Wednesday, February 28, 2018

It is time to stop the (yes) racist attacks on Meghan Markle

Embed from Getty Images 

 This 63-year-old white woman is about to tell ya'all to shut up.

Who are ya'all?  You know who you are?  Bigoted, racist, intolerant people who find it a challenge to get out of bed every day and put their pants on, one leg at a time.  They are hampered by their own limitations, in spite of their determination to claim supremacy on account of their race.

Rachel Meghan Markle is a former American actress who will walk down the aisle at St. George's Chapel as a mere Miss and come out, on the arm of her new husband, as a royal highness and a member of the British royal family.

Embed from Getty Images 

It is one thing to call the Duchess of Cambridge Waity Katy.  It is far worse to hurl racist comments, nasty tweets, and Facebook posts and goodness knows where else (I do not want to know, actually, if you really want to know) at Miss Markle ... and this abuse is being hurled by ignorant, racist, bigoted, intolerant - and let me add, poorly educated, human beings, as well as being tired and boring people who are unable to hold their own with intelligent conversations.

Miss Markle is bi-racial.  Her mom is an African-American and her father is white.    According to a 2017 Pew Research study, the number of mixed-race Americans is growing faster than the actual US population.    In the 1970s, a mere one percent of the American population was mixed race.  Now it is more than 10 percent.

I say hurrah.  The US Census Bureau predicts that by 2060, the number of mixed-race Americans will be three times larger than it is now.   I say hurrah.

According to the 2014 National Office of Statistics report,  the number of mixed-race households in the United Kingdom has reached 12% and is also growing.  I say hurrah.

As a Germanic, I am about as white as anyone can be.  Do I see myself -- or any other white person -- as special or better than someone of another race or creed or even religion?   No!

 As a devout Lutheran, I believe that my faith is the right path to heaven, but I understand and accept that people of other faiths believe the same thing.  Are they wrong?  Of course not.

I am so white that my foundation (makeup) colors are Cool Vanilla or Cool Ivory (No 7 is the brand, in case you are interested.)   At least, I am a cool white person ... after I slap on the makeup.

Jesus was Jewish.  He died Jewish.  We don't know what Jesus looked like, but we can assume that he did not have blond hair and blue eyes.  More likely, he had dark eyes, dark hair, and olive skin.   His color does not matter - it is what he preached that matters.

Embed from Getty Images 

Getting off the religious soapbox here and back to my rant.   White supremacists are far from being supreme.  They are toady creatures, uncomfortable in their own skin, living in their parents' basements.  They are insecure.  They are not well-educated or well-read.  I doubt they have a newspaper delivered to their front door every morning.   [I do.  The newspaper is called the Washington Post.]

The attacks on Miss Markle are not confined to Twitter or Facebook, but also in the British media. Yes, I am looking at you Daily Mail.

This morning, one writer began her article by writing that Miss Markle had "ditched" her trousers and wore a dress today at the Royal Foundation event, joining Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  Why was it necessary to write this?  The fact that Miss Markle wore pants to several engagements is not relevant to the story.  I am nearly certain that Mail writers, especially those who write for the online edition of the newspaper, are encouraged to write with a hint of salacious combined with a suggestion of innuendo.

I took several J-classes as an undergrad.  One of the first things a J-student learns is how to write a news story: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, HOW & WHY?    If it works for a New York Times writer,  it will also work for someone at the Daily Mail.

How many times do the tabloids have to say that Meghan is straight out of Compton (a not-so-nice neighborhood in Los Angeles) without checking facts?   Miss Markle grew up in a rather nice neighborhood called Baldwin Hills in  Los Angeles.

Miss Markle was educated at private schools starting with the Little Red Schoolhouse in Hollywood.  She attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles.  This is a Roman Catholic high school, but Miss Markle has never been a Roman Catholic.   More non-Catholics - and even non-Christians - attend Roman Catholic schools in the United States, than Roman Catholics.

In 2003, she graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in theater and international studies.  How many of her abusers could handle a double major,  or get admitted into Northwestern University?

Miss Markle is a confident, well-educated, well-read woman, who is in love and is loved by a very popular prince.  She has been welcomed into the royal family with open arms.  She has been a tireless worker for several charities so she will have few problems in taking on new challenges as she becomes a working royal.

She represents what is good about being an American.  She is not Wallis Warfield Simpson.

It is important to appreciate and acknowledge that Miss Markle is bi-racial.  She is not an English rose or a Greek princess.  She is a mixed-race American  - and that is something we all should celebrate.  Yes, celebrate diversity - because diversity makes us great.  Ditto the United Kingdom. 

The fact that I am white does not make me a better American.  It makes me appreciate that the United States is an amalgam of people from all over the world -- and the same can be said for the United Kingdom, but not with the same numbers.   Only 3% of Britain's population is black compared to 14% in the United States.

Embed from Getty Images 

I realize that the racial epithets and intolerant and ignorant comments will continue because the hurlers get great pleasure out of celebrating their own ignorance.   It is time, however, to call them out.  Report the posts.  Retort with facts  .. and kindness.  The same should be applied to "journalists" who spew out innuendo-filled articles.   (I am certainly not talking about the journos who cover the royal family 24-7).

Let's celebrate that an awesome American is going to become a member of the British royal family.

Meghan said it best: "My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I'm half black and half white. ... I have come to embrace [this and] say who I am, to share where I'm from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident, mixed-race woman."

I say hurrah!





26 comments:

Helen said...

Well said!

Matthew Plooster said...

AMEN, Marlene! Thank you!

Unknown said...

I agree with previous commenters. As an aside- I am Germanic and Lutheran just like you AND have biracial grandchildren.

The Blessed Virgin said...

well said !! I hope they have a happy and fruitful marriage. AMEN.

Barbara said...

Hear hear!

Unknown said...

Here! Hear!

Robert W said...

A great posting!

Unknown said...

Spot on

Unknown said...

OBRIGADO!!!

Jérôme said...


A great posting indeed !

Unknown said...

Very well said!!

Ally said...

Very well said, Marlene, I too am sick and tired of the attitude towards Meghan Markle from these racists. Thank you so much for saying this so eloquently.

Unknown said...

Well said! The most important thing is that Harry and Meghan are in love...

LoriW said...

Thank you Marlene for articulating so well what I have been feeling. Some of the comments I have read are absolutely, positively ignorant and made me feel sick. Well said.

Diane Brown said...

Amen and Hallejulah!!! I 100% agree! She is going to make a wonderful HRH and she and the Fab 4 are going to do great things! I am absolutely thrilled for her. For Harry. For the UK. For the USA and for all of us to witness such a celebration of love. I suppose some of the naysayers would prefer he marry a blonde blue blooded aristocratic 5th cousin ..... he found love. That is all that matters here

Rick Schoen said...

BRAVA!!

Unknown said...

You tell 'em, girl...I totally agree with you.

Marci Andy said...

I love this post! Thank you for writing it.

About us said...

And I cannot understand what those who spew their bile in the comments on the Daily Mail hope to achieve anyway? Do they imagine that Harry will be swayed by the lies and slurs of perdonswho have never even met his fiancee and, what... call the wedding off?
Great post, Marlene.

WandaSue said...

Very well said. Thank you!

Lisa said...

Brava Marlene! We need to get this posted in a major newspaper or magazine.

Wendy Hunter said...

Like you, Marlene, I am so pale as to be “half ghost”, but, also like you, I see racial, religious and sexual intolerance as the worst thing in the world today. ( I am also Canadian, so, on a completely other topic, I have been interested and pleased to see Meghan promoting our designers in her choice of clothing. ) She will never be a “Catherine Clone”, any more than Harry will be a “William Clone”. And that’s what makes it all so exciting!

lfrede said...

Well said, Marlene!

Lisa said...

I am tired of the racist remarks myself. My skin color is ivory. My brother says I am the whitest woman on our planet. But I have two biracial nieces and two biracial nephews. I love them every bit as much as my other kin, which is to say, very much. I get all kinds of weird stares and remarks when I'm out in public with some of them. Guess who?

I say, Ms. Markle is deserving of respect from everyone.

evelinepaulisse said...

I could not have said it better, it is discusting what the newspapers think they can write and say.
Well done Marlene!





Mind Wanderings said...

As the former wife of an African American (in the 1960's no less) and the mother of a bi-racial woman, I applaud your comments. They very much need to be repeated over and over until a certain segment of the population "gets it".