Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Call for Structural Racism to End

LONDON, KOMPAS.com – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have called for an end to “structural racism” in their latest foray into politically sensitive issues.

Since stepping down earlier this year, the couple has made several comments on race issues which are usually avoided by the British Royal Family.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle told The Evening Standard newspaper that structural racism holds back people of color.

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On the topic of structural racism, the British Prince added that Britain could be a better place if white people understood more about those "of a different colored skin".

"For as long as structural racism exists, there will be generations of young people of color who do not start their lives with the same equality of opportunity as their white peers," the couple wrote in an article for the paper.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their roles as working members of the royal family at the end of March and moved to California.

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Prince Harry, 36, told the Standard he had been awakened to the issues facing Black and other ethnic minorities since meeting Meghan Markle, whose father is white and mother is African American.

"I wasn’t aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the UK and also globally as well. I thought I did but I didn’t," he said.

"It is not about pointing the finger, it is not about blame. I will be the first person to say, again, this is about learning," Harry told the paper.

"And about how we can make it better. I think it is a really exciting time in British culture and British history, and in world culture," added Harry, who is Queen Elizabeth's grandson and sixth-in-line to the throne.

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"A beautiful thing"

The interview, carried out by video from their new home, coincides with the start of Black History Month in Britain which celebrates the contribution of Black people to the nation.