Megxit: the conversation is far from over
Asyia Iftikhar discusses the issues raised by “Megxit”, and how this relates to broader problems of racism and xenophobia in our society.
In a country with the highest levels of poverty, wealth disparity and xenophobia in recent history, it is unsurprising that the news which has dominated the press has been Meghan and Harry’s decision to “leave” the royal family. In a bitter taste of irony, it was mostly those who are anti-monarchy that were forced to defend the couple’s decision, whilst royalists continued to attack the couple. Although too much has already been said about the matter, the situation has brought to light truly how broken we are as a nation, and what we must learn about the state of “equality”.
One of the crucial elements of Harry and Meghan’s announcement was their decision to step back from the “royal rota”. The royal rota is a group of newspapers (including the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express) who have an agreement with the monarchy to gain exclusive access to interviews and news stories. Harry and Meghan disassociating themselves from these tabloids is at the crux of the issue. Right now, they are in the fallout of unsuccessfully suing the Mail on Sunday for publishing misleading photos of wildlife and still have ongoing issues regarding a private letter published between Meghan and her father, a gross infringement of privacy. However, the issue goes deeper than this, given the current row over racism in the media, and whether Meghan has been victim to it. This article is not here to discuss whether this is true; the evidence speaks for itself. Rather, the article highlights the far more concerning issues about society’s response to these accusations.
One of the most nauseating aspects of the past two weeks has been the relentless panels and guests on TV made up of a group of white people and one POC who explain the racism prevalent in society. This normally ends with them being told their opinion is invalid and the cycle continues. This example of emotional labour, forcing POCs to justify that racism exists to people who have already made their mind up, is an example of one of the racist structures in our society. In these panels, one phrase continually mentioned is “white privilege”. The misunderstanding of this phrase by the public has become incredibly toxic. In basic terms, white privilege means that the colour of your skin is not something that makes your life harder. Just like white privilege exists, so do many other forms such as class privilege, gender privilege etc. This term has now become an insult, forcing people to become defensive instead of reflective, and denying racism instead of rooting it out. Having white privilege is not something to deny or (bizarrely) be ashamed of, as long as it is acknowledged and we work towards eradicating it.
Another aspect we need to explore is what our understanding of racism is. In the case of Meghan Markle, as well as some cases of overt racism, racism was in the form of the press’s obsession over othering her from the royal family. Their pursuit was to essentially drive her away from the royal family, a historically white and prejudiced institution. In stark contrast, Prince Andrew has been exposed as being heavily associated with the paedophile Jeffery Epstein, yet he hasn’t received the level of sustained negative press as Meghan Markle. This is important since, in the hierarchy of injustice, with Meghan eating an avocado to Prince Andrew facing accusations of paedophilia, Meghan still received the most vitriol because she is not a blue blood white royal. As a society, although overt hate crimes are still far too prevalent, we need to be educated on racism in the form of persistent othering and structural exclusion.
The archetype for racism can find itself in much more devastating forms such as the Windrush scandal which caused the deportation, restriction of healthcare and collapse of welfare support for a generation of British citizens who had migrated from the Caribbean in the 1960s; it is shown in the government’s decision to not provide appropriate cladding for Grenfell Tower, a block largely made up of working-class minorities; it is shown in the fear of families to speak their mother tongue on a bus in case someone attacks them. This country is far from understanding the deep-rooted inequalities in our justice system, welfare resources, and media. We are still at the point where we think defending POC from the media means we believe they cannot be criticised.
Is it any surprise that as a nation we have become desensitised to racism, when Boris Johnson’s comments about Muslim women led to a 375% increase in hate crimes towards this group, whilst simultaneously opening the doors of Number 10? Or that when a spat on Question Time over the political term “white privilege” between the actor Laurence Fox and the Professor of Race and Ethics Rachel Boyle came about, it was Fox who was catapulted into even more fame and air time?
Harry and Meghan may be leaving with their dignity and money intact; but for the victims of Windrush, Grenfell and rising xenophobia, the conversation has only just begun.
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