Charlene White fumed at ‘casual racism’ row over Meghan and Harry interview

Charlene White fumed at ‘casual racism’ row over Meghan and Harry interview

10/22/2021

Loose Women: Charlene White is introduced as new anchor

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Ms White returned to screens last night for Charlene White: Empire’s Child at 9pm on ITV.  In the programme, the broadcaster journeyed into her past to explore the legacy of the British Empire and how it has shaped her family’s history. The documentary, commissioned as part of ITV’s programming for Black History Month, saw Ms White travel across Britain and Jamaica on a genealogy journey to investigate her own heritage.

The news presenter was dealt a shock however after she traced back her family tree to Jamaica where she uncovered her five-time great-grandfather John Stanbury, was a slave owner.

In an emotional clip, Ms White said: “He was a slave owner, he owned people who looked like me.

“Also that is within my bloodline, which is a weird thing to get my head around and he is responsible for my families’ lighter skin.

“Is it a nice history? No, but I feel it is something I needed to know.”

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In April 2014 White became the first black woman to present ITV News at Ten, while in January this year she was announced as a regular anchor on Loose Women. 

In March, when discussing Harry and Meghan’s explosive two hour CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, Ms White was caught in a heated discussion with her Loose Women co-star Ms Moore.

In the infamous interview, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were deeply critical of Palace life and also claimed that a senior royal had raised “concerns” about how dark their baby’s skin might be when he was born. 

While unpacking the claim on Loose Women, Ms Moore said: “Meghan has very much said it’s her truth or their truth.

“The question remains whether it’s the truth of the institution ‒ some of the things said in the interview are very, very serious.

“It’s difficult because I think there were a lot of valid points in there, but I struggle with the lack of context and how vague it was.

“By not being specific, you’ve condemned the entire family, and if you think about it could have been an out and out racist comment, or it could have been someone very senior in the family.”

Ms Moore added: “I think everybody watching has got someone from the older generation that sometimes says something that’s very inappropriate or maybe casually racist, not necessarily meaning it to be or understanding it is. 

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“Maybe they said: ‘I wonder what colour the baby’s skin will be?’”

However Ms White quickly retorted: “But that’s not what Meghan has said, she said there were concerns about the colour of their son’s skin, so there’s a difference there between…”

The ITV newsreader added, “You perhaps would be ok with casual racism” before Ms Moore quickly replied “No, no, I’m not saying I’m ok with it.”

Ms White continued: “They have chosen not to mention the person that had that conversation.

“There’s a very, very different reason between enquiring as to the skin colour of a child who is the product of an interracial relationship as to being ‘concerned’”

Nadia Sawalha, who was also on the panel, then interjected to ask Ms White if she thought they should have named the person who the claims were made against, to which the broadcaster replied: “It’s up to them.”

Ms Moore then explained her reasons as to why she thought the Sussexes should have named the royal.

She said: “Because if you’re a senior member of the Royal Family and you didn’t say it, you are condemned ‒ the vague nature of it is far more damaging.”

Ms White responded “Really?”, before Ms Moore continued “It’s damaging to the whole family.”

Ms White added: “We are nitpicking here ‒ rather than deal with that and looking within ourselves as British people, I think we need to be honest about underlying racism.

“I’m telling you my truth as a black woman.”

Ms White seemed particularly annoyed as Ms Moore replied: “I’m not saying it’s not true ‒ I get called aggressive and I’m not black.”

Watch Charlene White: Empire’s Child at 9pm on ITV. 

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