic and serve no purpose is a modern society.  When Harry and Meghan announced they were going to marry, I didn't start to pay attention a but, but I was curious how an bi-racial American as member of Royal Family would play out.   

 

I watched the interview, because Meghan has garnered both compassion and sympathy from me for the way she was treated by the British Press and how the Royal Family let it happen, which was vile IMO. I'm glad Harry and Meghan got out and escaped that toxic environment. 

 

I do wonder how it will play out across the pond, once the full interview airs tonight. Here in the US, both media and public seem to be very much on Meghan and Harry's side. I have doubts it will be the same the UK. 

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I am reading these posts on this smartphone and I hate it, so I missed the question, lol but that wouldn't offend me. I mean, as a light skinned woman, Meghan has had some privilege in the U.S. and she may have believed that she could make some changes from the inside, however naive that may seem. Having been raised by a black woman, I find it incredulous that she wouldn't have at least some knowledge of what racism looks like.

[dragonflies]

Anywhere online I can watch this? I was hoping it would be on HULU

[Faulkner]

 

[dragonflies]

 

[Cat]

 

TRF is an institution that, for better or worse, symbolically represents the United Kingdom, so I am guessing that even moderate Brits will be, initially, defensive about the interview and towards Meghan specifically. Because they don't like being called racists, colonial, parochial, out of touch. They might take it personally, like how dare the Yanks lecture us with their race record? The British care what other people think of them and how they appear on the world stage.

 

However, as with Diana, this may have a slow, drip-drip effect. Diana's interview with Martin Bashir did not bring down the monarchy overnight. But the bad press almost did over the period of the early-to-mid 90s. I'd be worried if I was in 'The Firm.' There is no other way of looking at it -- they have been deeply damaged by this. The specificity and detail of some of the things that happened to Meghan is shocking. It shows an institution which has only gone through the vaguest motions of change while staying inflexibly the same. 

 

Now that the Empire has gone, the Queen during her reign has been all about The Commonwealth -- a loose affiliation of countries which had been former colonies of Britain. TRF is always paying lip service to The Commonwealth because it paints a rosy glow over Britain's colonial past ("We gave them parliaments! The English language!") and makes the royals look good interacting with people of different ethnic backgrounds. Now that the H&M interview has exposed TRF on the racism front, how will their interactions with The Commonwealth be from here? What about with black Britons at home?

Edited March 8, 2021 by Cat

[dragonflies]

Charles is trash for how he's treated Harry and I believe Meghan fully, Kate gives off a bit of a stuck up vibe and I can see her making Meghan cry

[Khan]

 

What is *that* supposed to mean?

 

Meghan can be (and probably is) a c-u-next-Tuesday, but should that invalidate her and Harry's claims of racism within the British royal family?  Until I see/hear incontrovertible proof that the monarchy hasn't been unkind to the two on account of her (and Archie's) mixed racial heritage, I'm inclined to believe Meghan, thank you.

[JaneAusten]

Just for the record, Charles yes is trash and it's contemptible that he froze out his own son. That said, I think William was the one who made the comments about Meghan and Harry's child.  William has turned out to be IMO the spitting image of daddy dearest and maybe it was bound to happen with Diana gone. But the final straw for me with him were those comments he made at the onset of COVID downplaying it and poking fun at people impacted by it. He's scum.

[kalbir]

Maybe it's me but I've always gotten the impression that British society on the whole is very class-based, which is rather sad in this day and age.

[Khan]

 

As it should.  They've received so many passes on so many other things: Diana, Andrew, Fergie, Phillip, etc.  But no one, not even the royals, should get a pass on insidious racism.