Prince Harry On How Being With Meghan Made Him Realize His Unconscious Bias

Being married to Meghan Markle and seeing everything she goes through on a daily basis has given Prince Harry a completely different way to look at life.

Source: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / Getty

In honor of Black History Month in the UK, Prince Harry sat down for a discussion with Patrick Hutchinson for British GQ. Hutchinson is a Black Lives Matter activist who went viral recently for carrying an injured white man to safety after the man was allegedly attacked during a protest in London.

During their conversation, Harry and Hutchinson spoke candidly about anti-racism, the Black Lives Matter movement and taking care of your mental health in quarantine. Most notably, Harry touched on his wife’s impact on him, revealing how she made him realize the unconscious bias he has as a privileged white man born to the aristocracy.

“You can’t really point fingers, especially when it comes to unconscious bias. But once you realize 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,” He explained to Hutchinson. “And unconscious bias, from my understanding, having the 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 realize it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife’s shoes.”

Harry went on to add that it’s important for anyone with privilege to understand how all people live, not just the ones who look like them.

“For me, it’s down to a more diverse perspective, otherwise you’re just perpetuating that bias,” he continued. “And I think one of the most dangerous things is people within positions of power, whether it’s politics or whether it’s the media, where if you’re not aware of your own bias and you’re not aware of the culture within your system, then how are we ever going to progress? How are we ever going to get to that point where there is more fairness? Because it’s not a zero-sum game, right? Everyone benefits if the black community gets treated the way they should be treated.”

Prince Harry continued, saying, “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. Because as I said, this isn’t black versus white. As you quite rightly pointed out, now in 2020 we have protestors of every color, every background, every religion, every age. 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.”

You can read Prince Harry’s full conversation with Patrick Hutchinson here.