At least that is according to those who count themselves among the so-called anti-racists. “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying,” tweeted Nigerian-born Carnegie Mellon University professor Uju Anya last week when reports emerged of the queen’s rapidly declining health. “May her pain be excruciating,” she wrote. Anya, incidentally, also identifies as a feminist and repeatedly calls out “toxic masculinity”.
Her sentiments towards the queen were, admittedly, a tad controversial but there can be no doubt she and her ilk merely want peace and harmony for all. Also, it is not as if she tweeted something hateful and offensive such as “Women have vaginas” or “All lives matter, not just black lives”.
But inexplicably, the university took umbrage at Anya’s tweet. “We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account,” it said in a statement. “Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster.”
Granted, Anya faces no sanction or reprimand from her employer. But as MSNBC political columnist Zeeshan Aleem noted, the university’s statement “was a condemnation and implicitly a signal to other academics at the university that they should watch their mouth on certain matters.” What is more, he wrote, “it underscores how vulnerable public intellectuals are to controversy-driven social media pile-ons”.
I agree entirely. To reiterate, all Anya did was publicly and gleefully exhort that an ailing 96-year-old woman suffer a horrific death. For the university to disassociate itself with her remarks is yet another example of society trying to silence strong black women. As she lamented to women’s magazine The Cut, “hate is coming into my email inbox”. To add to her distress, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, quoting Anya’s post, tweeted: “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.” So what was Anya’s take on his remarks? “Jeff Bezos incited violence against me,” she claimed.
In other words, Anya is the victim here. Welcome to the narcissistic world of race politics. It is a place where activists can say and do things that would normally result in termination of employment but for their minority status. Call them out for their actions and you will be met with screeching accusations of racist victimising.
Like Anya, Sandy O’Sullivan is another cosseted activist who wages a brave battle against the coloniser from academia. A professor of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University, O’Sullivan is an Aboriginal self-described trans/non-binary/queer. Barely four hours after the Queen’s death had been announced, O’Sullivan used the Twitter account of media organisation IndigenousX to accuse her of being an “architect” of “colonialism”.
You poor thing. You must live a miserable life as a Professor. All that colonial oppression. Terrible. https://t.co/IQWiBYeJiM
— Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO (@nyunggai) September 10, 2022
What followed was a lengthy reductionist rant against the late monarch that I would detail in full only if I were paid by the word. However, one tweet is worth repeating. “But what I will do is hold the mirror up to the crown and to the queen,” said O’Sullivan. “She was the one who maintained a colonial rule, her boot on us.”
Indeed, nothing says colonial rule and oppression like an Indigenous activist on a taxpayer-subsidised salary of nearly $200,000 a year. That is the beauty of decolonisation, you see. It does not mean adopting the harsh subsistence lifestyle of one’s ancestors or giving up the generous perks supplied by the coloniser.
That is not to say the position is money for jam. It involves much contrived offence-taking as well as using every opportunity to maximise and advertise one’s trauma and wretchedness. Quite exhausting really, although Greens senator Lidia Thorpe makes it look effortless. “I’ve seen anger and disbelief from First Nations people at the glorification of our oppressor,” she tweeted on Monday, having resisted for four days the temptation to say something nonsensical. A personal record, surely?
The Queen is dead. I’ve had some days to reflect, and know that people wanted me to come out ranting and raving to confirm their views of me as a crazy Blak woman. In the days since, I've seen anger and disbelief from First Nations people at the glorification of our oppressor.
— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) September 12, 2022
Then there is the case of NRLW Indigenous player Caitlin Moran. As The Daily Telegraph reported, last Friday the Newcastle Knights player posted an image of the queen on Instagram along with the caption: “Todays a good fkn day, uncle Luke announces his tour, and this dumb dog dies Happpy fkn Friday”. In response, the NRL issued a code of conduct breach notice. She has been suspended for one match and fined a quarter of her salary for this year, although she will not have to pay the fine if she fulfils certain conditions, including attending sessions on responsible use of social media.
This has not been received well by sections of the Indigenous community. As SBS reported, Gomeroi academic Dr Amy Thunig labelled the reaction “ridiculous” and “disproportionate”. And former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda said he was “wondering where are the freedom of speech warriors defending Caitlin’s freedom”.
I am wondering, what happened to the “words have consequences” mob? Nonetheless I will defend Moran’s rights to free speech as I have former Wallaby Israel Folau. But regarding Moran, I need not imagine for long what the sanction would be had a white player made similar disgusting remarks about the death of an Indigenous elder. Cue the protests of false equivalence.
As for Gooda’s invoking of free speech in Moran’s defence, think back to the Turnbull government’s unsuccessful attempt in 2016 to amend section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it unlawful to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person on the basis of their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. Opposing moves to relax these measures, one commentator observed in this masthead that “bigotry … [has] no place in a modern Australia”.
“Freedom of speech is not an absolute right,” he insisted. Who was the author of these comments, you ask? Answer: Mick Gooda.
What the Nilands are doing next
Food superstars Josh and Julie Niland want to reinvent family-friendly dining at Hamilton Island’s luxurious new boutique hotel.
Who will fill the Vatican void?
An eerie, empty atmosphere lingered over St Peter’s Square after Pope Francis’ funeral as Catholics ponder the imminent conclave and ‘what’s next?’ for the church
Queen Elizabeth II personified the traits of diligence, humility, and devotion to country. Her long reign encapsulated stability, progress, and significant gains for her subjects. Hers was a generation that espoused self-reliance, the work ethic, and community service. She saw her nation transformed into a haven for immigrants of all races and creeds seeking a better life. It is only right then that she be despised and vilified in death.