Well, it seems the British Royal Family is attempting to counteract any idea that they are racist by jumping on the Black Lives Matter train.
Ken Olisa, the first Black Lord-Lieutenant for London, said in a recent interview that the issue of race is a “hot conversation topic” in the royal household. CNN said that this statement comes prior to an interview which will be aired Friday.
Ever since the allegations of racism from Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in their Oprah interview and the revelation that ethnic minority immigrants and foreigners were banned from clerical positions until at least the late 1960s, the royals have been in the hot seat.
You’d think it would have happened sooner with colonization, imperialism, and every time one of the royals was propped up in a chair carried by Black or Brown people.
“The question is, what more can we do to bind society to remove these barriers? [The royals] care passionately about making this one nation bound by the same values,” said Olisa, according to British media reports. Yet, earlier this year, England’s players took a knee to express support for racial equality and were booed for it, and members of the English football team got racially harassed for losing a big tournament match.
This is the nation. It has always been the nation, and for a woman, the Queen, who served in WWII, who has had actual Nazis and white supremacists in her family, who has been on the throne longer than nations her country has owned have been independent, this feels like silly platitudes.
BLM is about protecting the lives of Black people. Globally. How can the Crown ever be fully supportive of that?
Adjoa, a spokesperson for BLM U.K., said, “We were surprised to learn the Queen is a BLM supporter. But we welcome anyone that agrees with our goal of dismantling white supremacy. Of course, actions speak louder than words. The Queen sits on a throne made from colonial plunder. Until she gives back all the stolen gold and diamonds from the commonwealth and pays reparations, these are nothing more than warm words.”
And that’s all that needs to be said. Reparations, your majesty. Then we can talk.
(via CNN, image: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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