{"id":7571,"date":"2022-09-23T09:21:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T13:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=7571"},"modified":"2022-09-28T22:55:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T02:55:02","slug":"god-save-us-from-the-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2022\/09\/god-save-us-from-the-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"God save us from the queen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q<\/span>ueen Elizabeth II, Britain\u2019s longest-serving monarch, died on September 8. She had reigned for more than 70 years, not only over Great Britain but also over the remnants of a vast empire<\/a>. Even in a largely symbolic role interdependent with the parliamentary state, the royal family controls enormous wealth, much of it a legacy of colonial rule. Meanwhile, the popular image of the royals and nostalgia for the stability and unity they represent obscure and justify massive inequality in the United Kingdom (UK). Elizabeth was the figurehead of the empire and the ideological front for the ravages of neoliberal capitalism. We should not mourn her passing.<\/p>\n

Indeed, people in former British colonies have reacted with indifference, anger, and celebration to the queen\u2019s passing. From the Irish to aboriginal Australians, colonial subjects and their descendants have refused to mourn the queen.<\/p>\n

The indelible scars of colonialism<\/h4>\n

In 1913, the British Empire controlled nearly a quarter of the world\u2019s population, and even when Elizabeth II took the throne in 1952, it still controlled more than a quarter of the world\u2019s population\u2014700 million people in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific Islands. During Elizabeth\u2019s rule, more than 20 countries fought for and won independence in opposition to and in spite of the Crown.<\/p>\n

Public discourse humanized Elizabeth over her time as queen. However, she minimized or denied the role of England in the oppression of millions, including the more than 2.2 million enslaved people<\/a> stolen away to British colonies in the Caribbean, the occupation of India<\/a>, the war over Northern Ireland<\/a>, the violent displacement of Arabs in Palestine<\/a>, and the imprisonment of a million Kenyan people<\/a> in concentration camps, among many other instances of brutal colonial rule.<\/p>\n

Never has the regime apologized for the atrocities committed by imperial Britain. There have been no reparations, and, to add insult to injury, the royal family has refused to return property looted from the colonies, including a huge diamond acquired from South Africa and one taken from India, which is still set in the queen\u2019s crown.<\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth II became the figurehead for such brutality and theft. Newsweek reporter Shannon Power notes<\/a> that, for this reason, many were celebrating the queen\u2019s death instead of mourning it. \u201cPeople in countries formerly controlled by Britain such as India, Ireland, Australia, and Nigeria, were quick to point out the monarchy\u2019s role in the subjugation of their countries,\u201d Power notes. Similarly, in an Independent article, Nadine White states<\/a>, \u201cWhile some weep and many are indifferent to her passing, others are angry at the sympathies extended in the wake of a figure of an institution that represents the oppression of Black and brown people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In India, The New York Times noted<\/a> a \u201cmuted response\u201d and anger for the \u201cindelible scars\u201d left by British rule on the subcontinent. Carnegie Mellon professor Uja Anya tweeted: \u201cI heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anya faced massive backlash from the right, from liberals, and from her University administrators for these remarks. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos challenged her, tweeting, \u201cThis is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don\u2019t think so. Wow,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n

Bezos\u2019s condemnation demonstrates the interdependence between the institution of the monarchy and contemporary capitalism. His tweet mobilized thousands of his followers to target Anya with threatening messages. However, thousands of academics and others around the world have mobilized in Anya\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n