Royalty Reaches Out To WI Hate Crime Victim

Details coming soon for town hall meeting with Markle in Wisconsin.

Three days after an 18-year Black woman was attacked, her face and neck set on fire in her car, British royalty has reached out to her spokesman to discuss coming to Wisconsin for a town hall meeting with young women. 

On Saturday afternoon, Michael Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, posted to his social media accounts that he was “on the phone with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.” 

Johnson, who has been asked to be the family spokesman for Althea Bernstein, posted that Prince Harry said that “young peoples’ voices matter and that Madison has our thoughts, prayers, and wishes.”

Johnson said in his posts that Markle has agreed to talk with girls in Wisconsin.

Johnson said in a text message with UpNorthNews Sunday that he was asked by Markle’s team not to share additional details about the town hall with young people until everything is collectively agreed upon by all parties. He said details will be shared soon. 

Bernstein is the 18-year-old Black woman who said she was attacked by four white men early Wednesday morning while at a stoplight in her car in downtown Madison.

Bernstein said she heard a racial epithet and was then approached by four white men. They sprayed her neck and face with lighter fluid that was in a spray bottle and then threw a lit lighter at her through the open driver’s side window. 

The incident is now being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a hate crime. 

Markle starred in numerous movies and TV shows prior to marrying Prince Harry in 2018. Earlier this year,  the couple announced their intention to step back as senior members of the royal family and split their time between the United Kingdom and North America.

In 2015, Markle penned an essay for Elle. In it, she described her own journey as a “mixed-race woman.”

“My dad is Caucasian and my mom is African American. I’m half black and half white …. While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”