Royal Engagement Seen as Symbol of Change, With Asterisks<br />Ms. Markle’s engagement “is a wonderful moment for modern Britain,<br />and it is especially poignant for Britain’s ethnic minority communities,” Mr. Lammy said, because it “sends a very powerful message about what it means to be black and British in 2017.”<br />But citing Britain’s gaping inequalities, he added, “We should never confuse powerful symbolism<br />with the systemic action still necessary to address persistent discrimination and inequality.”<br />And against the background of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, a referendum<br />that led to a rise in racial hate crime, others found even less reason to cheer the royal engagement.<br />“Students have been agitating in recent months to have their curriculum acknowledge Britain’s imperial past,<br />something the country has signally failed to do except through dishonest celebrations of imperial legacies.”<br />She added, “How exactly will the marriage of a privileged young woman of color to a British prince address any of this?”<br />Many black Britons are happy about the engagement, said Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff,<br />deputy editor of Gal-Dem, a website that publishes women of color exclusively.<br />On Tuesday, it was announced that Ms. Markle would — in addition to joining the Anglican Church — apply for British citizenship after<br />marrying Prince Harry on an unspecified date in May in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, the site of many royal weddings.
