Meghan Markle Hoped Way Back in 2012 That People Would Be ‘More Open-Minded’ By the Time She ‘Had Children’
Meghan Markle, the Suits-actress-turned-royal-family-member, spoke (virtually) at her high school alma mater’s graduation this year. Speaking on the Black Lives Matter movement, the Duchess was clear in her anti-racist stance. But a 2012 clip of the Duchess of Sussex proves that Meghan wanted a better world for her future child.
Video resurfaces of Duchess of Sussex and former ‘Suits’ actress Meghan Markle fighting racism in 2012
Meghan Markle is one of many in the spotlight to speak up for George Floyd and BLM. However, unlike several celebs only now breaking their silence, Meghan has been fighting for this issue for almost a decade.
In one video from 2012, part of the “Erase the Hate” campaign, Meghan spoke to viewers in a “I won’t stand for racism” T-shirt.
In the clip, the Duchess of Sussex recalls her personal experiences with discrimination. Even then, she can’t believe racism is “a mentality that still exists.”
“I thought [it] was backdated to the days of when my grandfather moved our family from Cleveland to LA,” Meghan shares in the video. She continued, recalling from family memory:
[When] they drove across the country and to stop and get food, whatever kind of place they were going to, they had to go round the back to get food for the family. You know, I thought that was really isolated to those days that we were past, and sadly they’re not.
Long before the 2018 wedding to Prince Harry (and the birth of Archie), Meghan was dreaming of a future that accepts a ‘mixed world’
In the 2012 Erase the Hate video, Meghan also talked about how being mixed affected her perspective. The future Duchess explained:
Most people can’t tell what I’m mixed with and so much of my life has felt like being a fly on the wall. …some of the slurs that I’ve heard or the really offensive jokes, or the names, it’s just hit me in a really strong way.
One time, someone even called Meghan’s mom “N-word.” That was particularly rough.
“I think for me ― beyond being personally affected by racism ― to see the landscape of what our country is like right now and certainly the world and to want things to be better,” she said.
RELATED: Meghan Markle Has Been Fighting Racism Longer Than You Think
Meghan, who was an actress on the show Suits at the time, was not yet married, or a mother. She had no idea at the time (presumably) that she’d eventually marry Prince Harry and have baby Archie. But she did have optimism for the landscape of the future.
“I hope that by the time I have children, that people are even more open-minded to how things are changing and that having a mixed world is what it’s all about,” she said.
