ヘンリー王子、英連邦は過去の過ちを「認めるべき」

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英王室を離脱したヘンリー王子（35）が、英国とその旧植民地などから成る英連邦に対し、植民地時代の過ちを認めるよう呼び掛けた。（写真はF1ドライバーのルイス・ハミルトン氏と話すヘンリー王子〈右〉）
　ヘンリー王子は、祖母エリザベス女王が首長となっている英連邦の若者を支援する慈善団体「クイーンズ・コモンウェルス・トラスト」の会長を務める。６日、同団体が主催した若者リーダーらのビデオ会議に、現在拠点としている米国から妻のメーガン妃とともに参加。今回の会議は、アフリカ系米国人のジョージ・フロイドさんが警察の拘束下で死亡した事件をきっかけに世界に広がっている「Ｂｌａｃｋ　Ｌｉｖｅｓ　Ｍａｔｔｅｒ（黒人の命は大切）」運動を受けて開かれた。
　会議では、１日に同団体の公式サイトで公開されたヘンリー王子のビデオメッセージが流された。この中で王子は、制度化された人種差別に対する個人的な取り組みについて語り、社会に人種差別が「存在する余地がない」にもかかわらず、あまりにまん延していると発言。「英連邦を見渡すと、私たちに過去を認めることなくして前進できる道はない」と語った。
　さらにヘンリー王子は、「非常に多くの人々が過去を認め、そうした過ちを正そうとする素晴らしい仕事をしてきたが、まだやるべきことがたくさんあると私たち全員が認識していると思う」「簡単にはいかないだろうし、心地の良くないこともあるだろうが、やらなければならない。なぜなら、全ての人のためになるからだ」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/07/07-13:20）

Prince Harry has urged the Commonwealth, which his grandmother heads, to acknowledge its uncomfortable colonial past, in video extracts published on Monday.
The 35-year-old royal and his wife, Meghan, joined a video conference call with leaders organised by the Queen's Commonwealth Trust (QCT) from their base in the United States.
The sessions were set up in response to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, during a US police arrest.
Harry last week outlined his personal commitment to tackling institutional racism, saying it had no place in society but was still too widespread.
On the July 1 call, posted on the QCT website, he said: When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past.
So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do.
It's not going to be easy and in some cases it's not going to be comfortable, but it needs to be done, because, guess what, everybody benefits.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth, a non-political organisation of 54 countries, most of which have links to the British Empire.
It comprises 2.4 billion people -- a quarter of the world's population -- of which 60 percent are aged under 30.
The QCT was set up to give younger people from member nations a platform to share ideas and insights.
The chief executive of the QCT, Nicola Brentnall, has said the body is studying how the Commonwealth's colonial past and its legacy should shape its future.
Harry and Meghan stepped down from frontline royal duties this year and have set up a non-profit organisation focusing on the promoting of mental health, education and well-being.
Meghan, a mixed-race US former actress, has previously talked about her own personal experience of racism and unconscious bias.
Former army officer Harry has also complained about the racial undertones of media coverage of his wife.
The couple are president and vice-president respectively of the QCT.