Meghan Markle speaks out about racism, returning to the US and 'using her voice'

The Duchess of Sussex made some telling comments during The 19th Represents Summit

Meghan Markle has spoken out about racism and using her voice as a force for change in an interview with The 19th, a new non-profit newsroom focused on gender, politics and policy.

In one of her most telling comments, Markle said she was looking forward to “using her voice in a way I haven’t been able to of late. So, yeah, it’s good to be home."

From my standpoint, it's not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias

She touched on her own experiences as a bi-racial woman. “From my standpoint, it’s not new to see this undercurrent of racism and certainly unconscious bias, but I think to see the changes that are being made right now is really — it’s something I look forward to being a part of,” Markle continued.

Markle's remarks were made were made during an interview for The 19th Represents Summit, a week of virtual conversations with leading women in politics and public policy.

While the Duchess of Sussex was technically in the interviewer’s seat, talking to The 19th’s co-founder and CEO, Emily Ramshaw, about the role of gender in media, she did answer a few questions herself.

She spoke of how “devastating” it was to return to the United States as it entered a period of racial reckoning in the aftermath of the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.

“If there’s any silver lining in that, I would say that in the weeks after the murder of George Floyd, in the peaceful protests that you were seeing, in the voices that were coming out, in the way that people were actually owning their role … it shifted from sadness to a feeling of absolute inspiration, because I can see that the tide is turning.”

Markle also shared her view of the current state of the media industry. “What’s so fascinating, at least from my standpoint and my personal experience the past couple of years, is that the headline alone, the clickbait alone, makes an imprint,” Meghan said. “That is part of how we start to view the world, how we interact with other people.”

After renouncing their royal duties at the beginning of the year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have settled in Santa Barbara, California.