Dr. Velma McClymont, a renowned British-Jamaican poet, and writer is pleading with people in the Commonwealth Caribbean to stand up for the biracial Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle against the overtly racist abuse she has been subjected to in certain British media.
In a forcefully worded article obtained by the Jamaica Observer, McClymont claimed that members of the Caribbean Community in Britain are “traumatized” by recent vile remarks made in the British press about Markle. However, he lamented being unable to address the situation and pleaded for assistance from their counterparts in the region to speak out in support of this woman of African descent.
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Because of her ethnic heritage, Markle is allegedly subjected to severe treatment, particularly by the British tabloid press. Markle, the first known mixed-race member of the modern British royal family, has been demonized by sections of the British media since her relationship with the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry became public – from their courtship to marriage and throughout their stay in the royal family – resulting in numerous deplorable articles with overt racial overtones.
The most recent insult came from British broadcaster and writer Jeremy Clarkson, who said in a piece in December that he detested Meghan Markle “on a molecular level.”
The article, which was written in retaliation to Prince Harry and Markle’s six-part Netflix documentary series in which they discussed their time as members of the royal family, their decision to resign from those duties, and the intense media scrutiny they endured, was published in the tabloid newspaper The Sun.
According to Clarkson in the article, he was “dreaming of the day when she [Markle] is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, ‘Shame!’ and throw lumps of excrement at her,” which is uncannily reminiscent of a scene starring Queen Cersei from the well-known Game of Thrones series.
The article has subsequently been taken off The Sun’s website, and the publication has apologized for running it. Following the publishing, there was also a public outrage, including that of Clarkson’s own daughter and British Members of Parliament.
In a sarcastic tweet in reaction to criticism of the story, Clarkson stated: “Oh dear. I’d rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in the future.”
McClymont, the director/publisher of WomanzVue Books and an internationally recognized speaker, claimed that the terrible picture of Markle being publically humiliated while being “tarred and feathered, albeit with ‘excrement’, is a grievous transgression that incites male aggression towards non-white women.”
She authored, “Due to ongoing systemic racism, we [the Caribbean community in Britain — often located in inner city areas with high levels of deprivation] have no economic power, no real influence and thus no voice to challenge the racism directed at us via the media, especially The Sun, and sections of the British public whose appetite for articles dehumanizing Markle is insatiable.”
She claimed that due to this group’s “lack of voice” the wider Caribbean community should indeed shield Markle against the hate being aimed directly at her by white influential racist and sexist bullies like Clarkson and (another British broadcaster and journalist) Piers Morgan. With their enormous social media platforms, these men “have embarked on a campaign to whip Markle until she is stripped naked of all dignity.”
It is time for Caribbean leaders, McClymont said, “especially the esteemed [Prime Minister of Barbados] Mia Mottley, to speak out against the blatant attacks on a woman of African descent.”
“No longer can Barbados and Jamaica [who are] members of the Caribbean Commonwealth remain silent when The King is withholding hereditary titles from his mixed-race grandchildren as a way of perhaps punishing Prince Harry for tarnishing his grandmother’s legacy. This is also about the media policing the boundaries of whiteness, [with] royal biographers/journalists advising Charles to disown his grandchildren – Archie and Lilibet,” she noted.
McClymont argued that it is time for the Commonwealth Caribbean and Caricom to address “the persecution of his own son’s wife” in an open letter to the King.
She said, “If the region does not denounce Clarkson’s racist attack [a hate crime] on The King’s own daughter-in-law, what is the point of the Commonwealth?” She further questioned who stands to gain from this coalition of primarily former British colonies.
McClymont also expressed disgust that the royal family, which includes King Charles as the head of state of Jamaica and other countries in the Caribbean, had kept mute over the most recent racist media attack on the Duchess of Sussex.
“If influential persons in the Caribbean remain silent in the face of this blatant form of hate crime, and continue to welcome the royals and their allies [such as Clarkson and Morgan] to the site of Britain’s crime against Africa, then you in the region are telling us that our lives… are not worth defending; that the region only cares about the regular remittances we send home to keep the islands afloat,” she noted.
McClymont stated that some descendants of Africans who were held as “property” by Britain “are waiting in vain for The King to denounce Clarkson.”
She did, however, point out that when a crime is perpetrated against the Jewish or Asian communities, “the royal family and the police are quick to denounce the perpetrators and to send sincere messages of condolences and reassurance to the victim[s] and the community affected, ” she said.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in March 2021, Markle also discussed how racism in the royal family and the hostile attitude of the British tabloid press affected her mental health. The late Queen Elizabeth II was mentioned in a CNBC report as saying that the concerns presented, particularly the one involving race were “concerning.”
The Queen at the time stated, “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
In 2020, Prince Harry and Markle reportedly resigned from their royal responsibilities and relocated to California in the United States, alleging a lack of support from the royal family and Markle’s treatment by the media on the basis of race.
The treatment of Markle by the British press may not have sparked a public outcry, but Commonwealth Caribbean nations have been fighting to depose the British monarchy as their head of state. Barbados has already done so, and Jamaica, under the leadership of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, is in the phase of doing the same. They are also fighting for reparative justice for the atrocities committed by the British empire during slavery.
