Meghan Markle continues to break down some of the stereotypes which are limiting women with her podcast Archetypes, most recently speaking to writers and comedians Ziwe and Issa Rae about the ‘Angry Black woman’ trope.
In the podcast, called Upending the “Angry Black Woman” Myth with Issa Rae and Ziwe, Meghan asks, ‘How did the Angry Black woman come to be?’, asserting that the answer can be found ‘waaaay back’ to the institution of slavery, where slave owners would control people ‘not just physically on the plantations, but also through myths and stereotypes’ arguing that they were used to discredit them as human beings but having ‘too much’ of emotions like anger.
Bonding with Ziwe over the fact that a recent genealogy test revealed the Duchess of Sussex was ‘42% Nigerian’, Meghan spoke about how Black women could assert themselves without being attributed to being ‘angry’, ‘mean’ or ‘loud’.
'When I walk into a room, I’m particular. A high tide raises all ships, right? We’re all going to succeed so let's make sure it’s really great. But I will find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room when [I’m] saying a sentence where the intonation goes up at the end? Almost like it’s a question?
‘I’m like, “just stop!" Just say what is it that you need, you’re allowed to set a boundary, you’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult.’
Asking her guest ‘do you feel you’re allowed to be angry?’ Issa replied ‘absolutely not’, referencing W.E.B Du Bois’ theory of double consciousness from 1903. Meghan described it as ‘a twoness that Black people, especially in America face, a black self and an American self,’ and spoke about ‘the effort from that point to now to reconcile the two identities inwardly.’
Issa says ‘You always replay these moments in your head and you have this veil where you’re always wondering how people are viewing you and there’s an insecurity that comes with that. But it can be kind of funny too. You would overthink the most minute situations and I found the humour in that. ‘If someone says something to you that might be rude or out of pocket, you don’t have [the response] it in the moment, and I will spend days thinking about it.’