Harry urges the world to take action against systemic racism

The Duke of Sussex said more action is needed to root out systemic racism in society, as he described current efforts as “bringing a bucket of water to a forest fire”.

He made the comments in an interview with Rashad Robinson, president of Colour of Change – a non-profit civil rights advocacy organisation in the US – on systemic racism, hate online and people with privilege.

In a short sneak peak video of the interview posted on the organisation’s Instagram page, Harry agreed with Mr Robinson that more action was needed to drive structural and systemic change of “the rules that have held people back”.

Harry said: “There’s so much that has happened for so long that once those problems exist, charity is so crucial in so many areas but it can’t fix the problem.

“The problems already exist by that point, the problems are already too big… It’s basically like bringing a bucket of water to a forest fire.

“So, we have to go to the root of the problem, to the source of the problem and actually fix it there… and it’s going to take every single one of us.

“This is not down to the black community, this is down to every single person that is on the planet right now.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been vocal supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Harry previously outlining his personal commitment to tackling institutional racism in a surprise message to children and young adults during The Diana Awards ceremony in July.

His words came after Meghan, who became the first mixed race person to marry a senior royal, delivered an impassioned Black Lives Matter speech to her old high school following the death of George Floyd in the US, sharing her “absolute devastation” at racial divisions.

Speaking to Mr Robinson, Harry said the anti-racism movement was being led by mainly the younger generation, but more action was needed than words.

He continued: “You can’t just say ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that’, it’s like well, you said it, now you’ve got to go through with it.”

Last week, the duke outlined his and his wife’s efforts to help the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, after he accused social media giants of stoking a “crisis of hate”.

Writing for US-based business magazine Fast Company, he revealed they had personally been calling on heads of major corporations, asking them to suspend their advertising revenue from social media sites that fail to tackle hate speech.