When Meghan and Harry Met Oprah: Part 1 | TIS Ep. 35
Episode Summary:
Trigger warning: suicidal ideation and depression are mentioned.
Yes y’all, we are still talking about this interview. And so is the rest of the world. Why? Because so much tea was spilled! Like many other BIPOC, especially Black women, we felt triggered. If you take the titles out of the picture, Meghan was relatable, but for the saddest of reasons. The racism, misogynoir, and bullying that she endured echo what so many of us experience daily. And the mental health effects that result from that are disturbingly relatable too. Join us as we unpack “The Interview” to end all interviews.
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5 Big Takeaways:
- Royals are racist like water is wet: “Why are people shocked that the royals are racist? They are the original colonizers.”
- There is always a ceiling for BIPOC: “No matter how “high” you might rise as a person of color, racism will still be there to bring you down.”
- Black excellence is never enough: “Black excellence was Meghan’s saving grace, as well as her downfall. Meghan was perfection. And the royals hated her for it.”
- Racism (among other things) is what makes Meghan relatable: “The treatment that was meted out to Meghan is the same treatment that Black women experience all the time.”
- Living in a Black body is seen as a crime: “They are not investigating Prince Andrew in the same way as they are investigating Meghan. It looks like being Black is a worse crime than alleged pedophilia.”
7 Key Quotes:
- “Colorism is what got Meghan into the royal family. Racism is what took her back out of it.”—Anonymous (If this is your quote, please tell us so we can credit you)
- “Colorism is a legacy of slavery.”
- “Meghan had never been rejected because of her skin color—until she joined the royal family.”
- “Of course the royal family is going to have “concerns” that people that they think of as inferior are now a part of their bloodline.”
- “People are still saying things like ‘She would be really pretty, if she weren’t so dark.’”
- “To know that your skin color is seen as unworthy, as ugly, as something to be rejected and shied away from is hard.”
- “Meghan had the audacity to be excellent.”
By The Numbers:
- 1:27 – The tea from this episode is so hot, the sisters skip their usual Introverts Uniting Separately segment, and get straight into The Interview.
Resources:
- Racism Among the Royals, by Sharon Hurley Hall
- Meghan and Harry: A Cautionary Tale, by Lisa Hurley
- Exploring Shadeism, by Sharon Hurley Hall
- How Latin America’s Obsession With Whiteness Is Hurting Us
- Racial Whitening
- Diluting the “African” Nation: European Immigration, Whitening, and the Crisis of Slave Emancipation
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