As Black Lives Matter protests take place around the world following the tragic death of George Floyd, an old video of Meghan Markle candidly discussing her experience of racism has resurfaced online. The Suits star took part in a campaign video in 2012 in which she spoke about her hopes for her future children and her love of LA. The Duchess recently relocated back to Los Angeles with her husband Prince Harry and their son, one-year-old Archie Harrison. And it's clear the city holds a special place in her heart.
WATCH: Meghan Markle discusses racism in unearthed video
In the clip, Meghan can be seen wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with the words: 'I won't stand for racism.' She begins by saying: "My name's Meghan Markle and I'm here because I think it’s a really important campaign to be a part of. For me I think it really hits a personal note. I'm bi-racial, most people can’t tell what I'm mixed with and so much of my life has felt like being a fly on the wall. And so some of the slurs I've heard or the really offensive jokes, or the names, it's just hit me in a really strong way. And, you know, a couple of years ago I heard someone call my mum the N word. So I think for me, beyond being personally affected by racism, just to see the landscape of what our country is like right now, certainly the world, and to want things to be better."
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The Duchess with her mother, Doria Ragland
Later on in the video, Meghan speaks about her experience of life outside Los Angeles. "Leaving LA was sort of like leaving this bubble where I was used to everything, and had been exposed to everything except for a closed mindedness that I experienced when I travelled outside of where I was from," she says. "I think that in doing that it really opened my eyes to a mentality that still exists that I thought was backdated to the days of when my grandfather moved our family from Cleveland to LA, and they drove across the country and to stop and get food, whatever kind of place they were going to, and they had to go round the back to get food for the family. You know, I thought that was really isolated to those days that we were past, and sadly they're not."
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The Duchess concludes: "I am really proud of my heritage on both sides. I'm really proud of where I've come from and where I'm going. But yeah, I hope that by the time I have children that people are even more open-minded to how things are changing, and that having a mixed world is what it's all about. I mean certainly it makes it a lot more beautiful and a lot more interesting."
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Meghan and Harry welcomed son Archie in May 2019
It's by no means the first time that Meghan, 38, has addressed racism. In 2015, two years before she met Prince Harry, she wrote a candid article for American Elle magazine in which described her experiences of growing up mixed-race. She described a touching story of how her parents Doria and Thomas, who divorced when Meghan was six, worked hard to make sure their daughter felt included. "When I was about seven I had been fawning over a boxed set of Barbie dolls. It was called the Heart Family and included a mom doll, a dad doll and two children," she shared.
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"This perfect nuclear family was sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls. I don't remember coveting one over the other, I just wanted one. On Christmas morning, there I found my Heart Family – a black mom doll, a white dad doll and a child in each colour. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised the family."