Prince Harry says being married to Meghan Markle taught him about unconscious racial bias

Prince Harry is continuing to have conversations around the issue of systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement. Most recently, The Duke sat down for a virtual tête-à-tête with activist Patrick Hutchinson, who became a media sensation and icon of heroism after stepping in to protect a white counter-protester at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in London earlier this year. Hutchinson is currently one of the people being celebrated at GQ’s Heroes festival.Among several other issues related to racial justice, he and the prince tackled the topic of unconscious bias, with Harry admitting he had no idea what it was before he was married to wife Meghan Markle. “Unconscious bias, from my understanding, having the upbringing and the education that I had, I had no idea what it was. I had no idea it existed,” he told Hutchinson. “And then, sad as it is to say, it took me many, many years to realize it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife's shoes."

 

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Kicking off this year's #GQHEROES with a world exclusive conversation between #PrinceHarry and #PatrickHutchinson ? One of the defining moments of this year’s Black Lives Matter renaissance was Hutchinson lifting a white counter-protestor out of harm’s way. Here, Prince Harry speaks with the activist about both their journeys and what we need to do next to further anti-racism. LINK IN BIO for the full video. Cover images credits: Prince Harry image by @msayles Patrick Hutchinson image by @gavinbondphotography Styling by @angelomitakos #BMWxGQHEROES #BMWUK @BMWUK #KLARNAxGQHEROES #GQHype // #GQ Editor @dylanjonesgq

A post shared by British GQ (@britishgq) on Oct 26, 2020 at 12:01am PDT

The Duke believes that education and awareness are the keys to uncovering unconscious bias, and that those in power need to do all they can to promote that idea. “Whether it's politics or whether it's the media, where if you're not aware of your own bias and you're not aware of the culture within your system, then how are we ever going to progress?” he asked. “How are we ever going to get to that point where there is more fairness? Because it's not a zero-sum game, right? Everyone benefits if the Black community gets treated the way they should be treated.”Harry and Hutchinson also talked about being fathers, saying that their kids give them the motivation they need to try to improve society. "Being a dad myself, the whole point in life, I guess, for me, is to try to leave the world in a better place than when you found it,” said the Duke. "It's going to take every single one of us to really change things and anyone that's pushing against it really needs to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror."[video_embed id='2063112']RELATED: Queen Elizabeth orders Meghan Markle and Prince Harry back to the UK [/video_embed]To that end, the Sussexes have launched their charitable foundation, Archewell. As for Hutchinson, he’s established a mentorship and educational group called United to Change and Inspire. As Hutchinson says, “It’s not Black versus white. It is everyone versus racists.”Check out Harry and Hutchinson’s complete conversation below. [video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Wilbur the dog adorably looks after these guinea pigs [/video_embed]