As tributes pour in following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, movements on social networks offer another side to the story: far from tears and contemplation, some express a willed indifference or harsh criticism towards the Crown, others even see it as an occasion to celebrate. On the international scene, the Irish, indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indians and Africans who lived under British rule took the opportunity to remind the world of the violence of colonialism.
“Irish Twitter”, “Black Twitter” and “Indian Twitter” have been going wild since Thursday.
Many internet users upload videos of people dancing in front of Buckingham Palace or elsewhere, others expressing their joy and even fireworks.
The calls to order also fuse, some demanding respect for the sovereign.
The fact remains that it arouses contradictory feelings for some: they may have nothing against the person herself, Elisabeth Alexandra Mary, who died Thursday at the age of 96, but rather against the institution she represents.
These Internet users seem to see it as an opportunity to recall what the Irish experienced under English domination, including a famine in the 19e century exacerbated by British laws requiring crops to be sent to England even if the Irish people were starving. Political and bloody conflicts also opposed the Irish in search of their independence to England.
This is also the case of India and many African nations, such as Kenya, which have experienced the abuse of colonial power and repression accompanied by torture.
Complicated relationship for the Northern Irish
While many of the events denounced precede the reign of Elizabeth II, some took place while she was on the throne. One can think, among other things, of the Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972, when British soldiers opened fire on Irish Catholic demonstrators, killing 26 people.
The Irish had a complex relationship with the late sovereign, as “unequal as it is inequitable”, comments the professor of Irish history at Concordia University Gavin Foster.
He recalls from the outset that the Protestants of Northern Ireland – the vast majority of Loyalists and Unionists – are in mourning for their queen, while the Catholics of Northern Ireland – especially Republicans – have no real affection for her, and many are even hostile to her.
“They suffered British policies and repression during the ‘Troubles’,” he recalls.
In Derry, the Bloody Sunday massacre left scars still raw. Since the death of Elizabeth II, “videos have shown people sounding their horns, in a festive atmosphere” in the city, illustrates Gavin Foster.
It is for this reason that the reactions are very polarized, he says.
As for the Republic of Ireland, it has been independent for more than a century, notes the professor, and has had no association with the Crown for 70-80 years. It shows the confidence of a strong and independent nation, he explains. But the country was nevertheless colonized and treated at the time as a subordinate kingdom to that of England, with very ugly chapters in its history.
The backlash over the Queen’s passing probably has little to do with her: when she first visited the country in 2011, she was well received, with many noting her reconciliatory attitude.
They have more against the institution she represents, believes Mr. Foster.
And this is also the case elsewhere: “colonized countries do not fondly remember the colonial period. And she [la reine] was at the head of an Empire that did terrible things”.
In Australia, Professor of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University Sandy O’Sullivan is less tender towards the late sovereign herself.
“She was not a spectator of the effects of colonization and colonialism, she was an architect of it,” she writes. on his Twitter accountnoting that the late sovereign had many opportunities to intervene on behalf of the indigenous people of Australia, but that she did nothing.