Queen Elizabeth II passed away Thursday, and as we recently reported, the New York Times had an op-ed ready to go about how her reign included “a bloody history of decolonization whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged.” (Meanwhile, Mikhail Gorbachev, who ruled over the Soviet Union, got a glowing sendoff.)
The Times’ historian put a twist on things by criticizing Britain’s decolonization, knowing that Elizabeth took the throne too late to be called a colonizer — not that that’s stopping anyone on Twitter today. The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill says it’s totally appropriate for journalists to be putting the queen’s death in the context of “her role in the devastating impact of continued colonialism.”
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.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 8, 2022
Do you ever get tired of being perpetually outraged? What a sad existence.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) September 8, 2022
Why do people like you always do this? So gross.
— JayJay McMaster, CD (@tantrumblue1) September 8, 2022
Parliament/Prime Minister controlled British foreign policy for a very long time now, monarchy did not control it. Do you believe the Queen also invaded Iraq? That was Tony Blair!
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) September 8, 2022
It’s fairly likely she really thinks the UK still operates like a monarchy.
— finman (@finman2010) September 8, 2022
This has to be an exhausting way to live.
— Ben Goldey (@BenGoldey) September 8, 2022
Recommended
What’s it like to perpetually be a college freshman?
— JRP (@JRPSD) September 8, 2022
Narrator: You're not a journalist.
— Rusty 🎙️ (@rustyweiss74) September 8, 2022
Any journalist can offer praise to a beloved monarch who outlasted 13 American presidents.
Only the very special ones like Jemele Hill need to throw dirt on their legacy before they are put in the ground.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) September 8, 2022
Please do that for us now so we can all become illuminated under your brilliance
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 8, 2022
I’m pretty much drawing a blank regarding any countries colonized while Elizabeth was Queen.
— Kang Of Seattle🙄 (@KangofSeattle) September 8, 2022
What role?
— Andrew Sullivan (@sullydish) September 8, 2022
The queen's role in colonialism?
There's probably no single human being who has ever lived in human history who oversaw more DEcolonization and reparations for past wrongs than Queen Elizabeth II.
— Free Black Thought (@FreeBlckThought) September 8, 2022
You’ve failed history.
— Ryan B. Leslie (@RyanBLeslie) September 8, 2022
The next time you put things in full context will be the first.
— Bill Burke 🇺🇸 (@TaxManBoston) September 8, 2022
Whatever this profession is has to be the most exhausting profession.
— 2021 Yay (@JohnWonderlin) September 8, 2022
If they cared so much about colonialism, they would stop reaping the benefits it has brought us today. Hypocrisy at its finest.
— Markleberry Pie (@Spacechump) September 8, 2022
I wish Elizabeth II did as much colonialism as her haters claim she did. That would've been based because colonialism is based.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 8, 2022
You have not one redeeming quality as a human.
— LoveGolfUSA (@BunnyStenzel) September 8, 2022
Maybe she’ll have a piece in The Atlantic tomorrow discussing the queen’s role in continued colonialism, whatever it was.
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Related:
‘WOW’: Blue-check anti-racist feminist prof’s comments about Queen Elizabeth’s death SO hateful even Jeff Bezos calls her outhttps://t.co/n6aFD7OMVv
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 8, 2022
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