Meghan Markle's Challenging Biracial Upbringing Included Rage, Mom's Tears, and Discrimination

As a biracial woman, Meghan Markle’s life has not been a walk in the park as she has faced racism in many different forms. She even heard a person call her mom a racial slur.

One of the first times that the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle attracted people’s attention was portraying Rachel Zane in the legal drama “Suits.” Between 2011 and 2018, Markle was one of the leading characters of the show.

Her life completely changed after meeting and marrying Prince Harry, though. Apart from leaving Hollywood and her acting career on hold to become a member of the British Royal family, she welcomed two children.

FACING RACISM

Unfortunately, Markle has dealt with racism since she was just a child, and she couldn’t avoid it even after becoming the Duchess of Sussex as the British monarchy (reportedly), and the press frequently targeted her.

In 2018, for example, Sheryl Underwood said on “The Talk” that Markle “brought Blackness” to the Royals, but former co-host Sharon Osbourne claimed that Markle “ain’t Black.”

Osbourne’s co-hosts eventually informed her that Markle’s mom, Doria Ragland, was Black, and her father, Thomas Markle, was White. Still, Osbourne said Markle “doesn’t look Black… to anybody.”

After Markle and Harry’s explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Candace Owens claimed that people couldn’t discern that Markle was Black just by looking at her.

Owens suggested that the Duchess of Sussex lied about her experiences dealing with racism in the Royal family because she was not Black enough to be a victim.

Although Markle might be “too Black” for some and not “Black enough” for others, she considers herself half-Black and half-White. The “Suits” alum once shared some of the negative experiences she dealt with growing up.

MISTAKEN FOR A NANNY

Markle once confessed that her parents moved to The Valley in Los Angeles after marrying and having her, but the neighborhood was not diverse. For that reason, Ragland, “caramel in complexion,” would be mistaken as Markle's nanny because of their different skin tones.

Ragland was called a racial slur just because she was not pulling out of a parking space quickly enough.

Markle also wrote about an incident in seventh grade. For an English class, she was supposed to indicate her ethnicity and was given only four options: White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian.

She didn’t know what box to check as she considered it was like choosing one parent over the other and one half of herself over the other. Her teacher told her to check the Caucasian one because that’s how she looked, but Markle was too confused to tick a box.

Years later, a dorm mate asked Markle if her parents were still together after learning that one was Black and the other was White. When Markle said they were divorced, her dorm mate said, “well, that makes sense.”

After leaving a concert, Ragland was called a racial slur just because she was not pulling out of a parking space quickly enough. Due to all these experiences, Markle has been vocal about racism for years and even participated in the “I Won’t Stand for Racism” campaign.

MEGHAN MARKLE’S PARENTS

Speaking of Ragland, she is a yoga instructor and social worker who primarily focuses on the geriatric community. Ragland lived with her daughter, Harry, and grandson Archie in California in 2020.

She reportedly helped Markle prepare Archie’s “all-organic” baby food from scratch, read him some stories, and basically spent some quality time with the family.

As per Thomas, he and Markle have had a very complicated relationship for years. He famously staged paparazzi photos shortly before she married Harry and also shared private information about his daughter on TV.

Thomas recently claimed that he only heard about baby Lili’s birth on the radio, proving just how strained his and Markle’s relationship is. We hope they can make amends soon.