Meghan Markle said she’s afraid to speak her mind or be clear about what she needs for fear of sounding “demanding” and being perceived as an “angry black woman.”
During Spotify’s “Archetypes” podcast on Tuesday, the host Markle spoke with actress Issa Rae and comedian/actress Ziwe Fumudoh about her reluctance to be more assertive. The episode is titled “Upending the ‘Angry Black Woman’ Myth.”
Markle is biracial. Her father is white, and her mother is black.
“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.”
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“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 tied the knot in 2018. In March 2020, the duke and duchess stepped down from their royal roles. Eventually, they ended up leaving the United Kingdom and relocating to Southern California, where they raise their two children, 3-year-old son Archie and 1-year-old daughter Lilibet.
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