THE HOME secretary has dismissed claims that racism has in any way categorised the UK media’s coverage of Meghan Markle.
Priti Patel, who was born in London to a Ugandan- Indian family, shared her comments on the debate during an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.
In response to question over whether the media had been racist towards the duchess, she said: “I’m not in that category at all where I believe there’s racism at all. I think we live in a great country, a great society, full of opportunity, where people of any background can get on in life.
She added: “I don’t think so, no … I certainly haven’t seen that through any debates or commentary or things of that nature.
“As someone who’s been born and brought up in the United Kingdom, who comes from an immigrant background, I think Britain is a country of tremendous opportunity.”
Her comments come after Labour leadership challenger Clive Lewis said that the Duchess of Sussex was a victim of “structural racism”.
The MP for Norwich South told Sky News: “These themes run through our society. We can see it with Meghan Markle and the way that she’s been treated in the media. We know this is a reality of the 21st century still after 400 years of racism.”
Supporters of the couple and anti-racism commentators have also argued that racism has shaped the negative coverage the Duchess of Sussex has been subjected to in the media – and contributed to the pair’s decision to step back from their roles as senior royals.
Writing in the New York Times, author Afua Hirsch said the royal couple’s decision reflected the feeling many people of colour in the UK.
“If the media paid more attention to Britain’s communities of colour, perhaps it would find the announcement far less surprising. With a new prime minister whose track record includes overtly racist statements, some of which would make even Donald Trump blush, a Brexit project linked to native nationalism and a desire to rid Britain of large numbers of immigrants, and an ever thickening loom of imperial nostalgia, many of us are also thinking about moving,” Hirsch wrote.
Earlier today, Hirsch clashed with Piers Morgan over the issue on Good Morning Britain.
She said: “There have been allegations that she has been associated with very racialised forms of crime, there have been discussions about her ‘exotic’ DNA, her newborn baby was compared to a baby chimp.”
Morgan interrupted: “Is her DNA not exotic by royal standards? She’s the first mixed-race person to enter the royal family. Why do you take exception to the word exotic?”
In October last year, the Duke of Sussex issued a statement explaining the couple’s decision to launch legal action against the Mail on Sunday.
“My wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.
“There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been,” he said.
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Listen to me. I am sick and tired of the racisim or perceived racism in Britain, in general, in the British media, or wherever else it, presumably, raises its ugly head. It is blatantly obvious this issue is an ever revolving door that will never close, which will never come to any kind resolution or admission. As a British born Citizen of Jamaican heritage living abroad as I have no time to waste in a country that will always question how I see myself, in my opinion it would be more constructive for all ethnic minorities to follow the generation before them, and climb over the rubbish called racism, and be a success come hell or high water, and let that be a testimony of who one is as a non-white citizen of Britain. Racism, bring it on, as it drives ethnic minorities to be the best that they can be. Those who break the law, wake up, and stop giving others an excuse to belittle us. Ms Hirsh, stop wasting your time on TV, and document something to push people like you and me forward. Blessings to all.
Grace Pinnock, that is the best comment I’ve read on this subject. Thanks. As Tyler Perry said, ‘Instead of fighting for a seat at the table, build your own table’.
Sorry but I cannot stand Meghan, she is a narcissist. Every image you see her smirking. some of these images Harry has a concerned unhappy look she is smirking as if to say look he is protecting me and that she cannot believe she is there.
She has broken royal protocol, she walks in front of harry like she is more important than him which she is not.
She kept hugging the damn bump at every opportunity. Wearing tight clothes when she could have afforded well-fitting clothes.
How she treated her own father is reprehensible, look how many staff has left their employ that is disgraceful. She announced her pregnancy at Princess Eugenie wedding she could have waited one day. I hope her titles are stripped they should not be having any british tax payers money if they do not stay in the family 100%.
Instead of dealing with her father privately she gets her friends to do stories in the press which is disgusting that is a private matter and further sullied her experience with the british press and the british people, it’s her own fault.
This has turned into another Wallis and Edward Farce.
Sick of the same old stories going around and around …All based on hearsay where none of you ever meeting them. Who cares? Get a life people and stop being so envious of M&H.