Hypocrites Unleashed

As you might have expected ..... the death of Queen Elizabeth II has allowed a lot of mealy mouthed critics, in both the USA and the UK, to voice their views on the Monarchy, the British Empire, Queen Victoria, King Charles III, European Colonialism and Slavery.

African Diaspora (Alice Hunter)

Most of these critics are from the black diaspora, people living in white majority countries often as a direct or indirect result of slavery or colonialism, and consequently are in positions of privilege that their brethren still in Africa or the Caribbean can only dream of.

They are in fact reaping the direct rewards of Colonial Empires, Colonialism and Slavery. I say that because if the Europeans (Spanish Empire, Dutch Empire, Portuguese Empire, French Empire, British Empire, American Empire), hadn't colonised Africa or parts of Asia, then they or their ancestors would not be living in the Caribbean or White countries. 

Ethnicity Maps Africa - Where Would You Be Living?

They would almost certainly be somewhere in Africa, living on a patchwork tribal basis, scattered over the sub-Saharan continent.

But its only the British Empire that regularly gets the begging bowl waived under its nose, while its institutions are lambasted by people of colour, who often benefit highly from those very same institutions ... sub-Saharan Africa before the Europeans arrived had no roads, no wheels, no written languages, few stone buildings (Zimbabwe ruins?) and was ruled by tribal chiefs. While India was largely under the thrall of the Muslim Mughal Empire when the British and French arrived ... and then under the Hindu Maratha Confederacy and various Princes, Sultans, and Nabobs etc ... would they prefer that it had stayed that way instead of the one India created by the British?

But the logic of that reality evades them, and so they pour their vitriol out on social media:

Karen Attiah - Ghanaian, Nigerian, Texan, and Columnist at the Washington Post (USA).

"Black and brown people around the world who were subject to horrendous cruelties and economic deprivation under British colonialism are allowed to have feelings about Queen Elizabeth. After all, they were her 'subjects' too. Queen Elizabeth's passing is an appropriate time to look honestly at the harm the British empire caused, and to continue to undo the vestiges of racism, white supremacy, and economic deprivation."

Professor Mukoma Wa Ngugi - Cornell University (USA).

"Though millions across the world mourned, many also saw the Queen’s passing as a bitter reminder of the British empire’s violent exploitation of countries throughout history – resulting in decades of suffering, death, and economic and social devastation – and a time to renew calls for reparations. Journalists are tasked with putting legacies into full context, so it is entirely appropriate to examine the queen and her role in the devastating impact of continued colonialism  .... If the queen had apologized for slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism and urged the crown to offer reparations for the millions of lives taken in her/their names, then perhaps I would do the human thing and feel bad. As a Kenyan, I feel nothing. This theatre is absurd".

Richard Stengel, former under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, under President Barack Obama.

"You played a clip of her [Queen Elizabeth] speaking in Cape Town in 1947… That's the year apartheid took effect… British colonialism, which she presided over… had a terrible effect on much of the world."

Uju Anya Carnegie Mellon University (USA) associate professor of second language acquisition.

Tweeted (then it was deleted by Twitter for breaching its hate rules) “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving and raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.” 

Professor Priyamvada GopalUniversity -  postcolonial studies Cambridge University (UK)

The British monarchy “has come to represent deep and profound and grave inequality”.  She also pointed at the United States, which, before its independence, was once ruled by the British monarchy and she stated now effectively colonizes Puerto Rico and other island nations, noting “power and privilege and wealth in the hands of a few, which the rest of us are then invited to worship and think of as perfectly normal”.

Melissa Murray - Stokes Professor of Law New York University.

"Her [Queen Elisabeth] death will accelerate debates about colonialism, reparations...faced strong criticism about the family's role in enslavement and colonialism. Caribbean residents have sought apologies, and in some cases, reparations.  To date, apologies have been thin (some would say inadequate)."

Shola Mos-Shogbamimu - Activist, lawyer and author (UK).

"The wealth, power and prestige the British monarchy amassed through the systemic plunder of colonies and the transatlantic slave trade, a crime against humanity. ...  the British monarchy literally lives off wealth built on the backs of enslaved Africans. It looted trillions of dollars of wealth from Asia and Africa and plundered nations for their natural resources. The queen was the charm offensive wheeled out to give a face of respectability to the monarchy’s racism and anti-Blackness."

Jemele Hill - Contributing writer for The ATLANTIC. Spotify podcast host (USA).

"Though millions across the world mourned, many also saw the Queen’s passing as a bitter reminder of the British empire’s violent exploitation of countries throughout history – resulting in decades of suffering, death, and economic and social devastation – and a time to renew calls for reparations."

"Journalists are tasked with putting legacies into full context, so it is entirely appropriate to examine the queen and her role in the devastating impact of continued colonialism."

Now everyone is allowed a point of view, not least we at PC Towers, but if your going to complain about history, then also admit to being a beneficiary of the very things you complain about. Africans, would not be professors or journalists in Western institutions, if history had taken a different turn in the 17th century.