How a surprising royal lesson about stories and systems can help us make change

“My mother was chased to her death while she was in a relationship with someone who wasn’t white.”

– PRINCE HARRY
DOCUMENTARY, "THE ME YOU CAN'T SEE"

With the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s attention has focused on Britain’s monarchy and succession.

While some of this conversation has expressed admiration for the monarchy, there has been a parallel conversation exploring the destructive, racist aspects of the monarchy.  

In this clip of Prince Harry talking about his family’s experience leaving Britain, Harry talks about the racism of the British press and public towards his wife Meghan Markle and how his family failed to respond to this ongoing racism and protect Meghan. For Harry, it was especially triggering because he had already lost his mother through destructive persecution from the press. Now his pregnant wife had fallen into a depression over her treatment by the press and royal family, and he feared losing her and their unborn child also.

The video uses the stories of individuals to talk about the systemic impact of racism. In a gentle and caring way (Prince Harry comes off as a mensch here!), Prince Harry talks about observing and empathizing with the pain that his wife experienced and ultimately making a choice to break with the environment that put Meghan in a racist fishbowl. He talks about NOT continuing with the royal traditions as a parent and human being, but making a conscious choice to live in a different way.

You may not be Prince Harry...

...but if you are a leader making change, you should also be thinking about how to make connections between individual stories and larger systems, and what you and your organization are seeking to shift.  


How to do this? Recent research indicates we are in a moment of opportunity. According to a recent study from the FrameWorks Institute, “For many Americans, a systemic mindset—a way of thinking that takes into account how our neighborhoods, laws, institutions, and policies advantage some over others—has been gaining ground.” This research indicates that an increasing number of Americans see that systems create inequality – specifically focusing on racism and the economy.

It is important to see and name systems so that we can change them.  

Fortunately, you don’t need to be working with Meghan Markle to get this point across!

The racial equity and strategic planning processes that The Ross Collective designs and leads build connections between individual experiences and systemic challenges:

• Our conversations around race stories deepen empathy and understanding, and encourage all participants to make connections between individual’s experiences and systemic racism.

• We design and lead planning processes that bring out, affirm and encourage reflection on the multiple perspectives of clients, staff members and board members. In talking about how different individuals experience a system, organizations and communities reflect on levers for change.

We are obviously engaged in this conversation as it consumes much of the work that we do. This issue is far too great – even as it reaches royalty – to ignore. While we continue to advocate for systemic change and share the methods we use, we are also interested in how others are doing it. For some, this might be in subtle ways as changing an organizational structure can be ostracizing, but making incremental change is important. For others, they may feel emboldened by recent events and are establishing a strong set of expectations within an organization while also expressing the need for system changes personally through protest and in other ways.

No matter how you approach it, we hope to offer information for you to consider what your organization can do to address such an important topic. This conversation is overdue. Would you consider joining us as we strive to address these difficult themes? Share with us your approach!

Questions for your reflection:

• As a leader, when do you see the interplay between individual stories and larger systems?

• How can you lead conversations that support others to see these connections also?

• In what ways is your organization working on systems change? How can you talk about this more explicitly?