‘Only wrong thing to say is to say nothing,’ Duchess of Sussex tells students at her former L.A. high school
Janet Davison, CBC News, Posted: Jun 14, 2020
Protests over racism, police violence resonate for Meghan
She remembers living in Los Angeles at the time of the 1992 riots — a culmination of years of racial tensions and anger at police brutality — when she was 11 or 12 years old. She saw the looting and “men in the back of a van holding guns and rifles,” and remembers ash falling from the sky and driving home to find the tree outside her house completely charred.
That unrest came to mind for Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as she watched the protests and riots across the U.S. sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25.
And it came to mind as Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, delivered a virtual address the other day to students at her former high school in L.A.
“I can’t imagine that at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience,” she said as she shared her sadness about the persistence of racism across the U.S. with students at Immaculate Heart High School.
“So the first thing I want to say to you is that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present.”
Meghan, who is now living in L.A. with her husband, Prince Harry, and son, Archie, after they stepped back from the upper echelons of the Royal Family two months ago, said she felt moved to speak out.
She also said that she had wrestled with the question of what to say to the students given the days of protest that have followed Floyd’s death last month.
“I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that I wouldn’t, or that it would get picked apart, and I realized the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing,” Meghan said in the graduation address, which lasted almost six minutes.
Along with Floyd, Meghan mentioned other Black people killed by police.
“Because George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered.”
Meghan ended her address with words of encouragement for the students, telling them they are going to lead with love and compassion, and use their voices.
“You are going to have empathy for those who don’t see the world through the same lens that you do, because with as diverse and vibrant and open-minded as I know the teachings at Immaculate Heart are, I know you know that Black lives matter.”
Meghan’s message was retweeted by the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, of which she is vice-president and Harry is president.
The trust also shared other messages of encouragement in recent days on social media.
“Young people are vital voices in the fight against injustice and racism around the world. As a global community of young leaders we stand together in pursuit of fairness and a better way forward,” the trust tweeted.
“Silence is not an option.”
— With files from The Associated Press
