Ngozi Fulani, chief executive of London domestic abuse charity Sistah Space, visited Buckingham Palace yesterday only to have to deal with a royal aide's racist interrogation about her national origins: "I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from," the aide, Baroness Susan Katharine Hussey, was quoted as saying after Fulani told her she was British.
SH: Where are you from?
Me: Sistah Space.
SH: No where do you come from?
Me: We're based in Hackney.
SH: No, what part of Africa are YOU from?
Me: I don't know, they didn't leave any records.
SH: Well, you must know where you're from, I spent time in France. Where are you from?
Me: Here, UK
SH: No, but what Nationality are you?
Me: I am born here and am British
SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?
Me: 'My people', lady, what is this?
SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from. When did you first come here?
Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50's when…
SH: Oh, I knew we'd get there in the end, you're Caribbean!
Me: No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality.
The aide was not fired after this came to light, and instead was permitted to resign, according to Sky News.
The reasons the British tabloids hated Meghan Markle are obvious enough, but Markle talking about the racist nonsense she had to put up with around the Royals (on American television!) is when they released the hounds. Likewise, they will be furious at Fulani for posting this on social media: expect no stone to be unturned as they now rake through her professional and private life. As with other things, it's as much a matter of prorogatives—who gets to write the story? who deserves attention?—as anything else. But, to be clear, they're mostly a bunch of racist drunks too.
