The royal wedding is over. Now we can admit it was never a vehicle for meaningful racial progress

Editor’s Note: Kehinde Andrews is an associate professor in sociology at Birmingham City University and the author of the upcoming book “Black Radicalism.” The opinions in this article belong to the author.

As the Duke and Duchess of Sussex walked out of St. George’s Chapel a married couple on Saturday afternoon, it marked a historic moment in the history of the British monarchy.

The fairytale of a biracial woman marrying into the British royal family has got many in Britain caught up in the fantasy that a page has been turned, opening up a new chapter in the relationship between Britain and its black population.

However, once the delirium will have worn off, we will all wake up to the reality that is the nightmare of British racism.

The royal family is perhaps the most identifiable symbol of whiteness in the world. For British nationalists, the monarchy lies at the core of their yearning for the days when Britannia ruled the waves and its monarch presided over an Empire, upon which the sun never set.

The media hysteria over the blackness of the latest member into the family demonstrates how taken for granted the whiteness of the monarchy is.

Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancée US actress Meghan Markle pose for a photograph in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace in west London on November 27, 2017, following the announcement of their engagement. Britain's Prince Harry will marry his US actress girlfriend Meghan Markle early next year after the couple became engaged earlier this month, Clarence House announced on Monday. / AFP PHOTO / Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS (Photo credit should read DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images)

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And it is absurd to think that one black woman could transform an institution so rooted in colonialism and Whiteness. We have seen this approach to combating racism on an institutional level many times before.

More black police officers do not change the nature of policing – as rap legend KRS-ONE reminded us during apartheid in South Africa, it was often the “black cop killing black kids in Johannesburg.” The royal family will dictate how Markle is presented to the world and she willt fulfill the role of any other royal.

With the debates about colorism that are always close to the surface for black communities, we cannot ignore that Markle is not a dark skinned, afro-haired, flat nosed, black woman.

She represents the image of blackness we have been sold as acceptable and marketable. It is fair to question whether her reception by the media and royal family would have been different had this been otherwise.

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Updated 8:36 AM EDT, Mon May 21, 2018

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Bishop Michael Curry's full royal wedding address

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The best hope is that, as time wears on, the nation forgets about Markle’s blackness and she blends in, effectively passing for white. We have, after all, already been told that she is just like Harry’s mother and that she looks like Pippa Middleton.

The worst-case scenario is that Markle comes to represent a symbol for racial progress in Britain. There is perhaps no worse way to measure racial progress than on the presence of interracial relationships. Brazil is the most “mixed” society in the world, and also has some of the worst problems with racism.

The implications of holding up Markle as a “role model” for women because of her apparently incredible achievement of getting married should make anyone that hears it shudder.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle during an official photocall to announce their engagement at The Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace on November 27, 2017 in London, England. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been a couple officially since November 2016 and are due to marry in Spring 2018. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

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The danger with the Markle hysteria is not only that it distracts from the real issues of racism in Britain – which are numerous and ongoing. A black princess may actually delude some black Britons into feeling more accepted by Britain’s complicated class structure and, by extension, the nation.

Saturday would also have been Malcolm X’s birthday. He warned against the dangers of getting wrapped up in the dead end of nationalism.

If you are black and living in Britain today you remain more likely to go to prison, less likely to get a job and far more likely to live in poverty.

That glow of pride you may feel from watching the wedding is not going to put money in your pocket or protect you and your family from the police.

But the collective hysteria may well convince society that we can continue to ignore that racism that is at the root of British society.

Now the wedding frenzy is over, it will not be long until we all realize it was never a vehicle for racial progress, but just a pumpkin, masquerading as hope.