A royal expert has slammed the ‘inappropriate and opportunistic’ comments made by American professors who said they had ‘nothing but disdain’ for Queen Elizabeth II following her death.
Uju Anya, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, branded Her Majesty’s reign, ‘violent’ after coming under fire over a tweet wishing the Queen an ‘excruciatingly painful’ death.
The linguistic professor was backed by Zoé Samudzi, a Zimbabwean American photography professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, who issued her own outrageous statement on Twitter saying she would ‘dance on the graves of every member of the royal family.’
Robert Jobson, author of ‘William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch,’ criticised the academics, telling MailOnline on Saturday: ‘This is inappropriate and opportunistic at this time of national mourning.’
His sentiment echoes that of several social media users who felt their remarks were ‘vile’ and contradicted their alleged efforts to ‘better the world.’
The woke Carnegie Mellon professor who put out a tweet so acidic in response to the death of Queen Elizabeth II that Twitter took it down has continued to double down on her anti-monarchy statements
Ms Anya, 46, made her controversial remarks in an interview with NBC News’ website on Thursday, saying: ‘There are people literally around the world, rejoicing at this woman’s death, not because they’re vile or cold but because her reign and the reign of her monarchy by extension was violent.
The linguistics professor slammed those who’d condemned her tweets, adding: ‘I take deep offense at the notion that the oppressed and survivors of violence have to somehow be deferential or respectful when their oppressors die.’
She described herself as a ‘child of colonization,’ recalling how her mother was born in Trinidad and her father in Nigeria. The pair eventually met in England in 1950s, having been sent there to go to school.
She added: ‘In addition to the colonization on the side of Nigeria, there’s also the human enslavement in the Caribbean. So there’s a direct lineage that I have to not just people who were colonized, but also people who were enslaved by the British.’
In her first controversial tweet – now deleted by the social media platform – the professor wrote: ‘I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.’
‘That wretched woman and her bloodthirsty throne have f***** generations of my ancestors on both sides of the family, and she supervised a government that sponsored the genocide my parents and siblings survived. May she die in agony.’
Twitter later removed the posts for violating their rules.
Uju Anya is a teacher and associate professor at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She tweeted the disgusting words following the news that the Queen was in ill health
Carnegie Mellon released a statement distancing itself from Ms Anya’s words while saying it backed free speech, and that she was entitled to say them.
The university has so far refused to punish its professor, and said in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday evening ‘We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her social media account.’
‘Free expression is core to the mission of higher education,’ they said, indicating Ms Anya would not see consequences for her tweet.
‘However, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster,’ they concluded.
Carnegie Mellon University responded that Anya’s views do not represent their school but also refused to allow her to face consequences so far and have not fired her
Samudzi also responded to Mail Online’s article, saying: ‘I said what I said, and I’d say it any day of the year’
Ms Anya’s tweet was met with support from Ms Samudzi, who mad her own outrageous statement about the late royal.
She said: ‘As the first generation of my family not born in a British colony, I would dance on the graves of every member of the royal family if given the opportunity, especially hers.’
Robert Jobson (pictured), author of ‘William at 40: The Making of a Modern Monarch,’ criticised the academics, telling Mail Online on Saturday: ‘This is inappropriate and opportunistic at this time of national mourning’
The Nigerian-born professor also said that she takes ‘deep offense at the notion that the oppressed and survivors of violence have to somehow be deferential or respectful when their oppressors die.’
Ms Samudzi also responded to Mail Online’s article, saying: ‘I said what I said, and I’d say it any day of the year.’
Though Queen Elizabeth II has ruled a post-colonial Britain, there have been calls from some to confront the monarchy’s past and, as Ms Anya puts it, their continued attempts to ‘meddle in African affairs.’
And during Friday’s installment of ABC’s The View, co-host Sunny Hostin said: ‘If you really think about what the monarchy was built on, it was built on the backs of black and brown people.’
She took particular issue with the Imperial State Crown and the Queen’s scepter.
‘She wore a crown with pillaged stones from India and Africa,’ Ms Hostin added.
‘And now what you’re seeing, at least in the black communities that I’m a part of, they want reparation.
The Imperial State Crown, along with a sceptre, serves as the principal crown for the British monarch. The Queen was pictured at her coronation in 1953 with the sceptre and bejewelled crown
Carnegie Mellon University has distanced itself from Anya, telling DailyMail.com that it does ‘not condone the offensive and objectionable messages’
Ms Anya’s appalling sentiment, shared as the Queen was in her final hours, has ignited a firestorm of anger, and cast a light on previous attempts by hundreds of people to get the outspoken academic fired from her teaching job for violent and racist words.
Among those who condemned Ms Anya’s initial tweet wishing a painful end for the Queen, who died Thursday, was billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Mr Bezos said: ‘This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.’
Journalist Piers Morgan also added: ‘You vile disgusting moron.’
One horrified user said: ‘Don’t expect that of you but do expect common decency, respect for such a loss. If you cannot give that at this time, you are a disgraceful of a human being.’
Another added: ‘You are just so uncouth and manner-less. You speak of someone who just passed with such a vile and disdaining comment.
Carnegie Mellon University has distanced itself from Ms Anya, telling DailyMail.com that it does ‘not condone the offensive and objectionable messages’.
‘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,’ a spokesperson said.
The ‘anti racist’ professor has faced allegations of racism in the past for the words she has used online – and in one instance, the Foundational Black American lineage created a petition to get her removed from Carnegie Mellon University.
Ms Anya, who claims to be an expert in ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ was called out for using an ethnic slur, which means ‘cotton pickers’ or ‘wild animals.’
The petition to get her fired garnered nearly 800 signatures.
It read: ‘Dr. Uju Anya can not be allowed to use the platform of Carnegie Mellon University Department of Modern Languages to further promote systemic racism through her blatant use of ethnic slurs on social media when referring to Foundational Black Americans.
‘This is a step backward in our fight to destroy systemic racism and discrimination for all people if institutions allow professors to become comfortable with using language as a weapon against people of color by people of color.
‘Society MUST hold all people accountable equally and we call on Carnegie Mellon University to take action against this type of egregious behavior to protect the reputation and integrity of the Higher Learning Institution.’
One person who signed the petition said that the professor can’t be trusted with children.
They added: ‘I’m concerned for the children. She can’t be trusted with kids. I wouldn’t want racist of any color teaching my children.’
Another added: ‘She needs to be fired. There’s no way in hell she should be allowed to teach Black American students. She’s a danger to any Black American she comes in contact with. FIRE HER NOW!’
And a third person, who signed the petition for the university to drop her, said: ‘She’s a hypocrite and an ethnic bigot.’
The vicious academic also found herself in hot water when he mocked the death of YouTuber Kevin Samuels in May 2022.
Mr Samuels, who had 1.42million YouTube subscribers and nearly as many Instagram followers, was best known for some of his controversial dating advice. He passed away earlier this year.
But in the aftermath of his death she wrote: ‘Kevin Samuels told men their worth was in their wallet. He died in a 1BR sublet with less than $1K to his name, no partner, friend, or offspring willing to claim him, only his poor mother begging and borrowing to bury his loathsome carcass.’
Jeff Bezos was one of the many voices slamming the professor for her vile tweets
Her Majesty, Queen of the United Kingdom, died on September 8, 2022
‘There is no way you aren’t a woman with so much of hate in your heart and we certainly don’t need that in women who hold high positions in our society. Horrible!!’
A third social media user, disgusted at the words, said: ‘There’s always someone looking for attention in the midst of a tragedy, which you might understand if the target was a hated public figure but these comments are disgusting, and from a verified blue tick account too. You should be ashamed of yourself.’
As well as Ms Anya and her vile words, a slew of people took to social media to attack and mock the Queen as news rolled in about her tragic death. Millions across the world are mourning the loss of Britain’s longest-serving monarch.
Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, an associate professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Education, wrote: ‘Telling the colonized how they should feel about their colonizer’s health and wellness is like telling my people that we ought to worship the Confederacy.
”Respect the dead’ when we’re all writing these Tweets *in English.* How’d that happen, hm? We just chose this language?’
Responding to her tweet and alluding to their happiness at the Queen’s death, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s former aide said: ‘I cannot imagine what my Irish grandparents would be feeling.’
Political reporter for the Washington Post, Eugene Scott, also peddled the idea that speaking about the British Empire and its ramifications was the appropriate topic of conversation while the beloved Queen was on her deathbed.
He wrote: ‘Real question for the ‘now is not the appropriate time to talk about the negative impact of colonialism’ crowd: When is the appropriate time to talk about the negative impact of colonialism?’
As did Jemele Hill, contributing writer for The Atlantic: ‘Journalists are tasked with putting legacies into full context, so it is entirely appropriate to examine the queen and her role in the devastating impact of continued colonialism.’
The vicious academic also found herself in hot water when he mocked the death of YouTuber Kevin Samuels in May 2022
YouTuber Kevin Samuels, 57, died in Atlanta earlier this year. But Anya came under fire after mocking his death in May 2022
On Thursday, the Queen’s death was confirmed. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.
‘The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow’.
The Queen’s death will see Britain and her Commonwealth realms enter into a ten-day period of mourning as millions of her subjects in the UK and abroad come to terms with her passing.
And as her son King Charles accedes to the throne, there will also be a celebration of her historic 70-year reign that saw her reach her Platinum Jubilee this year – a landmark unlikely to be reached again by a British monarch.
Charles, who became King on the death of his mother, said: ‘We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother.
‘I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.’
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