‘You Can Only Be Taught To Hate’: Prince Harry Spoke Out About Racism In British Vogue

You may already know that Meghan Markle has guest-edited the September issue of British Vogue, putting 15 inspirational women (including our own Sinead Burke) on the cover.

But the Duchess of Sussex also put husband Harry to work interviewing Dr Jane Goodall, a world-renowned animal behaviour expert famous for her study of chimpanzees.

Complimenting her on her work, he says: “What I love about your work is that you focus on the younger generation. [When] you start to peel away all of the layers, all the learned behaviour… at the end of the day, we’re all humans.”

“Especially if you get little kids together, there’s no difference,” replies Dr Goodall. “They don’t notice, ‘My skin’s white, mine’s black’ until somebody tells them.”

Prince Harry picks up this thread, saying many people don’t seem to understand  “unconscious bias” (learned stereotypes that are deeply engrained) and why they feel about certain things the way they do.

“Despite the fact that if you go up to someone and say, ‘What you’ve just said, or the way you’ve behaved, is racist’ – they’ll turn around and say ‘I’m not racist’,” he says.

I’m not saying that you’re a racist, I’m just saying that your unconscious bias is proving that, because of the way you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view – an unconscious point of view – where naturally you will look at someone in a different way.

“And that is the point at which people start to have to understand. You can only be taught to hate.”

This isn’t the first time that Harry has spoken publicly about racism – after news of his and Meghan Markle’s relationship broke in 2016, he released a statement through his Communications Secretary condemning the media reaction to his then-girlfriend.

The past week has seen a line crossed… Meghan Markle has been subjected to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.

Though Harry has come under fire in the past (for dressing as a Nazi at a party, amongst other things) people believe that through his relationship with Meghan, his eyes have been opened to issues of race.

I suspect Prince Harry’s learnt a lot about racism since falling in love w/ Meghan. A learning curve many who settle down with someone of a different race/class experience. It’s probs s’thing he & his circles hadn’t thought much about before – if ever. https://t.co/L879ct9ags

— Charlene White (@CharleneWhite) July 30, 2019

These RR reporters don’t like the fact Prince Harry is discussing racism by throwing his bad past behavior in his face. He owned up and learned from his past mistakes, he’s talking experiences. Hell you critics won’t even admit you’re being bias and racist towards Meghan

— Jasmine Harrison (@JasmineJay92) July 30, 2019

Elsewhere in the interview, Harry and Dr Goodall discuss climate change – and the prince reveals that he and Meghan plan to have two kids “maximum” due to concerns for the environment.

I’ve always thought: this place is borrowed. And surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we are all supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation.

The couple welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison, earlier this year.

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• Prince Harry