Meghan Markle calls out ‘angry Black woman’ trope: ‘Being clear does not make you demanding’

Duchess of Sussex also revealed that she is 43 per cent Nigerian

Meghan Markle has called out the “angry Black woman” trope on the latest episode of her podcast, Archetypes.

The Duchess of Sussex, whose weekly Spotify podcast explores the different tropes placed on women, said that there is a difference between being “difficult” and being “clear”.

During the episode Meghan, 41, spoke to actor Issa Rae, 37, and talk show host Ziwe, 30, to discuss the stereotype.

When Rae said that she took her friend calling her “particular” as a compliment, Meghan said: “I’m particular,” later adding, “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. It makes you clear.”

Meghan then asked Rae whether, as a Black woman, if she feels “allowed to be angry”.

“Absolutely not,” Rae replied. “Because I can’t lose my cool, I can’t do that especially as a Black woman, but also just even as a public figure now.

“Because people are looking for ways to justify their perception of you. That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry. That might mean that I will vent my frustrations to someone that I trust, get it out of my system and then go into fix mode.”

Earlier in the podcast, Meghan revealed to Ziwe that she is “43 per cent Nigerian” which she found out after taking a genealogy test.

“Oh, this is huge! Igbo, Yoruba, do we know?,” Ziwe, who is of Nigerian descent herself, asked.

Meghan replied: “So, I mean, I’m going to start to dig deeper into all of this because anyone that I’ve told, especially Nigerian women, are just like what!”

Ziwe added: “This is huge for our community. No, honestly, you do look like a Nigerian, you look like my aunt Uzo. So this is great.”

During last week’s episode, in which Meghan discussed the “bimbo” trope with Paris Hilton, she said that she felt as if she was treated like a bimbo during her time on Deal or No Deal 16 years ago.

“I ended up quitting the show. I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage,” Meghan explained.

“I didn’t like feeling forced to be all looks. And little substance. And that’s how it felt for me at the time being reduced to this specific archetype the word bimbo.”

The comment has seen backlash from former cast members of the game show.