Endgame: Is wondering about an unborn child skin color considered racism?

Ever since Omid’s Dutch version of his book Endgame came out and listed the name or names of the person or persons who questioned Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s unborn child’s or future children skin tone, people have been  question whether or not such conversation is considered racist.

Does context of the conversation matters?

I would say it does. We were told that there were conversations about how dark or light Meghan and Prince Harry’s unborn child would be but we were never told whether it came from a place of hatred or a place of curiosity. Mainstream media and social media labelled the skin tone conversation to be racist. Earlier this year (2023), Prince Harry said his wife never said the conversations were racist. He believes his family have “unconscious bias”.

We weren’t told by the Sussexes the name of the person or persons who were having those skin tone conversations.

Is skin tone conversations about an unborn child racist?

I’m a black American woman married to a Turkish man. I had the skin tone conversation and the “if we have kids, there is a high chance that they would look black like me, are you ok with that?” conversations. It was important for me to know that my husband understood what possible type of future our kids would have as brown skin biracial Black/Turkish kids and adults (when they grew older).

My husband neither wanted to nor liked to have the skin tone conversations. To him, it was ridiculous and unnecessary. To me, it was the difference between raising kids who knew the world may not like them because of the color of their skin or their facial features and kids who enter adulthood thinking they would be accepted by society. We, as a society, are just not in a place where everyone is accepted regardless of their skin tone, skin color, etc.

In other words, I seen having the “what would my child with a non-black man look like” conversation as a necessity whereas my husband thought it was not something we should not dwell on.

But was it racist?

Personally, I don’t believe having a skin tone conversation is racist depending on the context. If it was out of curiosity, if it was out of concern for how the child will experience the world around them, and so on, I don’t think it was racism.

However, if it came from a place where the person or persons having the conversation deemed people who are darker as undesirable, that is racism and maybe even could be labelled colorism.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has more experience with the person or persons who talked about Archie’s skin tone. If they felt the conversation was not one of curiosity, than I can’t sit here and say they were wrong with their claim of unconscious bias.

Right now, we just have to wait and see what unfolds in the future.

Should we trust Omid Scobie?

Several times I question whether or not we should be trusting Omid Scobie and his sources.

It was reported that on King Charles’s birthday, Prince Harry and Meghan took steps to call him to wish him a Happy Birthday. Regardless of what the public may think about the situation between the royals and the Sussexes, it isn’t for us to say that the Sussexes should completely cut off the royals.

The Sussexes never came out and said the name or names of the person who had the skin tone conversations. We weren’t even told the context of the conversation or conversations. Maybe the Sussexes assumed they could reconcile with the royals and come to an understanding that could lead to both educating the person or persons and heal the rift between the two families.

If it is true that the Sussexes were opened to talk to King Charles, why did Omid feel the need to write that King Charles was the one who had the skin tone conversation about his unborn grandchild? Unless, Omid wanted to make more money off of the drama that has unfolded by keeping the two families from healing.

Some people profit off the hurt and pain of others. Could this be what Omid Scobie is doing? Profiting off of the rift between a father and his son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids?

Omid is calling the name(s) that were revealed an accident in translation. I have never in my life encountered a translation error that led to a name being put in a place that wasn’t there. Maybe in the coming days, the public will get a better explanation than this but until that time, I will remain confused as to what was Omid’s motive for writing Endgame and letting the world know he was going to burn his bridges. Did he expect this book to sell as well as Spare and make him a millionaire? Does he expect the rift between the royals and Sussexes to continue so that he could continue cashing in?

I don’t fully understand Omid or why he pretends to be on the side of the Sussexes while revealing their private thoughts by interviewing friends and associates of the Sussexes. It makes no sense unless Omid knew he could make money off of this hurtful situation.