Meghan Markle feels ‘destined’ to help fight US systemic racism

Meghan Markle’s instinct to leave the United Kingdom and move to California all makes sense to her now, as she believes she was ‘destined’ to help fight systemic racism in the United States, a close friend exclusively told DailyMail.com.  

The Duchess feels that her ‘gnawing urgency to uproot from England’ was fate so she could be at the ‘forefront’ of the movement, the insider explained.

They added: ‘Meghan said her work as a leader is more important than ever right now and that she’s been speaking with Oprah and other community leaders on how she can be part of the solution. 

‘Meghan feels like her mission goes far beyond acting. She said she wants to use her voice for change and hasn’t ruled out a career in politics.’ 

Meghan, who quit her royal duties with husband Prince Harry earlier this year and relocated to LA in March, recently distanced herself from best friend Jessica Mulroney after she threatened to sue a black influencer over a dispute.  

It came as the United States has been rocked by protests across the country in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and other African-Americans who have died at the hands of police, sparking national conversations about racism. 

Meghan spoke out about Floyd’s death earlier this month, declaring ‘black lives matter’ and admitted she hadn’t made a statement earlier because she had been ‘nervous’.  

Meghan Markle’s instinct to leave the United Kingdom and move to California all makes sense to her now, as she believes she was ‘destined’ to help fight systemic racism in the United States, a close friend exclusively told DailyMail.com. She spoke out about Floyd’s death earlier this month, declaring ‘black lives matter’ and admitted she hadn’t made a statement earlier because she had been ‘nervous’ (pictured) 

They added: 'Meghan said her work as a leader is more important than ever right now and that she¿s been speaking with Oprah and other community leaders on how she can be part of the solution.' Pictured: Oprah attending Meghan and Prince Harry's wedding

They added: ‘Meghan said her work as a leader is more important than ever right now and that she’s been speaking with Oprah and other community leaders on how she can be part of the solution.’ Pictured: Oprah attending Meghan and Prince Harry’s wedding 

The 38-year-old made the Floyd address to graduating students at her old school, Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, which she attended from the age of 11 to 18. 

She said: ‘George Floyd’s life mattered and Breonna Taylor’s life mattered and Philando Castile’s life mattered and Tamir Rice’s life mattered’. 

The other three people Meghan mentions were killed by US police over the past six years. Meghan also referred to Los Angeles as her family’s ‘home town’ after moving there with husband Harry and their son Archie.

On speaking out about Floyd, she said: ‘I wasn’t sure what I could say to you. I wanted to say the right thing and I was really nervous that it would get picked apart. And I realised the only wrong thing to say is to say nothing’. 

Last week, Markle distanced herself from Mulroney after she threatened to sue black influencer Sasha Exeter when the pair got into a dispute over racism on Instagram.

Mulroney was promptly fired from ABC’s Good Morning America and had her reality TV show cancelled.

Meghan was left ‘absolutely mortified’ with Mulroney’s ‘tone-deaf’ threats and can ‘no longer be associated with her’, close friends previously told DailyMail.com.  

‘Meghan is absolutely mortified that she’s been dragged into this complete mess. She said Jessica is in no way a racist, but the way she handled the situation (with the fashion influencer) was tone-deaf and heartbreaking,’ a close friend of Meghan’s said.    

‘Meghan said friends reflect friends and because of what’s at stake she can no longer be associated with Jessica, at least not in public. She has to do what she has to do in order to preserve her dignity and her own reputation,’ they added. 

Meghan, who quit her royal duties with husband Prince Harry earlier this year and relocated to LA in March, recently distanced herself from best friend Jessica Mulroney after she threatened to sue a black influencer over a dispute

Meghan, who quit her royal duties with husband Prince Harry earlier this year and relocated to LA in March, recently distanced herself from best friend Jessica Mulroney after she threatened to sue a black influencer over a dispute 

Toronto-based influencer Sasha Exeter said she was left 'paralysed with fear' and 'stayed up days and nights' worrying about what Jessica 'could be saying to my existing brand partners, potential work, potential livelihood'

Jessica Mulroney pictured hosting I Do, Redo

Toronto-based influencer Sasha Exeter said she was left ‘paralysed with fear’ and ‘stayed up days and nights’ worrying about what Jessica (right) ‘could be saying to my existing brand partners, potential work, potential livelihood’

Mulroney was a fashion contributor on the wildly popular morning show Good Morning American until her firing last Friday. She is seen with host Robin Roberts

 Mulroney was a fashion contributor on the wildly popular morning show Good Morning American until her firing last Friday. She is seen with host Robin Roberts

The Duchess has previously opened up about how racism has affected her own family.

Meghan described the experiences of both her mother and grandfather, and her own journey as a biracial woman.

The former Suits star became the first mixed-race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal in 2018.

But she and Prince Harry quit as senior working royals in March to pursue personal and financial freedom in the US, after telling of their struggles dealing with their royal life and the intense media interest.

Meghan recounted how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for ‘coloureds’ and eat the chicken in the car park.

‘That story still haunts me,’ she wrote. ‘It reminds me of how young our country is. How far we’ve come and how far we still have to come.’

Meghan, whose father Thomas Markle is Caucasian and mother Doria Ragland is African-American, wrote of her background: ‘While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that.

‘To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.’

In a piece for Elle Magazine in 2015, she said she witnessed her mother being called ‘the n word’ by another driver in Los Angeles and described the heartache it caused.

‘My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom. Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: ‘It’s OK, Mommy’,’ she wrote. 

The Duchess has previously opened up about how racism has affected her own family. Meghan described the experiences of both her mother and grandfather, and her own journey as a biracial woman.. Meghan is pictured as a teenager with her father Thomas Markle

The Duchess has previously opened up about how racism has affected her own family. Meghan described the experiences of both her mother and grandfather, and her own journey as a biracial woman.. Meghan is pictured as a teenager with her father Thomas Markle 

Meghan recounted how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for 'coloureds' and eat the chicken in the car park. Pictured: Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland

Meghan recounted how her grandfather told her as a child that he and his family stopped off at Kentucky Fried Chicken during a road trip, but had to go to the back of the restaurant for ‘coloureds’ and eat the chicken in the car park. Pictured: Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland 

Meghan Markle pictured in a resurfaced campaign video from 2012 - filmed as part of the 'I Won't Stand For...' campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate. Meghan and Harry had been maintaining a low profile on social media during the Black Lives Matter protests - and stayed offline during Black Out Tuesday on their Sussex Royal Instagram page.

Meghan Markle pictured in a resurfaced campaign video from 2012 – filmed as part of the ‘I Won’t Stand For…’ campaign for non-profit organisation Erase the Hate. Meghan and Harry had been maintaining a low profile on social media during the Black Lives Matter protests – and stayed offline during Black Out Tuesday on their Sussex Royal Instagram page.

Meghan also described how her great-great-great-grandfather went on to create his own identity when freed from slavery.

‘Because in 1865 (which is so shatteringly recent), when slavery was abolished in the United States, former slaves had to choose a name. A surname, to be exact,’ she wrote.

‘Perhaps the closest thing to connecting me to my ever-complex family tree, my longing to know where I come from and the commonality that links me to my bloodline, is the choice that my great-great-great grandfather made to start anew.

‘He chose the last name Wisdom.’

As a child, her father, from whom she is now estranged, created a Barbie family for Christmas when they were only sold in sets of white dolls or black dolls.

She wrote on her lifestyle blog how her new collection had ‘a black mom doll, a white dad doll, and a child in each color. My dad had taken the sets apart and customised my family.’  

Meghan and Harry had been maintaining a low profile on social media during the Black Lives Matter protests – and stayed offline during Black Out Tuesday on their Sussex Royal Instagram page. 

The royal couple have stayed silent on social media over the past two months, with their last Instagram post on March 30.

Their general quiet was questioned, with one Twitter user commenting yesterday: ‘Meghan Markle has stayed annoyingly quiet during all of this… and it is really bugging me.’

Another named Guisou said: ‘Wondering why Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are quiet about the racism occurring in the US?’

Vivian Maria added: ‘Where is Meghan Markle? She seems awfully quiet these days.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk