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separate from anything she actively did, she was the figurehead who - every day of her reign - legitimised possibly the most blood-drenched empire that has ever existed. so much theft, so much death, so much misery, and she more than anyone helped to sweep it all under the rug by putting a polite smiling face on the legacy of centuries of imperial brutality.
oh but she didnt do any of those atrocities herself? how can you blame her? she could have abdicated, she could have used her position to speak out against it, demanded reparations, decolonisation, dismantling of the remains of empire (and an end to the atrocities that were still going on during her reign), given away her stolen wealth, so many things. but she did none of that, she smiled and waved and lived a life of luxury while whitewashing unimaginable atrocity. every day of her reign as the chief propagandist for the disgusting british empire she made it harder for the colonised people of the world to ever find justice
:ukkk:
It's too late for England to be forgiven, but it's never too late for England to give the fucking land back.
Police barred from searching Queen's estates for looted artefacts
Police have been barred from searching the Queen’s private estates for stolen or looted artefacts after ministers granted her a personal exemption from a law that protects the world’s cultural property
How very dare you! Rats deserve no such slander. They're actually very hygienic animals, unlike Brits
:ukkk:
great tweet thread from an australian indigenous activist
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 colonisation and colonialism, she was an architect of it.
Demanding Indigenous people be respectful about the passing of someone who intentionally made our lives worse is outrageous. It's worth considering what she could have done - and didn't - to effect change.
At so many times across the 20th century, she could have intervened and reset the relationship between Indigenous people and 'the crown', because she had more than ceremonial power to do so. She did nothing.
What she did 'do' was be an active participant in stealing our land. Instead of handing back, making reparations from her enormous wealth, her agents (that she had explicit control of, see 'The Dismissal') continued to steal land and when they had it all, they stole our children.
She had influence over the 'commonwealth'. Her wealth is not just ceremonial, and it was not acquired passively. It was built on the pain and suffering of Indigenous people. That was the plan all along and that's the plan that she was an agent of her whole career.
Too many people fail to understand how inaction and the gathering of wealth is a fundamental in colonial incursion. For everyone saying she was a kindly grandmother, they fail to see that she had a job for decades that oversaw actions that made Indigenous peoples lives worse.
For people asking about examples of what she did or failed to do. See: every colonial act in the 'commonwealth' across her reign. Either you think she was a leader, or you don't. Either you think the commonwealth exists (fair bit of evidence, even a coat of arms) or you don't.
If you don't understand why people terribly affected through her reign are using humour at the moment, you can do two things. 1. Read more about the way humour is used to flip the tables of agency. 2. Have a little think.
Similarly if you're wondering why many Indigenous people are not commenting, try not to make this about a sign of respect and consider that the spectacle of the crown is one of the mechanisms it has used to gain power over us. Getting on with our lives in spite of it, is a thing.
For me, I'm not here to lampoon the crown or the queen. Though I thoroughly support those who are - it's an important act of resistance. But what I will do is hold the mirror up to the crown and to the queen. She was the one who maintained a colonial rule, her boot on us.
Settlers wanting to argue the crown or queen had no say either have no idea of the relationship between the crown, queen & 'Australia', or they choose to believe an innate benevolence where the queen would have cared but somehow didn't know. If so, points off for job performance.
The standard response (including in comments below ) is not being able to believe that they 'let' me 'be a professor' because I don't support their hot-take on colonialism and the queen. Not to burst their bubble, but they don't just 'let' me, they also pay me for it.
Some settlers going out of their way to come to an Indigenous account today and 'correct' it. If anyone wants a lesson in colonialism, this is it.
Her disabled cousins who were unpersoned
In the 2011 documentary The Queen’s Hidden Cousins, nurses and staff at Earlswood interviewed confirmed that, to their knowledge, the family never sent the sisters a birthday or Christmas gift, or a card.
The documentary also claimed that there was no evidence that any member of the royal family had visited. In fact, when Nerissa died, none of the family was in attendance at the funeral. Her grave was marked with plastic tags and a serial number until her existence was revealed in the media, after which the family added a tombstone. Following the revelation, Katherine, the surviving sibling, was reportedly sent flowers from all corners of the United Kingdom.
Weird how the USSR and Socialist States get all the shit for erasing reactionaries and opportunists while the U.K. gets away with erasing disabled people from existence.
Her extreme wealth was all stolen from centuries of genocide
yeah but libs don't care about that type of shit, they think it doesn't count somehow
Wait so is that Epstein's cabin, or is that the Queen's cabin?
Or do they happen to vacation in the same place
Wearing gloves so Her Majesty's hands won't be soiled by the filthy hands of the locals
the name in the bottom belongs to the "longest serving photographer serving the royal family" meaning this was taken as a pr shot they thought was cool
Queen ‘to spend millions funding Prince Andrew’s defence against sex abuse claims’
The Queen will spend millions of pounds privately funding the Duke of York’s defence case against allegations of sexual abuse, it has been reported. She agreed to pay for her son’s legal defence shortly after his car crash Newsnight interview, in which he addressed his friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to the Daily Telegraph."
Queen asked for poverty grant to heat palaces
Ministers refused royal request, saying handouts were aimed at schools, hospitals and housing associations to help low-income families
the cost of heating the palace was 1m a year. the fund they were taking from had 60m total.
DSA Intl Committee has an extremely good thread
Historic.ly also has an older good thread.
These could be broken down into a comment for here. It's 2.22am and I'm full of alcohol right now though.
Read this article on queen's consent:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent?
Basically the queen vetoes laws that affect her personally. Maybe it's no different from any other billionaire I guess
