This is probably my last post on the whole โLiz is deadโ situation but I want to talk about my great grandmother, who is currently 92 years old. When I was growing up, hell even now, sheโd tell me a lot about her own stories, mostly about how terrifying life was under both the British Raj and Nizam rule (her side of my family is from Hyderabad - Google the Nizams and the Razakars if youโve never heard about them, thatโs a whole other thing of its own).
Something I remember very clearly is her telling me about this one song she was forced to sing in her school - she went to a Christian convent school - and the song was about the greatness of โGeorge Prabhu and Mary Rani,โ aka George V, Elizabeth IIโs grandfather. Recently my mom was able to film her singing this song so that we could listen to the lyrics, which are originally in Telugu, and roughly translated it means โweโre singing in honor of George and Mary, who are the rulers of India and have brought great fortune to India, and we see them as our father and mother.โ
This is just a really difficult reminder that when weโre talking about why Elizabeth II and the royal family donโt deserve our respect or condolences, many of us have very personal stories that run deep through our families. โBut she was a mother, a grandmother, a personโ and I donโt care because she and her family were in the business of dehumanizing and erasing the identities of millions of other mothers, other grandmothers, other PEOPLE. Why else would my great grandmother be forced to sing a song in their honor? โBut she wasnโt responsible for Indiaโ fair enough, her darling grandfather had a great time doing that, but how about you go and talk to Kenya? Or anyone in Africa? Or the Caribbean? Iโm sick and tired of being told to โnot speak ill of the deadโ when REALLY I and millions of others should be getting an apology from anyone who wants to โpraise her legacyโ and talk about how โrevolutionaryโ she was.
edit: i got the georgeโs mixed up. george v is elizabeth iiโs grandfather. george vi is her father.
