When Candace Owens says Meghan Markle isn’t Black enough, how should we respond?

Owens asks Hannity in her latest interview on Fox News, “Why aren’t we allowed to have opinions anymore?” And she knows exactly what she’s doing

“Are you Black enough?” The question bites. If you are a Black person who has ever been on the receiving end of that question — whether by your own community, by those on the outside of it, or even by your reflection in the mirror — that bite is unfathomably harsh. It is the kind of question that rings loudly once heard, as loud as a church bell at Mass. And it is, at the same time, a kind of subterfuge, used to paint the person on the opposite end of the question as “less than”. 

It is no surprise that this is the kind of language Candace Owens, darling of Fox News, used when speaking about Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. There were many questionable racial jabs thrown Meghan’s way courtesy of Candace when she paid a visit to the Sean Hannity show, but it’s her “she isn’t Black enough to be a victim of racism” point that has garnered the media’s attention. 

Owens is a lightning-rod of a political pundit, one who uses her role as racial antagonist and agitator to speak ad nauseum about Blackness, normally by platforms that are very much steeped in anti-Black rhetoric. Her comments today aren’t new, original, or progressive — they rarely ever are. But they do bring to the surface the question of who gets to decide who is indeed Black enough.

Does your skin color determine your Blackness? Are we still using paper bag tests to see who fills the quota? Does the “one drop rule” still apply? Candace Owen’s claims lean toward “yes” to all of the above. And she isn’t the only one. Piers Morgan questioned not only Meghan’s personal experiences of racism but also her claims of mental health issues. Both Meghan’s father and half-sister deny that racism played a role in the bad press coverage, and have even suggested racism was non-existent in her life in general. 

As a society, holding space for multiple truths proves to be a difficult one. We  recognize the existence of colorism, the notion that Meghan’s lighter complexion (along with others like her, the Barack Obamas and Kamala Harrises of this world) has made her life easier than her darker counterparts. But we tend to ignore the fact that her skin color and her identity as a biracial person still leaves her, and others like her, prone to both casual and overt racism. The fact that we get to question their Blackness out loud — that their Blackness can be a debatable topic — is indeed its own form of racism. It is racism by convenience, designed to question the authenticity of racism in an era where a Black woman can be a member of the royal family, a Black man can be president of the United States of America, and a Black woman can be the vice president, all within the span of ten years.

It is this idea of faux-universal progress that keeps the Candace Owenses of the world biting at the bit, clamoring for fewer conversations about race and racism while at the same time contributing to them. Perhaps Owens would prefer we turned our attention to more important topics, such as Harry Styles’ choice of dresses. Later in her interview, she added, “You would not be able to discern just by looking at Meghan Markle that she’s Black,” leaning into the divisive trope that one’s skin color is a marker of Blackness. 

Characters like Candace Owens, like Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Piers Morgan, Bill Maher, are distractions — opinionated voices that drive viewership by stoking the fires of outdated and misplaced white rage, misogyny and racism. All too often, such distractions stop us from doing the real work toward deconstructing white supremacy. When Candace Owens asks Sean Hannity, “Why aren’t we allowed to have opinions anymore?” it is little more than a false equivalency tactic. The question is not meant for the host but for the viewer at home, itching to soak up proof of their perceived victimhood, happy to be handed a means to question Blackness, to question racism, to question vaccinations and elections, and to storm Capitol buildings.

If you were one of the 17.1 million viewers who sat and watched Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, what you saw was a Black woman who herself identifies as biracial in a world that sees her as Black, regardless of her skin tone and the privilege afforded to her because of it. To deny her right to own her experience and her Blackness, to deny her the autonomy to speak to her experience as a Black woman, is racism. It is not new, and, coming from Candace Owens, unfortunately not surprising. She’ll continue to push this narrative because it’s what her audience expects and wants from her. At its root, it is a racist narrative. And we don’t have to accept it.

Joél Leon is a performer, author and storyteller from the Bronx