Ever since she dared to wed England’s “most eligible bachelor,”Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has faced an unending barrage of vile and vitriolic ad hominem attacks. Her attackers are largely White female social media influencers of a certain ilk, patriarchy-promoting media outlets, and bigots on both sides of the pond.
Her charmed existence draws so much fire because in the Eurocentric fairy tales of yore across books, stage, and screen, Black women are the entertaining sidekicks when they are present at all … never the main character who gets the prince. The fragility, umbrage, and venom over the duchess living the fairy tale on her own terms is rooted in the racist idea that Black women deserve neither leisure, nor the right to move, love, and live freely.
From laws governing how their hair is worn, to policies forcing them into the workforce, to demands that they lead the postelection fight against President Donald Trump’s authoritarian aims (after 92% of them refused to vote for him), White society never ceases to police how Black women spend their time and show up in the world.
During the 18th century, the Spanish governor of Louisiana – at the urging of White women enraged by Black women whose elaborately adorned hair had “too much luxury in their bearing” – passed the Tignon law, which forced them to cover their coifs.
In response, Black women subversively stylized their headscarves with intricate rosette knots, flowers, jewels, and feathers.
French Empress Joséphine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, appropriated their style, which became all the rage in Europe as haute couture.
Meanwhile, Code Noir, or Black Code, and their vicious variants – laws that governed every aspect of Black life – would go on to infect American society for more than 200 years.
In the early 1900s, as World War I raged and Black soldiers fought for the freedom of others, a number of Southern states passed ordinances requiring Black housewives who received the military allotments their husbands sent home, to work outside of the home – in some cases at least 50 hours or more.
Despite the NAACP’s appeals to President Woodrow Wilson, Black women who refused to leave their homes, children, and the middle-class comfort their husbands’ efforts provided, were jailed or fined.
In 2024, in the wake of the majority White electorate’s rejection of Vice President Kamala Harris at the polls, the 92% of Black women who poured their energy into electing the first Black woman president vowed to pour into themselves and their community.
The result: postelection “brunch outs,” retail boycotts, an uptick in self-care content on social media, deep dives on HillmanTok, and a renewed interest in joyful personal pursuits like Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” inspired country line dancing.
And, yes, some even binged the new lifestyle show by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
The response to Black women’s decision to look after themselves has been a storm of social media commentary demanding their labor.
They’ve entreated, nagged, and cajoled Black women to once again stand on the front lines to resist tyranny, accept blue bracelets as friendship tokens from White women allies, and put their historically rooted weariness aside to do what’s “best” for the country.
In “With Love, Meghan,” currently ranked 10th globally for Netflix, the duchess, sun-kissed and radiant, occupies her space with authority and unbothered ease, emblematic of the 92%’s “soft life” era.
She cooks with homegrown fresh herbs and veggies, weaves daisy chains, and harvests honey on the type of land her ancestors dreamed their descendants could one day own.
As she sips cocktails with diverse friends in a posh Montecito, California, farmhouse against lush mountain views, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is, quite simply, the main character in a fairy tale that shakes the status quo to its core.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
To republish, simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The Emancipator. Please review our republishing guidelines and email us at partnerships@theemancipator.org with any questions.
The real reason Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, sparks outrage
by Halimah Abdullah, The Emancipator March 17, 2025
Halimah Abdullah is an award winning veteran national political journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering politics and government at the local, state, and federal level. She has edited and helped manage Washington coverage for such organizations as PolitiFact, Newsela, NPR, ABC News and NBC News — networks where she also wrote. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Capital B, CNN.com, Newsday, McClatchy newspapers, MSNBC.com, thegrio.com, TODAY.com, and The New York Times, among...
More by Halimah Abdullah
The real reason Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, sparks outrage
Share this:
Ever since she dared to wed England’s “most eligible bachelor,” Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has faced an unending barrage of vile and vitriolic ad hominem attacks. Her attackers are largely White female social media influencers of a certain ilk, patriarchy-promoting media outlets, and bigots on both sides of the pond.
The so-called criticism levied against her peddles in both “angry” and “uppity” Black woman likability stereotypes and hypersexualized Jezebel tropes.
Her charmed existence draws so much fire because in the Eurocentric fairy tales of yore across books, stage, and screen, Black women are the entertaining sidekicks when they are present at all … never the main character who gets the prince. The fragility, umbrage, and venom over the duchess living the fairy tale on her own terms is rooted in the racist idea that Black women deserve neither leisure, nor the right to move, love, and live freely.
From laws governing how their hair is worn, to policies forcing them into the workforce, to demands that they lead the postelection fight against President Donald Trump’s authoritarian aims (after 92% of them refused to vote for him), White society never ceases to police how Black women spend their time and show up in the world.
During the 18th century, the Spanish governor of Louisiana – at the urging of White women enraged by Black women whose elaborately adorned hair had “too much luxury in their bearing” – passed the Tignon law, which forced them to cover their coifs.
In response, Black women subversively stylized their headscarves with intricate rosette knots, flowers, jewels, and feathers.
French Empress Joséphine, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, appropriated their style, which became all the rage in Europe as haute couture.
Meanwhile, Code Noir, or Black Code, and their vicious variants – laws that governed every aspect of Black life – would go on to infect American society for more than 200 years.
In the early 1900s, as World War I raged and Black soldiers fought for the freedom of others, a number of Southern states passed ordinances requiring Black housewives who received the military allotments their husbands sent home, to work outside of the home – in some cases at least 50 hours or more.
Despite the NAACP’s appeals to President Woodrow Wilson, Black women who refused to leave their homes, children, and the middle-class comfort their husbands’ efforts provided, were jailed or fined.
In 2024, in the wake of the majority White electorate’s rejection of Vice President Kamala Harris at the polls, the 92% of Black women who poured their energy into electing the first Black woman president vowed to pour into themselves and their community.
The result: postelection “brunch outs,” retail boycotts, an uptick in self-care content on social media, deep dives on HillmanTok, and a renewed interest in joyful personal pursuits like Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” inspired country line dancing.
And, yes, some even binged the new lifestyle show by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.
The response to Black women’s decision to look after themselves has been a storm of social media commentary demanding their labor.
They’ve entreated, nagged, and cajoled Black women to once again stand on the front lines to resist tyranny, accept blue bracelets as friendship tokens from White women allies, and put their historically rooted weariness aside to do what’s “best” for the country.
In “With Love, Meghan,” currently ranked 10th globally for Netflix, the duchess, sun-kissed and radiant, occupies her space with authority and unbothered ease, emblematic of the 92%’s “soft life” era.
Related
The healing power of rhythm
How to tell if a film or TV Show is antiracist
Black women don’t owe you likability
Living life like it’s golden: Where Black people are thriving in the U.S.
She cooks with homegrown fresh herbs and veggies, weaves daisy chains, and harvests honey on the type of land her ancestors dreamed their descendants could one day own.
As she sips cocktails with diverse friends in a posh Montecito, California, farmhouse against lush mountain views, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is, quite simply, the main character in a fairy tale that shakes the status quo to its core.
Halimah AbdullahContributing Managing Editor
Halimah Abdullah is an award winning veteran national political journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering politics and government at the local, state, and federal level. She has edited and helped manage Washington coverage for such organizations as PolitiFact, Newsela, NPR, ABC News and NBC News — networks where she also wrote. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Capital B, CNN.com, Newsday, McClatchy newspapers, MSNBC.com, thegrio.com, TODAY.com, and The New York Times, among... More by Halimah Abdullah