Now that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away, takes on British colonization (or even its brutal and bloody decolonization) are a dime a dozen. But it took someone special to come up with a take so heinous that Twitter removed it. Carnegie Mellon’s Uju Anya tweeted, “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.” Carnegie Mellon put out a statement saying Anya’s words did not reflect the value of the institution — pretty weak — but an editor at MSNBC found it “troubling” that the university might not want to be tainted by such an awful tweet.
.@ZeeshanAleem: It’s critical to recognize how distasteful the whitewashing of the British empire has been in the official British narratives celebrating Elizabeth’s life. https://t.co/W0k6ED6fm4
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 10, 2022
Zeeshan Aleem writes:
Universities almost never issue statements like this because the very premise of a university is to serve as a bastion of independent thinking and provide a forum for intellectual free-for-alls. A university would never be presumed to endorse any of its scholars’ individual beliefs, which is key for academia as a space for provocation to thrive. So in effect, this statement was a condemnation and implicitly a signal to other academics at the university that they should watch their mouth on certain matters. While the motivation behind the unusual statement is unclear, it underscores how vulnerable public intellectuals are to controversy-driven social media pile-ons.
Cutting her loose would have been a signal to other academics to watch their mouths.
Faculty Lounge TV. https://t.co/fr1GZm5c99
— Cranky "Tech Gossip Girl" Gordon (@StillCrankyAF) September 10, 2022
While it is critical to recognize the whitewashing of the British empire (and America, for that matter), there is also the issue of good taste and manners, and not being intentionally cruel/provocative in the face of the death of a beloved figure. Are the clicks worth it?
— wendy s williams (aka wendyow) (@wswilliamsA2) September 10, 2022
Everyone was silent when this woman was calling black Americans Akatas. Now y'all want to portray her as a victim because her Twitter fingers wrote a check her ass can't cash. https://t.co/8JvjLQFxV8
— Since I'm Here 🇺🇸 (@since_m) September 10, 2022
But I'm a viiiiiiiiiiiiiiiictim
— AJ. (@asjlive) September 10, 2022
A college educated academic is not a victim…
— Astoriacub7 (@astoriacub7) September 10, 2022
The sins of our ancestors are not ours.
— Divina Dizon (@divinediogenes) September 10, 2022
And the queen was supposedly setting foreign policy at the time?
QE II presided over the dissolution of the British Empire. She should not be vilified for its sins.
— Miffler J Tripod (@MifflerT) September 10, 2022
Absurd.
— Frank Patrick (@fpatrick) September 10, 2022
Are you lefties capable of not being jerks?
— Steven (@MaVASteve) September 10, 2022
Ever notice lefties ignore that non Europeans also had empires and engaged in imperialism ? But they wish agonizing deaths on elderly women who oversaw the dissolution of empire
— Steven (@MaVASteve) September 10, 2022
The ‘forever victims’ that are thriving off Queen Elizabeth’s death are disgusting.
I have lost so much respect for so many people over the past few days.
Racism is well and truly still alive. But just not necessarily how the media always portray it…
— John (@DotDotDot_John) September 10, 2022
She lives in an advanced western culture only because of colonization.
— Reginald.T.Pepperdine (@reggietpepper) September 10, 2022
I hope she gets help for her mental health issues….
— jurgen_meister (@jurgenmeister4) September 10, 2022
We’re guessing she has tenure and can fully indulge in her mental health issues.
***
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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