Legacy of Great Britain or Sentiments of the Colonization hit!

One of the longest-lived And reigned Britain-monarch, Queen Elizabeth II passed on 8th September 2022 in her home (Balmoral Castle, United Kingdom) peacefully; commented by her medical practitioners and related allies. All of England mourned the loss and is going to have ten days of Nationwide holidays before everything comes back to business.

The queen was one of the monarchs that lived through a century transition. She saw extreme social, technological, transitional, and generational changes the world has experienced. She witnessed wars, famines, pandemics, the rise and fall of empires, economical fluctuations, and many more advancements and achievements one could not even dream of long ago.

She has lived for good 96 years and ruled for 70. Queen Elizabeth (II) tenure as head of state spanned post-war austerity, the transition from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War, and the United Kingdom's entry and withdrawal from the European Union. Her reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Ms. Truss, born 101 years later in 1975. (BBC, 2022)

To some, she was the epitome of balance. Current Prime Minister Liz Truss said, "the monarch was the rock on which modern Britain was built, who had provided us with the stability and strength that we needed.” She was appointed by the Queen on Tuesday (6th September 2022), days before her final abode.?

Along these lines, some mixed feelings and impressions have come forth in form of tweets, memes, posts, and images. Living in the world connected through social media and constant updates, an array of cross-cultural and sentimental comments have arisen from the commonwealth nations that were once ruled by the deity and are now independent states.

Uju Anya, an associate professor of second language acquisition at Carnegie Mellon University tweeted on Thursday afternoon that "If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star." Her tweet had been retweeted more than 10,000 times and was liked nearly 38,000 by Thursday evening.

Anya expressed in an interview that "she is a child of colonization" as her mother was born in Trinidad and her father in Nigeria. They both met in England, where they were sent for Higher Education as colonial subjects. They married there and moved to Nigeria together.

She also iterated her views on human enslavement by saying that "the colonization on the side of Nigeria, there's also the human enslavement in the Caribbean. So there's a direct lineage that I have to not just people who were colonized, but also people who were enslaved by the British." (NBC NEWS, 2022)

The reaction of indigenous people and people of color is also important to take into consideration, as her support of colonization and the damage in its wake is irreversible. Much anger, resentment, and unresolved trauma of the people and nations surfaced as the news conquered the globe.

“For those saying we should be magnanimous about the passing of the queen, a reminder that the queen inserted herself into the lives of Indigenous people here multiple times. She wasn’t a bystander to the effects of colonization and colonialism, she was an architect of it,” O’Sullivan wrote.

Some other people suggested that she was an active participant in thieving away their land and belongings. Instead of handing it all back, making amends with her vast wealth, she continued to steal through her agents and when they had it all, they stole the children.

As propelled, the gathering of wealth is fundamental in colonial invasion and too many people fail to understand the impact of inaction. Everyone saying she was a kindly mother, daughter, or grandmother; they fail to see that she had a job for decades that oversaw actions that made indigenous peoples' lives worse.

Karen Attiah, African American columnist with the Washington Post, summed up the complex and mixed feelings “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.” (The Guardian, 2022)

It is safe to conclude that no ruler, leader, or monarch can leave a legacy and disposition of leaning on one side of the coin. All people remember them based on their own experiences and we have witnessed mighty such decisions deferred by the legends. Nonetheless, “The huge vacuum left will cause debate, but in this time of grief and loss, we can only support her whānau and mokopuna as they grieve and heal. She was a constant across three generations, an anchor in a rapidly changing globe,” Waititi told Radio NZ. (The Guardian, 2022)

#deathofthequeen #queenelizabethII #queen #britain #england #unitedkindom #colonization #colonialism #indigenous #peopleofcolor #elizabethII #linkedin #linkedinfamily #history #reign #rule #finaljourney

References:

1. BBC -?https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886.amp?retrieved 4.15 am 12-09-2022

2. NBC NEWS -?https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna46942?retrieved at 4.42 am on 12-09-2022

3. The Guardian -?https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/10/condolences-and-condemnation-indigenous-people-and-people-of-colour-react-to-the-death-of-queen-elizabeth-ii?retrieved 4.31 am on 12-09-2022