Saturday, September 10, 2022

MSNBC host flips the script on royal coverage to document British colonial brutality
Tom Boggioni
September 10, 2022

Coronation of George V in India, (Via1911 | Wikimedia Commons)

Following up on a contentious interview with a British historian over his country's dark history of colonialism, MSNBC host Ali Velshi took time out from coverage of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II to elaborate on his earlier accusations.

Noting that he was getting blowback on social media over the inappropriateness of his mentioning the touchy topic so soon after the queen's death, Velshi suggested Britain's history of brutal suppression should not be glossed over.

"How about we talk a little bit more about colonialism," he began. "The first Elizabethan era ended when Queen Elizabeth the First died in 1603. Her 45 year reign was, quote, 'a golden age,' though I guess that depends on your perspective which marked England's emergence as an ambitious and ruthless global power."

"Elizabeth the First heavily encouraged privateering, granting charters or trading and exploration rights to private companies which paved the ways for an intercontinental empire," he continued.

He then added, "Centuries later, the second Elizabethan era has just ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The two reigns invite easy comparison and they are tethered by their unique position in the timeline of British colonialism; the beginning and the beginning of the end. In the 1920's, the British empire was at its zenith, ruling and controlling the natural resources and economic output of around a quarter of the world's entire population -- about 413 million people at the time."

"Nightfall for the empire was on the horizon by the time Elizabeth became queen," he continued. "It was ushered in by the colonized, not by the colonizer. In 1947, a few months after Queen Elizabeth II's 21st birthday, but five years before she became the monarch, Britain would lose one of its most crucial imperial possessions, India, and the newly partitioned Pakistan. For more than a century, Britain had exploited local rulers workers, and resources in India; flooding the British economy with cotton and cash."

"India not only paved the way for Britain's massive global rise, but funded the continued progress of the industrial revolution," he elaborated. "Remnants of colonialism in India continue in the conflict between India and Pakistan, and India's continued colonization of Kashmir. I don't need to make a metaphor here: the 105 carat diamond which sits in one of the three royal consort crowns is a spoil of war from India."

"The death between 20,000 and 100,000 people in the Mau Mau Uprising in my birthplace of Kenya in 1950s. The opium wars in China. Lesser known atrocities like civilian torture in Cypress. The continued mess which is Israel and Palestine today," he ticked off. "All of it is the legacy of British colonialism. Queen Elizabeth was widely respected and admired. But if you're having mixed feelings about the mourning of the queen and the institution that she represented for so many decades, that's valid, and you're not alone."

You can watch below 
MSNBC 09 10 2022 
 

Historian blows up on MSNBC's Velshi for bringing up British colonialism

Tom Boggioni
September 10, 2022

Ali Velshi, Andrew Roberts (MSNBC screenshot)

MNSNBC's coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II took a turn on Saturday morning when a British historian took exception with host Ali Velshi after he mentioning the brutal colonialism conducted under the crown -- and the two ended up in a shouting match.

In his intro, the MSNBC host explained the late queen, "Represented an institution that had a long, ugly history of brutal colonialism, violence, theft, and slavery. For many centuries the British robbed other nations of their wealth and power and exploited their people. Even as Queen Elizabeth's reign largely marks the beginning of the post-colonial era, the horrors that her long line of ancestors inflicted upon many generations of people across the globe continues to be the source of pain. That is now a legacy that her eldest son, King Charles II inherits."

That immediately set off his guest, historian Andrew Roberts, and the interview went off the rails with Roberts asking the MSNBC host where he was born and Velshi sarcastically closing by thanking Roberts for coming on the show to "whitewash" British history.

Roberts came right out of the gates chastizing Velshi.

Asked by the host if the royal institution needs to change, Roberts shot back, "I think that is wildly overstated frankly. When you look at all the opinion polls we are about 80 to 85% in favor of having a constitutional monarchy. Whoever is saying that on the throne, so I think this is extremely overdone."

"Frankly, I am afraid to say, as your introduction was -- it pains people throughout history -- why was she chosen by every single commonwealth country, many of which are former countries, as the head of the commonwealth?" he asked.

"Andrew, hold on a second. Are you really denying what I just said about racial colonialism? Are you really doing that, Andrew?" Velshi replied as Roberts continued to protest. "Andrew, Andrew, this is not a propaganda show. Andrew, I need you to stop. I need you to stop for a second. Are you really taking issue with the horrors of colonialism, Andrew?"

"I am certainly taking issue with your remarks about slavery," Roberts parried. "We abolished it 32 years before you did. We did not kill 600,000 people in a Civil War over it."

"So, you think that is fine," the MSNBC host challenged. "There are people all over the world were born in colonial countries, because, when I was born the British Empire still existed and, that is okay for everybody?"

After the host pointed out he was born in Kenya, Roberts raised his voice and claimed, "Why on earth do you want to concentrate on the only -- the negative things of an institution from 100 years ago now?" as the interview descended into the two talking over each other.

Watch below 

MSNBC 09 10 2022 10 01 28

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