- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Eastern Eye Staff
MEGHAN MARKLE has spoken about events following the police killing of George Floyd, saying she was sorry that children had to grow up in a world where racism still existed.
The Duchess of Sussex termed that current events in the US “absolutely devastating”.
“I know you know that black lives matter,” she said in a video she recorded for students graduating from her old high school in Los Angeles which was aired on Wednesday (3).
The Duchess of Sussex has spoken out about the “absolutely devastating” death of George Floyd in a message to students at LA’s Immaculate Heart High School, her alma mater. Meghan told the class of 2020: “George Floyd’s life mattered…I know you know that black lives matter.” pic.twitter.com/qe7ZxvAk45
— Roya Nikkhah (@RoyaNikkhah) June 4, 2020
The death of Floyd has become the latest flashpoint for long-simmering rage over police brutality against African Americans and led to nationwide protests, some violent, with curfews imposed in some cities to quell the disorder.
Meghan’s reactions followed The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust’s support to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Trust — which aims to “champion, fund and connect young leaders who are working hard to change the world” — said young people were “vital voices in the fight against injustice and racism”.
“Silence is not an option,” the Trust tweeted, with the hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter.”
Young people are vital voices in the fight against injustice and racism around the world. As a global community of young leaders we stand together in pursuit of fairness and a better way forward.
Silence is not an option.#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/PyFlfGvbhN
— The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (@queenscomtrust) June 1, 2020
Britain’s royal family by tradition does not comment on political issues. However, Meghan and Harry stepped down from their official royal roles at the end of March and are now living in Los Angeles with their baby son Archie.
“For the past couple of weeks I’ve been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation and as we’ve all seen over the last week what is happening in our country, and in our state and in our home town of LA is absolutely devastating,” said Meghan, whose mother is African American and father is white.
“First thing I want to say to you is that I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present,” she said in her message to the girls at the Immaculate Heart High School.
The duchess, a former US actress and wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, explained that she was late in reacting to the police brutality as she anxious over saying the “right thing”.
She said: “I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart.
“And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd’s life mattered, and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered, and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered and so did so many other people whose names we know, and whose names we do not know”.
Britain’s royal family by tradition does not comment on political issues. However, Meghan and Harry stepped down from their official royal roles at the end of March and are now living in Los Angeles with their baby son Archie.
In her message, the 38-year-old reflected on her own memories of the 1992 LA riots.
“Those memories don’t go away and I can’t imagine that at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience,” she said.
“That’s something you should have an understanding of, but an understanding of as a history lesson not as your reality. So I’m sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to the place you deserve it to be.”
Meanwhile, a 2012 video of Meghan speaking out on racism and her bitter experienced resurfaced to go viral.
“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,” Meghan says in the video. “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.”
