Meghan Markle's interview & the question of skin color in 'Motown Man' [Race]

Photo: Courtesy of CBS

Meghan Markle told Oprah during the CBS-televised interview that several members of the Royal Family discussed with Harry concerns over what the color of Archie’s skin would be.

VIDEO CLIP 

Her comments struck a core theme in Motown Man. Abby, a main character in the novel, is faced with that issue when her father questions what his daughter's marriage to Bradley will mean for future generations.

Read the Motown Man excerpt below:

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​[Abby's father] focused instead on the future grandchildren. No doubt they would be black even if they looked white. They would be black and forever marked with that indefinable quality of separateness. And if they came out with permanently brown skin, which was quite likely because of Bradley's complexion, there could be no faking it for the white grandparents pushing the stroller in the park.

Could [Abby's father] love such a grandchild in the same way? Love; meaning would he be able to see himself in his daughter's offspring, and give to them what his grandfather had given to him? Would they be his grandchildren or theirs? He wondered.