The Rise of Meghan Markle: A Biracial Icon

In recent news, we all have heard about the new royal engagement.  Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle, after over a year of dating, are ready to get married. I knew about Meghan Markle for a little while now, and I have really looked up to her and her biracial identity. Being a biracial, black and white, woman, it is hard for me to relate to woman within the media. You know, you always have that group of people within popular culture that you can bond and relate to. For the longest time no one looked like or resembled me in the public eye. I always felt like an outsider in a public place or that I didn’t belong.


A few years ago, Zendaya came to the small screen on Disney Channel and I learned she was also biracial. I finally had someone to look at and I felt included for a small while. She was the first person I ever saw that looked like me. Having Zendaya as a figure in my life has been amazing; however, she’s one person. There are so many monochromatic actresses, singers and other pop culture icons that people who aren’t like me can attach themselves to. 

 

Kate Branch, writer for Vogue, published an article called What Meghan Markle’sPersonal Essay About Beauty Standards Means for Women Everywhere yesterday speaking on Meghan’s recent personal essay about racial hardships and feminist issues. Branch also goes into shedding light onto other biracial artists such as Rashida Jones and Zoe Saldana. Meghan Markle has brought a whole new light to the biracial community.

Meghan Markle is showing the world that she can not only be an actress, but a feminist activist and soon to be country leader. A biracial princess? How crazy is that! I never thought that someone who looks like me could reach royal status. I also never thought that someone who looks like could be loved by someone like Prince Harry. Being biracial is like being a double minority.

• ·      You look like an outsider, even an alien to most people
• ·      You just don’t seem normal
• ·      You are too much of another race to be accepted by both you identify with

With something so normal, like love, you feel accepted in a sort of way. I’m not saying that a man (or woman) makes you feel relevant, but any sort of relationship can.

Along with Branch’s article, I recently have been seeing so many videos on Facebook pages about Meghan Markle, and her explaining how she never felt accepted by the people around her because of her parents and herself. There was an instance where she was taking a test, and she had to fill in a box for her race. But since she is biracial, she was confused and asked her teacher what to do. She replied with telling her to check the white box because she looks white. 

After telling her dad this (who is white), he said to be her own box. 

I will forever live by this statement.

The Huffington Post has a crazy amount of articles about the Biracial and Multiracial community! Check it out!