The world is morning the demise of
the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II, the
long-serving monarch who died on September
8, and my mama always told me not to speak
ill of the dead. I am sorry that her family
endured her loss, as many of our families
have. My dear mom died at the same age, and
my siblings and I are still managing our
grief. So I extend compassion to her family.
Queen Elizabeth seems to have been
a lovely, gentle, and caring lady, who loved
her corgi dogs, and her children and
grandchildren, perhaps in that order,
especially if they were mixed-race. Her
death garnered gracious accolades from
President Biden and former US Presidents,
including President Barack Obama and First
Lady Michelle, as they fondly recalled their
visit with her. At the same time, she
presided over a predatory and oppressive
colonially-reminiscent “Commonwealth”where
she was the “reigning monarch” over
countries with a very different demographic
than hers.
Are the people of Jamaica,
Barbados, and Tuvalu, among other
countries,mourning with the same zeal as
those in the United Kingdom? While some weep
for the woman who reigned Britain and the
countries it colonized, will they weep for
the people who suffer from the mark of
oppression from the British? Some will say
this is not the time to consider a colonial
reckoning. When is the right time, then? As
Charles III ascends the throne, does he get
a pass because of his country’s turgid
history, or does it make sense, as the page
turns, to confront colonization and its
aftermath?
The global racial wealth gap is a
function of the ways that European countries
saw the African continent as a place from
which they could extract surplus values. In
his masterpiece, How Europe Underdeveloped
Africa, Sir Walter Rodney explains how
European prosperity was directly linked to
African exploitation. Queen Elizabeth, for
betteror worse, inherited that legacy and
did precious little to confront it. She and
her progeny, the Charles, Williams, and
Kates of theworld, seem to think that they
are supposed to rule other people’s
countries. They were raised to believe
exploitation is acceptable, sowhen William
and Kate went to Jamaica, they were stunned
by demands for reparations but could come up
with nothing more than a tepidstatement that
enslavement was “regrettable.”
Regrettable? The history of African
exploitation and colonization is, at
best,deplorable. Its roots are global
anti-Blackness and a non-Christian pope who
saw the Black body (and mineral-rich African
countries) assomething to exploit. In 1493,
Pope Alexander VI issued an encyclical (or
Papal letter) that mandated that
“Christian”Europeans “convert, colonize, and
enslave” those who were not Christian.
England was one of the most enthusiastic
colonizers,claiming parts of Africa and the
Caribbean as part of their “Empire.”
Elizabeth II inherited this legacy and did
nothing about it during her 70-year reign.
Is it likely that Charles III will be any
better?
The “British Empire” grew and
prospered through colonization and
exploitation. It owes several countries on
the African continent reparations. Of
course, now that they are not as dominating
as theyonce were, with a faltering economy
and a diminished world footprint, they
aren’t likely to talk reparation now. Yet
there is never a“good time” to make
recompense to the people who have been
exploited. Queen Elizabeth II’s death is a
“good time” for a new king to repair old
wounds.
It is the height of white
entitlement that a British queen attempted
to rule countries that were colonized. It is
the irony of white entitlement that some
African descendant Caribbean natives sing
“God Save the Queen” with as much enthusiasm
as their British cousins do. But Queen
Elizabeth’s death is an excellent time
toexamine global predatory capitalism and
the evils it has wrought. When will the
great colonizers come to grips with their
evil and label it as something more than
“regrettable”? If there is regret, Prince
William shows it by becoming a champion for
reparations. Smiling and dancing through
Jamaica does not offer a scintilla of
remorse.
My condolences for Queen Elizabeth
are muted by my condolences for the
exploited, those who live in “kingdom”
countries who chafed under her dominance.
The death of this monarch offers us an
opportunity to examine her reign, its awful
impact, and the ways the UK colluded with
global predatory capitalist forces to keep
African and Caribbean nations subservient.
The mindless celebrations of her reign are
also celebrations of worldwide capitalism
and exploitation.
