Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are speaking out about “structural racism” in a new article published Wednesday to mark the beginning of Black History Month in the United Kingdom, according to BBC News.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrote in the British newspaper The Evening Standard that although there has been “unquestionable progress” in the UK on racial issues, “in many ways sufficient progress has not been achieved.”
“For as long as structural racism exists, there will be generations of young people of colour who do not start their lives with the same equality of opportunity as their white peers,” the couple wrote. “And for as long as that continues, untapped potential will never get to be realised.”
In an accompanying video interview with The Evening Standard, Harry said he had experienced an “awakening” in regards to the challenges faced by people of color since meeting Meghan, who is biracial, according to People magazine.
“Because I wasn’t aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the UK and also globally as well,” Harry said, according to People. “I thought I did but I didn’t.”
Harry and Meghan also discussed the importance of representation for people of color.
“You know, when you go in to a shop with your children and you only see white dolls, do you even think: ‘That’s weird, there is not a Black doll there?’” said Harry, according to The Evening Standard. “And I use that as just one example of where we as white people don’t always have the awareness of what it must be like for someone else of a different coloured skin, of a black skin, to be in the same situation as we are where the world that we know has been created by white people for white people.”
Meghan also talked about the Black Lives Matter movement during the interview, after being asked whether living in the United States (the couple moved to Los Angeles in March) had changed their perspective on the movement, according to The Hill.
“When there is just peaceful protest and when there is the intention of just wanting community and just wanting the recognition of equality, then that is a beautiful thing,” Meghan told The Evening Standard. “While it has been challenging for a lot of people certainly having to make this reckoning of historical significance that has got people to the place that they are, that is uncomfortable for people. We recognize that. It is uncomfortable for us.”
Harry said that the discussion about race and racism is not about laying blame, but about making changes.
“It is not about pointing the finger, it is not about blame,” said Harry, according to The Evening Standard. “I will be the first person to say, again, this is about learning. And about how we can make it better.”