United Kingdom vs. Meghan Markle

So I was gonna entitle this blog ‘Does Racism Still Exist Part II’. I used that title for a previous blog and some joker commented saying, “Duh, what a stupid question that is”. Bro, I’m very handy with the block button. Lol, what is it about the internet that makes people turn foolish? Don’t make me find your boss on LinkedIn and complain about your shenanigans. Its rhetorical i.e. I already know the answer, I’m just tryna start a discussion. I then flirted with the title, ‘The Meghan Markle Problem’ but let me not front, my platform isn’t popping enough to withstand the backlash from those clickbait titles. So I settled with the above, the U.K. vs MM.. kindly inspired by my favourite Simpsons episode “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”. Like Homer, since Meghan’s arrival she’s experienced a hot dose of ‘Murphy’s Law’ – whatever can go wrong will go wrong, in a major way! Meghan’s got that Mo Farah stamina cos’ she was getting run out the country for a while but finally her and Harry called it quits.

So what’s the back story; Meghan, an American actress born of mixed heritage, meets Prince Harry of the British Royal Family. Met on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend; I’m definitely mingling in the wrong circles if some of y’all are casually friends with royalty. Anyways, one thing led to another and they became an item. Then the backlash began. Almost overnight Meghan became ‘arrogant’, ‘shallow’ and ‘materialist’; hellbent on media attention and self-gratification – and the British public began to object. The right-wing media smelt blood and had an absolute field day with this one. “Is it pride, vanity or acting” for Meghan to touch her baby bump… Meghan breaks protocol with “vulgar fashion move”… or my personal fave, is Meghan’s “favourite avocado snack” fuelling human rights abuse… Genuinely didn’t realise J. K. Rowling worked for the Daily Mail with the amount of storytelling they do. Imagine all those hours of studying creative writing at university leading to articles like those.

There’s an ongoing debate whether the criticism she’s receiving is down to racism and to be honest, it makes me very uncomfortable. Us Brits are very underhand when it comes to this topic. You won’t hear a man call you the n word to your face, but your ethnic sounding name will lead to a load of “unfortunately we’ve decided to progress with other candidates” type rejection emails. What I mean is you’ll probably not receive direct racism, but you’ll be tarred with a number of negative stereotypes which will arouse a suspicion of racial foul play. But don’t you dare speak out about it, people are more offended at being called racist than the act of racism itself. “How can I be racist, I have black friends”… oh, the myth that proximity to blackness immunises you from being racially prejudice. If you can realistically see all the mess directed at Meghan and not feel the racial undertones then I need to know the barman who served you, make mine a double.

“How can I be racist, I have black friends”

I’ve heard people argue that Meghan should’ve known what she was signing herself up to.. perhaps they’re right. Maybe there was an expectation of instant adoration from the British public which just didn’t come. From day one her previous failed marriage and strained relationships with certain family members were hot topic and things went downhill from there. Now her and Harry left the Royals faster than the UK leaving the EU. A whole #Megxit hashtag later, Meghan’s out in Canada, smiling away to the press, baby Archie dangling from his harness, without a care in the world. They asked her to leave and she did, only problem is she took Harry with her. And kudos to him by the way, he chose his wife over riches… certain man ain’t even choosing their wife over their side chicks so you have to applaud. This whole ordeal is quite distasteful, neither the U.K. or Meghan and Harry come out of this looking great. I can only wish the couple all the best, but pray I never come across a Meghan in my time. Any woman that can get me so loved up to leave a life of royalty is a woman I ain’t trying to meet!

Joe