SHOLA Mos-Shogbamimu, Nigerian political and women’s rights activist, was involved in a heated argument with Piers Morgan, host of the Good Morning Britain show, which aired on ITV on Monday, when she challenged systemic racism and colonialism practised by the British royal family.
The discussion centered on the recent bombshell interview which Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, had with Oprah Winfrey that aired on Sunday night, where they made personal, never-heard-before revelations about their struggles, including Meghan’s suicidal thoughts, which compelled them to step back from life as working royals, leaving the UK in search of a more peaceful life in California.
Morgan accused the couple of trashing the queen and of unacceptably implying that “everybody in the royal family is a white supremacist.” He called it ‘contemptible’ and said it was the “most incendiary charge I’ve seen in my career.”
“This is a two-hour trash-athon of our Royal Family, of the monarchy, of everything the Queen has worked so hard for and it’s all been done as Prince Philip lies in hospital,” Morgan said of the #MeghanHarryOprah interview which aired in the United States on Sunday, March 7, from 8 to 10 p.m. It will air in the UK on ITV on Monday at 9 p.m.
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Reacting to some of his comments about Harry and Meghan, Mos-Shogbamimu slammed Morgan, calling him a disappointment and accusing him of constantly using his platform ‘as a wealthy, white-privileged man with power and influence’ to aggravate and escalate sexist and racist attacks, in a bid to express blind love for the Queen.
She reminded him that he could still show his love for the Queen without turning a blind eye to actions by the royal family that were wrong and called out Queen Elizabeth for not using her power to protect her grandson, Harry, and his family from racist media reports.
“You’re more outraged that Harry and Meghan had the audacity to speak their truth. You want to deny that the royal family has any racist undertone or actions against the first biracial (sic) simply because you’re in love with the Queen…The Royal Family as an institution is rooted in colonialism, white supremacy, and racism. The legacy is right there,” the rights activist said.
She queried, “What kind of grandmother, would be so close to her grandson, Harry, but did not use her power and influence as Queen to protect them from the racist media coverage?”
In an earlier #choosetochallenge video message to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day which she posted on YouTube, Mos-Shogbamimu had stressed that speaking up as a woman was important and even more important was speaking up as a black woman.
“We can’t talk about gender equality without talking about racial equality, because within the gender equality are marginalised black and ethnic minority women and we have to ensure that we are constantly intentional about resisting the status quo,” she had said.