Search icon

Celebrity

02nd Jul 2020

Prince Harry apologises for ‘endemic’ institutional racism in influential speech

Jade Hayden

“I want you to know that we are committed to being part of the solution.”

Prince Harry has apologised for the “endemic” institutional racism that has dominated society, and has committed to doing more to tackle it.

In an influential video speech at last night’s Diana Awards, Harry addressed the young people working against discrimination and racial inequality, stating that his late mother would have been “fighting your corner.”

“Right now we are seeing situations around the world where division, isolation and anger are dominating, as pain and trauma come to the surface,” he said.

“But I see the greatest hope in people like you. I’m confident about the world’s future, and it’s ability to heal, because it is in your hands.”

Harry addressed wife Meghan Markle’s recent speech made in the wake of George Floyd’s death, in which she said that not enough has been done to stop the racial inequalities that have permeated modern society for decades.

“My wife said recently that our generation and the ones before us haven’t done enough to right the wrongs of the past,” he said. “I too, am sorry. Sorry that we haven’t got the world to the place that you deserve it to be.

“Institutional racism has no place in our societies, yet it is still endemic. Unconscious bias must be acknowledged without blame, to create a better world for all of you.

“I want you to know that we are committed to being part of the solution. And to being part of the change that you are all leading. Now is the time, and we know you can do it.”

Meghan’s own words came as the recent surge in Black Lives Matter protests were just beginning.

Speaking to students at her former high school in LA, she said that the events that had taken place in her hometown and elsewhere had been “devastating.”

“I wasn’t sure what I could say to you,” she said. “I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn’t or that it would get picked apart.

“I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing, because George Floyd’s life mattered. And Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. And Philando Castile’s life mattered. And Tamir Rice’s life mattered.”

Topics:

prince harry