Meghan Markle Talks With Issa Rae About The ‘Angry Black Woman’ Trope

On Tuesday’s (October 25th) episode of the Archetypes podcast, Meghan Markle spoke with Insecure creator Issa Rae about the stereotype of the “angry Black woman.” Rae told Markle that other Black women in the industry have told her to not be afraid of being called a b—, and that she took it as a compliment when a friend called her “particular.” Markle responded saying that she’s particular as well.

“But I also know that I will find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room — I don’t know if you ever do that, the thing that I find the most embarrassing — when you’re saying a sentence and the intonation goes up like it’s a question. And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop!'” Markle said.

The Suits actress continued, “Stop whispering and tiptoeing around and say what it is you need. You’re allowed to set a boundary, you’re allowed to be clear. It does not make you demanding, it does not make you difficult. It makes you clear.”

When Markle asked Rae if she feels like she’s “allowed to be angry in certain moments,” Rae replied, “Absolutely not. Because I can’t lose my cool, I can’t do that, especially as a black woman, but also just even as a public figure now. Because people are looking for ways to justify their perception of you.”

The Rap Sh!t creator added, “That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry. That might mean that I will vent my frustrations to someone that I trust, get it out of my system and then go in fix mode. And I think even personality wise, I’m always like, I don’t want to sit in my anger too long anyway because what does that do? I want to work on fixing something, but I want to be allowed to have that emotion because it’s a natural…like, it’s an emotion.”