Meghan Markle recently underwent genealogy testing, which found that she is “43 percent Nigerian,” the princess said on the most recent edition of her Spotify exclusive podcast, Archetypes.
Aiming to “dissect, analyze, and disrupt the labels that try to hold women back,” Meghan said of the program. The “angry Black lady” persona was discussed in the seventh episode of the 12-part series.
Author and scholar Emily Bernard, actor and producer Issa Rae, and talk show host Ziwe Fumudoh were all asked as guests by Meghan to talk about their diverse experiences with racism and how it shows itself in everyday life.
Meghan has opened out about the bigotry she encountered after meeting and marrying Prince Harry and becoming a well-known public figure around the world.
At the beginning of their romance in 2016, Harry issued a Kensington Palace statement through a press secretary decrying the “sexism and bigotry of social media trolls and web article comments,” which were directed at Meghan.
Racism was brought up again when the couple came to the U.S. in 2020 and later spoke about their royal experiences with Oprah Winfrey, including the fact that an anonymous royal had made racially offensive remarks regarding the color of the couple’s future children.
The Royal Family will address these matters individually. In response to the Oprah interview, Buckingham Palace stated that “the issues presented, notably that of race, are disturbing.” It went on to say that “while certain recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously.”
Meghan jokingly brought up having some genealogy testing during her talk with the Nigerian-American Fumudoh on Archetypes, who is renowned for her humorous and aggressive interviewing style.
The duchess broke down the connotations of the “angry Black woman” cliche, which is frequently used to describe people in positions of authority or influence, for the remainder of the show.
She used Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s treatment when being questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee about her nomination to become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court as an illustration.
Bernard and Meghan were talking about the hearings when Bernard remarked that some of the senators were trying to “get her to react in a way that they could categorize her according to their prejudices of Black women.” Bernard described the sessions as “gripping and agonizing.”
