The College Fix

Others expressed more nuanced or positive views

During a day of national mourning of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, several professors and academics took to Twitter to denounce the late British monarch, whose reign spanned more than 70 years.

The scholars denounced the late Queen as head of an empire they claim engaged in immoral conquest, colonization and abuses of colonized people.

Jon Paul, an organizational leadership professor at the University of Redlands, tweeted the “world hated that women. Loathed.” He added in another tweet: “And let’s be clear: rightfully so.”

If there is anything I can say about what I am seeing on social today?:

The world hated that woman. Loathed.

— Jon Paul, Ed.D. (They/Them/Tired)🏳️‍🌈 (@DoctorJonPaul) September 8, 2022

Jenn Jackson, an assistant professor at Syracuse University whose “primary research is in Black Politics with a focus on group threat, gender and sexuality, political behavior, and social movements,” tweeted that “Brits get two weeks off to mourn because the Queen died. When have Black folks gotten a chance to mourn? Anybody?”

The only expected British bank holiday dedicated to the queen’s death is the date of her funeral, according to the BBC.

Brits get two weeks off to mourn because the Queen died.

When have Black folks gotten a chance to mourn? Anybody?

— Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them) (@JennMJacksonPhD) September 8, 2022

Johnathan Perkins, the director of race and equity at UCLA, responded to the queen’s death with a tweet stating “Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-ruling British monarch, has [finally] died at 96. Good riddance, colonizer.”

https://twitter.com/JohnathanPerk/status/1567938527635329024?s=20&t=k3o5r1WqUa2IlSJJKlrNsA

The College Fix also reported in March on Perkins’ tweet wishing death on then-hospitalized Justice Clarence Thomas.

Jairo Fúnez-Flores, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, responded to negative coverage of the queen following her death by listing a series of “Atrocities of England and the British Empire” in a tweet that included events largely predating her reign.

Atrocities of England and the British Empire

1. Colonization of Ireland
2. Colonization of 25 percent of the World
3. Transatlantic Slave Trade
4. Opium Wars
5. Violent Repression of the Mau Mau Uprising
6. Famine in India

Finish the list for Jeff Bezos.

— Jairo I Fúnez-Flores (@Jairo_I_Funez) September 8, 2022

Ebony Thomas, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, tweeted before the queen’s death that “Telling the colonized how they should feel about their colonizer’s health and wellness is like telling my people that we ought to worship the Confederacy.”

https://twitter.com/Ebonyteach/status/1567894553474076677?s=20&t=k3o5r1WqUa2IlSJJKlrNsA

“That wretched woman and her bloodthirsty throne have fucked generations of my ancestors on both sides of the family,” Carnegie Mellon University Professor Uju Anya wrote shortly before the queen’s death in a tweet that has since been removed. “She supervised a government that sponsored the genocide my parents and siblings survived. May she die in agony.”

“We should not romanticize her era,” Harvard University historian Maya Jasanoff wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. “The queen helped obscure a bloody history of decolonization whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged.”

In Opinion

"We should not romanticize her era," writes Maya Jasanoff, a professor of history at Harvard, in a guest essay. "The queen helped obscure a bloody history of decolonization whose proportions and legacies have yet to be adequately acknowledged." https://t.co/3UIf76SriF

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 8, 2022

Other professors expressed more nuanced or favorable views of the queen’s legacy

Liz Faber, an assistant professor at Dean College researching science fiction and feminist and queer media studies, took a more nuanced approached following Queen Elizabeth’s death while echoing the sentiments of the others.

“Queen Elizabeth II was a person, someone’s mom, grandma, great-grandma. She was also an active participant in colonization. We can hold both ideas at once, and it’s absolutely okay to be sad right now,” Faber reminded her followers in a now-deleted tweet.

It unclear why she deleted her tweet.

Bruce Gilley, a professor at Portland State University who has defended some colonization in his scholarly research, tweeted a picture of the queen visiting Aden, Yemen, in 1954, captioning it with she “was the Queen of many peoples who were grateful for the British colonial inheritance.”

https://twitter.com/BruceDGilley/status/1567932312637313025?s=20&t=k3o5r1WqUa2IlSJJKlrNsA

The College Fix reached out to the scholars cited in this article on September 9 via email or personal website contact forms. This article will be updated with any responses received.

MORE: Carnegie Mellon professor wished ‘excruciating pain’ for Queen Elizabeth

IMAGE: @JohnathanPerk/Twitter

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter