Mrutyuanjai Mishra discusses his thoughts the day before the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Hindsight can ride shotgun on his article now.
Even though I am a staunch republican and not a royalist, I will be watching the official wedding held on Saturday, May 19th, when Prince Harry of Britain and Meghan Markle, an American actress, humanist and a yoga-lover, will pronounce the words, “I do”.
Meghan Markle is a mix-raced child. Her mother, Doria Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, is Afro-American and Meghan’s father is Dutch-Irish.
The number of mixed-race Americans is increasing three times faster than the population of the United States as a whole, yet Western societies, which are seeing this surge in interracial marriages, still have not taken a serious debate on issues of identity and acceptance of these newcomers, who are building bridges between two cultures, countries and colors. Racism still persists, structural racism still has its covert impact, and mixed marriages are in this context the best alternative to racism and xenophobic tendencies, which demonize differences between people.
In the 1970s only one per cent of all American children were of mixed race. Now, this number has risen to 10 percent. Acceptance of mix-raced relationships in the western countries, happened only after later Eighties. My best friend in Denmark is of mixed race, the daughter of an Indian doctor from Goa and a Danish nurse. She has described many instances of how throughout her education she kept bumping into mixed-raced children of all kinds of origin trying to club together.
“You are not white enough to be Danish, British, Dutch, Irish, or Swedish. And then you are not dark enough to be Indian, Afro-American, African, Sri-Lankan, etc.”
Barack Obama was the first mixed raced President of the United States, yet the confusion persisted, and he was referred to by some as the first black President of the United States, and for some the not black enough President of the United States.
Meghan Markle’s popularity and the British royal family’s popularity seem to be shooting for the star because Prince Harry’s marriage is seen as an embrace of racial diversity, which is becoming increasingly common. Even though royal families across European countries are still popular and successful, there are no examples of marriages of mixed race or persons of another race altogether. Therefore there is unusual attraction and attention given to this British royal wedding tomorrow. Prince Joachim of Denmark had married Princess Alexandra Manley (pictured), who is from Hong Kong, but this marriage did not get international exposure. They are divorced now and have two children in Denmark.
Children of mixed race are often children of parents who have made the world a more tolerant place. A century ago mixed marriages were seen as a curse in America, with very little acceptance. Schools were segregated and the chances of people meeting and marrying across racial boundaries were minimal.
I regard these mixed marriages, and especially the children born out of those marriages, as personal projects of peace. People speaking two different languages, people who are black and white and of all shades of black and white can now marry, making those barriers superficial today. But historically speaking, this is a right earned recently. A few decades ago, white men kept black mistresses but the question of marrying them was impossible.
Close to a billion people will watch this marriage tomorrow, and hopefully, this would in some way translate into better acceptance of racial diversity. I hope Indians, too, can identify with Meghan, who is fond of yoga, an Indian invention.
Mixed marriages, inter-caste marriages, and marriages between persons of different nationalities are creating an amalgamation resulting in a brand-new cultural trend, which highlights tolerance and diversity.
Tomorrow, an ordinary American and a British citizen, whether white or of coloured origin, can identify with what is happening on the royal arena. The royal family’s popularity will rise and, what is even better, finally millions of children of mixed-race background will have a role model to see (sic) up to.
Question: When referring to Meghan Markle, Mrutyuanjai Mishra states “..finally millions of children of mixed-race background will have a role model to see (sic) up to.“ What do you think he means by this? Did he mean there were no other mixed-race people to look up to before this? Join the discussion here in our forums.
Mrutyuanjai Mishra, May 18, 2018, Mixed-race identity and perceptions of biracial people, Times of India, Accessed 19th May 2020, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/mind-the-gap/mixed-race-identity-and-perceptions-of-biracial-people/