Prince Harry says it took him 'many, many years' to realize unconscious bias exists

Prince Harry is opening up about how Meghan Markle helped him become aware of unconscious racial bias, which he didn't realize existed for "many years."

In a conversation with Black Lives Matter activist Patrick Hutchinson published by GQ on Monday, Harry praised the "incredibly important" movement and described how for a while, he did not realize that unconscious biases exist in society.

"Unconscious bias, from my understanding, having the upbringing and the education that I had, I had no idea what it was," Harry said. "I had no idea it existed. And then, sad as it is to say, it took me many, many years to realize it, especially then living a day or a week in my wife's shoes."

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Harry, who has spoken out against racist harassment the Duchess of Sussex has been subjected to, described unconscious bias as a "huge thing globally" and said it's "dangerous" when those in power aren't aware of this.

"I think one of the most dangerous things is people within positions of power, whether it's politics or whether it's the media, where if you're not aware of your own bias and you're not aware of the culture within your system, then how are we ever going to progress?" Harry said.

Harry added that "anyone that's pushing against" such attempts to make progress should "take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror," as "everyone benefits if the Black community gets treated the way they should be treated." He previously spoke on his "awakening" on systemic racism.

"I've had an awakening as such of my own, because I wasn't aware of so many of the issues and so many of the problems within the UK, but also globally as well," he told the Evening Standard. "I thought I did but I didn't."