When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they were expecting their first child in October, speculations about the baby?s appearance swiftly followed. Will this ?beautiful mixed baby? have ginger hair" Will their child look like Blake Griffin, the unofficial ambassador for biracial redheads" Considering Meghan?s fair skin, will their little Lord or Lady look Black at all" It was like everyone was taking bets on an exotic new show horse?and to be honest, it wasn?t surprising.
As a mixed race woman myself?I?m half Jamaican and half Filipino?I?ve followed Meghan?s trajectory with a curious eye. I?m not a royal watcher or even a fan of her former TV show; but seeing someone like me become accepted in a long-standing white, elitist institution made me both excited and nervous. Excited, because seeing Black women fill spaces historically filled only by white women reminds me that things are shifting. (Though her presence certainly doesn?t change the royal family?s long history of racism.) At the same time, it was nerve-wracking to watch how high the stakes became for Meghan simply because of the colour of her skin. In October, when the royal couple officially announced that they were having a baby, I felt that same fear. I?m worried about how this biracial babe will navigate the complex waters of understanding their identity while under such intense public scrutiny.
In fact, even before this baby has been born, it?s already taken on one of the most ...