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Meghan Markle candidly shared her thoughts about voter suppression in a new interview with Gloria Steinem in the latest segment of Yahoo’s MAKERS. Both Steinem and Markle sat in Markle’s yard in Montecito, California, for the complicated discussion between two friends.
The actress and mom to 1-year-old Archie with husband Prince Harry continues using her platform to talk about social justice and racial inequality as the 2020 presidential election nears.
Markle first began by expressing her joy in seeing Kamala Harris as former Vice President Joe Biden’s pick for the Democratic ticket for president.
“I’m so excited to see that kind of representation. You know, for me, being biracial — growing up, whether it was a doll or a person in office, you need to see someone who looks like you in some capacity,” she says. “As many of us believe, you can only be what you can see. And in the absence of that, how can you aspire to something greater than what you see in your own world? I think maybe now we’re starting to break through in a different way.”
Steinhem’s phrase, “If you don’t vote you don’t exist,” is one that Markle says she continually thinks about and relates to her worries around voter suppression.
“We can already see all the different challenges that we’re facing. I had the chance to speak with Stacey Abrams about this to try to get a better understanding of what to do. For example, if you’re a person of color and you’re in line, for potentially hours on end, and during that time someone tries to intimidate you to tell you that you should get out of line because you might be under surveillance — or any number of intimidation tactics that are so scary,” Markle continued.
“And then you think, ‘You know, it’s not worth it.’ You decide to step out of line and relinquish your right to vote. That’s bad enough, but then there’s a ripple effect because whoever is in the back of the line says, ‘Whatever they did to them … I don’t want that to happen to me.’ That, I think, is so frightening. But I wonder how we circumvent that and how we get people to feel empowered.”
Markle also discussed how happy she is to have the support of her husband who is equally indebted to the same morals and ideals that she believes in, which also benefits their son.
“I look at our son and what a beautiful example that he gets to grow up with a father who is so comfortable owning that as part of his own self-identification. That there’s no shame in being someone who advocates for fundamental human rights for everyone, which of course includes women,” she said.
Last week Markle joined Valerie Jarrett, Yvette Nicole Brown, DJ Diamond Kuts, and Glamour Editor-in-Chief Samantha Barry for a virtual voter registration couch party, a conversation hosted by When We All Vote, co-chaired by Michelle Obama.
Markle will undoubtedly be more vocal as the election nears, especially as the Trump administration continues to aggravate fears around voter suppression with their incessant dog whistles and reported tampering with the United States Postal Service.