Three months afterNgozi FulaniclaimedLady Susan Husseyasked herracially-charged questionsat a Buckingham Palace event, the activist says the apology that followed didn’t heal the hurt —and that she’s been forced to step down as head of her charity because of the backlash.
“Who are they apologizing to? If you’re sorry, tell me you’re sorry. If you’re not, it speaks for itself,” she said.
WhenGMBanchor Richard Madeley asked if Fulani would feel relief if she received a personal apology via email, she replied, “If you have to ask somebody for an apology, it’s not an apology. I’m just making the point so that everybody understands. I don’t see what is so hard to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ You sent me an invitation, so you know how to find me, you know how to say sorry. If you’re sorry, then say sorry. If you’re not, I get it. But when you make this apology to everybody, I don’t know who you’re apologizing to.”
“It’s International Women’s Day, and the Sistah Space charity has suffered as a direct result,” she continued. “When you think this [reception] was supposed to be for violence against women and girls — because of this incident, the violence has been directed to me.”
Fulani also revealed air that she’s stepping back as CEO of Sistah Space for the sake of the organization.
“The palace hasn’t intervened, I think they could have. So what I’ve had to do, I’ve now temporarily stepped down as CEO of Sistah Space. I’m announcing that now because the service users and the community can’t access us properly,” she said. “This whole thing has cost us a fortune because we had to pay our own PR to stop the press from coming up. It was horrible.”
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Despite the firestorm, Ngozi said she has no regrets about taking her story public.
“I’m about discussing and making aware of violence against women and girls. And I will go anywhere, at any time, to fight that cause. I didn’t expect for that to be directed at me at all,” she said.
Two weeks after the racist incident at the reception, the palace announced that Lady Susanmet with Fulanito apologize.
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Lady Susan Hussey and Ngozi Fulani.Royal Communications via Getty Images
“Both Ms Fulani and Lady Susan ask now that they be left in peace to rebuild their lives in the wake of an immensely distressing period for them both. They hope that their example shows a path to resolution can be found with kindness, co-operation and the condemnation of discrimination wherever it takes root,” the statement continued.
The palace added that the royal households are continuing “their focus on inclusion and diversity, with an enhanced programme of work which will extend knowledge and training programmes, examining what can be learnt from Sistah Space, and ensuring these reach all members of their communities.“King Charles III, Queen Camilla and other royal family members were said to have “kept fully informed” and “are pleased that both parties have reached this welcome outcome.”
source: people.com
