I had to walk in Meghan’s shoes to understand unconscious bias
Harry says he had ‘no idea’ such racial prejudice existed when he was young
PRINCE Harry’s privileged upbringing as a member of the Royal Family left him ignorant about unconscious racial bias, he said yesterday.
The Duke of Sussex said he had ‘no idea’ about such prejudice when he was growing up and admitted it had taken ‘many, many years’ for that to change.
His perspective altered after meeting his wife Meghan – who has a black mother and a white father – and ‘living a day or a week in my wife’s shoes’, he said.
Speaking from his mansion in California, Harry, 36, said ignorance was ‘no longer an excuse’ and called on society to address ‘ uncomfortable’ issues about race.
‘No one’s pointing the fingers. You can’t really point fingers, especially when it comes to unconscious bias,’ he said. ‘But once you realise or you feel a little bit uncomfortable, then the onus is on you to go out and educate yourself because ignorance is no longer an excuse.
‘ Unconscious bias, from my understanding, having t he upbringing and the education that I had, I had no idea what it was. I had no idea it existed.
‘And then, sad as it is to say, it took me many, many years to realise it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife’s shoes.’
Harry was educated at Eton College and went on to train as an Army officer at Sandhurst.
In 2006, during his time at Sandhurst, St James’s Palace issued a public apology after a video emerged which showed the prince using a racial slur about an officer from Pakistan’s army.
Harry said Britain now needed to celebrate its diversity, and said movements such as Black Lives Matter (BLM) were driving change around the world.
He was speaking to BLM supporter Patrick Hutchinson, who hit the headlines earlier this year after he was pictured carrying an injured white man to safety during violent clashes in London. The men’s conversation was filmed to launch British GQ’s Heroes Festival, and Harry said Mr Hutchinson was ‘ a shining example of how every single human being should operate and work and function’.
Harry said: ‘It’s going to take every single one of us to really change things and anyone that’s pushing against it really needs to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror.
‘This isn’t black versus white... This is a global movement. The train has left the station. If you’re not on it now, then get on it because there’s so much that we can do.
‘And being a dad myself, the whole point in life, I guess, for me, is to try to leave the world in a better place than when you found it.’
He went on: ‘This conversati on is not going to go away, and nor
‘Ignorance is no longer an excuse’ ‘Learn to be a better version of yourself’
should it. We need to talk about it. We need to move forward. It will feel uncomfortable. But look around and ask the questions. Ask the questions and learn and be a better version of yourself for everybody else around you.’
The duke also said courtesy and manners were essential, after Mr Hutchinson told him how his mother had brought him up to hold doors open and say please and thank you.
Earlier this month Harry said he had undergone an ‘awakening’ on race issues and called on Britain to end its ‘structural racism’.
However, he then faced criticism from the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, who accused him of ‘empty jargon’ and said he came across like a ‘1980s polytechnic lecturer’.