Meghan Markle has stated that she is hesitant to express her opinion or be specific about what she requires for fear of coming across as “demanding” and regarded as an “angry black woman.”
On Tuesday’s episode of Spotify’s “Archetypes” podcast, Markle discussed her hesitancy to be more forceful with actress Issa Rae and comedian/actor Ziwe Fumudoh. “Upending the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Myth” is the episode’s title.
Markle is mixed-race. Her mother is black and her father is white.
“I’m particular,” the Duchess of Sussex shared. “I think a high tide raises all ships. We’re all going to succeed, so let’s make sure it’s really great ’cause it’s a shared success for everybody.”
“But I also know, that I will find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room,” she added.
“You’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop. Stop like whispering and tiptoeing around it. Just say what it is you need. You’re allowed to set a boundary. You’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding. It does not make you difficult. It makes you clear,’” Markle continued.
When the former “Suits” actress asked Rae, who is black, if she felt she was “allowed to be angry,” the “Insecure” star said, “absolutely not.”
“I can’t lose my cool. I can’t do that ― especially as a black woman, but also, just even as a public figure now,” Rae replied. “Because people are looking for ways to justify their perception of you.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry,” she added. “That might mean that I will vent my frustrations to someone that I trust, get it out of my system, and then go in fix mode.”
“But I want to be allowed to have that emotion…
So that’s something I’m still wrestling with,” Rae continued.
Markle and Prince Harry married in 2018. The duke and duchess will relinquish their royal duties in March 2020. They eventually left the UK and relocated to Southern California, where they raised their two children, 3-year-old son Archie and 1-year-old daughter Lilibet.