Progressive Prince Harry has said that people expressing “racist” behaviour do so because of their upbringing, but may not know they are acting in a racist way because they “don’t understand” their “unconscious biases”.
The Duke of Sussex made the comments whilst he was interviewing famed anthropologist Dr Jane Goodall for September’s issue of Vogue magazine, which is being guest-edited by his wife, American former TV actress Meghan Markle.
Speaking of the “stigma” which is “handed down from generation to generation”, Prince Harry said that “unconscious bias” is “something which so many people don’t understand”.
Prince Harry continued: “Despite the fact that if you go up to someone and say, ‘What you’ve just said, or the way that you’ve behaved, is racist’ – they’ll turn around and say, ‘I’m not a racist.’
“’I’m not saying that you’re a racist, I’m just saying that your unconscious bias is proving that, because of the way that you’ve been brought up, the environment you’ve been brought up in, suggests that you have this point of view – unconscious point of view – where naturally you will look at someone in a different way.'”
The Duke continued that after schooling the person with “racist” behaviour, they will be awakened to their unconscious bias, “And that is the point at which people start to have to understand.”
The woke royal, who married the feminist American entertainer in 2018 and welcomed their first child, a son named Archie, in May, also remarked emphatically that he would be having two children, “maximum!”, after Dr Goodall expressed hope that he would not have “too many”.
“Two, maximum!” he said, intimating that it was for the sake of saving the planet by adding: “I’ve always thought: this place is borrowed. And, surely, being as intelligent as we all are, or as evolved as we all are supposed to be, we should be able to leave something better behind for the next generation.”
Prince Harry’s older brother and second in line to the throne Prince William expressed in more open terms support for population control, warning of the dangers to the environment of overpopulation in 2017 — while expecting the arrival of this third child, Prince Louis.
The inheritors of a thousand years of British aristocracy and tradition, the younger generation of royals has embraced social justice causes including man-made climate change and LGBT rights.
Last month, Prince William said that it would be “absolutely fine” by him if one of his children came out as bisexual, gay, or even transgender.