Anti-racism’s true heroes?
KENNEDY CLAN TO REWARD HARRY AND MEGAN FOR ‘MORAL COURAGE’
IF anyone was to ask Kerry Kennedy her thoughts towards Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, she’d say they are true heroes.
The daughter of Robert F. (Bobby) Kennedy believes the couple’s work since arriving in the States has been so important she has chosen to honour them with her family’s prestigious Human Rights award.
The accolade – named after the assassinated US attorney and politician’s iconic ‘Ripple of Hope’ speech delivered in South Africa as apartheid raged – recognises “moral courage”. The bravery to speak truth to power.
Next month, Harry and Meghan will attend a black-tie gala in New York City, where they will be celebrated for fighting racial injustice and receive the award.
And Kerry has insisted the Sussexes have this recognition, not for their tireless efforts to rid America of its racist roots, but for their “heroic stand” against “structural racism within the institution” of the British monarchy. “They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong, that they couldn’t have structural racism within the institution,” Kerry said.
What the..?
The honour places the Sussexes in the same echelons as former recipient Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was a lifelong campaigner for the abolition of apartheid and for racial harmony between all nations.
He was a true hero who put his life in danger for the cause while residing in abject poverty. It is in stark contrast to the Sussexes’ lives, who together enjoy the splendour of their £14 million California mansion while cashing in on their royal titles.
While much of America has wised up to Harry and Meghan’s claims, Kerry appears to have fallen into the trap the Sussexes set when speaking to Oprah Winfrey. During their cosy chat, the couple would have anyone believe the royals were almost on par with the horrors of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
The Sussexes would do well to refer to the history books – books that show Harry’s own grandparents worked tirelessly to banish racism from the world.
As one small example, during apartheid times, the Commonwealth wanted economic sanctions against the racist regime in South Africa. Many successive British governments disagreed. Yet it was the Queen who consistently sided with Nelson Mandela and the African leaders in their demands for embargoes. For the Sussexes to be portrayed as valiant anti-racism activists, and for them to accept this award, is an incredible display of selfimportance.
It also defies understanding that the alleged “institutional racism” inside the royal family is somewhat equivalent to the injustices committed by racist governments in South Africa and the US.
Professor David Nasaw, Pulitzer finalist and author of The Patriarch, about Bobby Kennedy’s father Joseph, has declared the award to the Sussexes as “between sublimely ridiculous and blatantly ludicrous”. And he is right.
The idea that the Sussexes are being lauded as some kind of heroes in America by its own sort of royal family is unthinkable.
When Harry and Meghan hold up their Ripple of Hope trophy, they will look foolish compared to those who have held it before. The irony of them being presented as peacemakers when they cannot find harmony within their own family should not be lost on anyone. But should we really be surprised by Harry and Meghan’s acceptance of such an award? After all, was it not the Duchess who claimed to have been told that her marriage to the Prince caused as much celebration in South Africa as the release of Nelson Mandela?
How deluded can one be?
It was the Queen who consistently sided with Nelson Mandela