Andrew Roberts wipes the floor with Ali Veshi in talk about Queen

2022-09-11

‘Andrew, I need you to stop!’: British historian Dr. Andrew Roberts wipes floor with his woke MSNBC colleague Ali Veshi in heated on air row – after host slammed the Queen for representing ‘brutal colonialism, violence, theft and slavery’

NBC News’ British historian Andrew Roberts slammed MSNBC host Ali Velshi for beginning a special on the Queen’s legacy by condemning the royal family
Velshi said she ‘represented an institution that had a long and ugly history of brutal colonialism, violence, theft and slavery’
But Roberts insisted during his interview that the majority of Britons, and people throughout the Commonwealth, continue to support the monarchy
He said Velshi was only ‘concentrating on the negatives’ and the ‘horrors of colonialism’ even though the UK ended slavery before the US
Still, Velshi seemed intent to talk about colonialism
He later brought the topic back up with Birmingham City University professor Kehinde Andrews, asking him to speak about the role it played
Velshi’s special on the Queen’s legacy comes amid a woke brigade of liberals attacking the history of the monarchy
One Carnegie Mellon professor Uju Anya sparked outrage by wishing the Queen an ‘excruciatingly painful’ death
Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

A British historian slammed woke MSNBC host Ali Velshi on live TV on Saturday for only ‘concentrating on the negatives’ after he began a special on the Queen’s legacy by condemning the history of the royal family.

Velshi began his special on the Queen’s legacy Saturday talking about her long reign and saying she ‘was a constant for the British people.

‘She endeared herself to the public, and her popularity is unmatched by any other member of the royal family,’ Velshi, a Canadian-American, mused.

But, he then added: ‘As beloved as Elizabeth was, she also represented an institution that had a long and 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,’ he continued.

‘Even as Queen Elizabeth’s reign largely marked 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.

Following those remarks, Velshi shared a clip of King Charles III speech upon taking the throne, before introducing his guest, NBC British Historian Andrew Roberts, who disputed much of what the MSNBC host said.

Velshi asked him about the idea that ‘there are many people who are Queenists; they’re not monarchists,’ people who liked Elizabeth, but do not necessarily like the institution.

But Roberts responded that Velshi’s assertion is simply not true.

‘I think when you look at all the opinion polls, we’re about 80 to 85 percent in favor of having a constitutional monarchy — whoever’s on the throne,’ he began. ‘So I think this is extremely overdone, frankly.

‘Rather, I’m afraid to say, as your introduction was, if we had given so much pain to people throughout history, why was Prince Charles chosen by every single Commonwealth country — many of which are former imperial countries?’

The comments seemed to make Velshi irate, telling Roberts to ‘hold on a second.

‘Are you really denying what I just said about British colonialism?’ an exasperated Velshi asked his guest. ‘Andrew, are you really doing that?’

NBC British Historian Andrew Roberts, right, slammed MSNBC hot Ali Velshi on live TV Saturday after the host began a special remembering the Queen by condemning the history of the royal family

He said that despite Velshi’s claims, a majority of Britons support the constitutional monarchy

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lsb6vuxEMWA%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi’s full monolugue where praises Queen Elizabeth’s long reign – before slamming her for representing an institution that had an ‘ugly history of brutal colonialism, violence, theft and slavery’

‘[Queen Elizabeth] was true to her words, serving the British people for 70 years – far longer than any other monarch in British history. Shorter only than Louis XIV in the history of all European monarchy.

Fifteen prime ministers have assumed their role in her reign, she met 14 American presidents and five popes in her lifetime. And far more often than not, she was the only woman and most powerful woman, into any room into which she stepped foot.

Much has changed over the past seven decades. The world has undergone a radical transformation that has seen the industrial age evolve to the digital age – and through it all, the Queen was a constant and steady presence for the British people.

Queen Elizabeth was an even-tempered monarch who was never quick to react or show her emotions, or reveal much about her private life. In that way, she endeared herself to the public, and her popularity is unmatched by any other member of the royal family.

Though for that same reason, her popularity and the institution she represented took a major hit after the death of Diana who is pretty much the opposite of the stoic, reserved Queen.

And as beloved as Elizabeth was, she also represented an institution that had a long and 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 marked 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’s now the legacy that her eldest son, King Charles III inherits as the head of state and the head of the British Commonwealth – which is know known as the Commonwealth of Nations. He’s got a massive task ahead of him as the country and his family face an uncertain without the matriarch whose been their guiding star for so long.’

As Roberts continues to say the UK abolished slavery more than 30 years before the United States did, Velshi seems to become more upset telling him: ‘Andrew this is not a propaganda show,’ and ‘Andrew I need you to stop!

‘I need you to stop for a second,’ he interrupts his guest.

‘Are you really taking issue with the horrors of colonialism?’ he asks, to which Roberts replies: ‘I’m taking issue with your remarks about slavery, which we abolished 32 years before you did.

‘We didn’t have to kill 600,000 people in a civil war over it,’ he added.

But Velshi was not giving up.

‘So you think that that’s fine, that there are people all over the world who are born in colonial countries?’ he asked. ‘Because when I was born, the British Empire still existed.

‘And that’s OK for everybody to say.’

Roberts, though, asked Velshi which country he was born in, and when Velshi said he was born in Kenya, Roberts noted that ‘the Kenyans not only supported the appointment of Prince Charles, now King Charles, as the head of the Commonwealth, we’ve [also] just had a fantastic statement from the president of Kenya saying what a wonderful thing —’

Velshi then interrupted to note that President Biden is also going to the Queen’s funeral, to which Roberts asked: ‘Then why on Earth do you want to concentrate on the only negative things of an institution, which is 100 years ago now?’

At that point, Velshi claimed he didn’t concentrate on just the negative aspects of the monarchy, asserting: ‘I said there are many people in the world, many millions of people in the world — I don’t know if you have social media, but you should check it out — who don’t think we should be celebrating the British monarch right now.

‘And many in Britain by the way, many in Britain,’ Velshi asserted.

‘No, not many in Britain — where are these people in Britain?’ Roberts shot back. ‘You know, as I said, between 10 and 15 percent of the people don’t want a monarch.’

Velshi then accused Roberts of ‘dismissing’ the view points of those 10 to 15 percent of the British population, but Roberts said: ‘I think if 80 or 85 percent of people believe anything you’ll far more likely and far more right to concentrate on them rather than the tiny minority.’

He went on to compare the minority of people who do not support the monarchy to people who believe in ‘zoastrianism,’ an ancient Iranian religion.

At that point, Velshi seemed to decide it was time to agree to disagree, saying: ‘So I actually think one of the failings of our history is that we don’t concentrate on minorities or the views of minority. So you and I will differ in that.

‘I actually think that when there are minorities who don’t see things the same way as everyone else, we should actually shine a light on them.’

Velshi tried to stop Andrews from speaking at several points during the interview

Still, Roberts doubled down, as he began: ‘On a great national occasion like this, I really think to concentrate on hat 10 percent of people rather than what 80 to 85 percent of people say —

But Velshi then once again interrupted him, claiming: ‘There’s a lot more people in the world who don’t see it the same way, who grew up under the yoke of colonialism and the British Empire.’

Yet, as Roberts noted, ‘leaders of the entire world are writing to, even evil monsters like Putin, are writing to King Charles and saying what a great thing his mother’s reign was’ as Velshi had began his opening.

‘In your intro, you had to talk about the great imperial family to which we all belong,’ Roberts said, ‘You know, the idea that this is in some way an attack on our past is further negative.’

Rather than hear the rest of what Roberts was going to say, though, Velshi once again cut him off, saying: ‘Well, it’s nice to be able to whitewash that sort of thing, Andrew.

‘And I’m glad you closed off with the idea that even Vladimir Putin had nice things to say about the Queen — that sort of steals the conversation for us.’

Velshi had described the Queen is his opening as ‘a constant for the British people’ whose ‘popularity is unmatched by any other member of the royal family’

The MSNBC host seemed intent to bring up the idea of colonialism when remembering the Queen, later prompting Birmingham City University professor Kehinde Andrews to speak about the role it played.

He asked the black Social Sciences professor: ‘How do you express colonialism? What; the short term of the effect of colonialism today? Was it bad.’

Velshi then quickly added: ‘I draw the conclusion, that yes it was bad.’

‘Of course colonialism’s bad. It was terrible,’ Andrews responded. ‘And if you jut look at the map of the world by GDP per capita, the poorest countries today are in so-called Sub-Saharan Africa, where the black people live and the richest countries are the west, where the white people live.

‘We literally have a world which is in the image of white supremacy,’ he said, blaming the monarchy by saying it ‘came from the colonial era, and the Royal Family unfortunately, and the Queen in particular symbolizes that system.

‘That’s one of the reasons she’s so popular, is ’cause she is a throwback to those colonial times when Britain was great and Britain dominated the world,’ he asserted. ‘And you cannot separate that history from the poverty that we see around the world today.’

Later on in the segment, Velshi asked the British professor to comment on whether you can ‘like the Queen, you can honor the fact that someone has passed,’ while also thinking ‘she didn’t forsake the institution that was responsible for colonialism.’

At that point, Andrews revealed he did not, actually, have to reconcile the two thoughts because he is not found on the Queen.

‘I don’t have any affection for the Queen, and that’s nothing personal against her,’ he said. ‘I don’t know her, none of us know her, right? And it’s sad that someone’s passed away, but that affection doesn’t exist for many of us.’

Andrews went on to explain how his grandmother grew up in ‘colonial Jamaica’ and was ‘taught to revere the Queen.

‘She had a picture of the Queen on her wall until she died,’ he said. ‘Bu we grew up very different. We understand what the Queen was’ he claimed, adding: ‘Royalists and the monarchy represents the racism that my generation faced.’

Then, addressing Velshi’s original question, Andrews explained: ‘There is no conflict. We don’t, we never have seen the Queen as someone who represents us, s someone who should represent us.

‘And she has died, and it’s sad, but there is literally no conflict.

‘This is somebody who represented white supremacy and colonialism, and as you said, didn’t give reparations, didn’t give up her wealth, didn’t give up her power. She reveled in it.

‘And I’m not sure why I should be sad today, and millions of us in this country have exactly the same feeling as me, I would say.’

Velshi seemed intent to bring up the idea of colonialism at every point he got during his special on Saturday

He asked Birmingham City University professor Kehinde Andrews to speak about the role colonialism played and whether it was ‘bad’

Velshi’s apparent vendetta comes amid a woke brigade seeking to attack the monarch, with a University of Michigan education professor even comparing the monarchy to the Confederacy in the United States.

‘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,’ Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, an associate professor of education, tweeted on Thursday.

‘”Respect the dead” when we’re all writing these tweets *in English*,’ she continued. ‘How did that happen, hm? We just chose this language?’

Following backlash for the tweet, she later added: ‘You don’t see me dancing on anyone’s grave because my ancestors’ enslaver removed us in the 18th Century. You also don’t see me policing other people’s emotions.’

Meanwhile, Eugene Scott, a national politics reporter for the Washington Post asked: ‘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?’

And American filmmaker Boots Riley tweeted about the Queen’s death on Thursday, writing: ‘The matriarch of a royal family legacy of slave-trading, imperialism, colonialism, theft, symbol of opulence and mascot for the ruling class is dead.

‘The media will now parade the queen’s zombie ass in front of u while telling u that overthrowing capitalism is not what we need.’

A slew of others have also taken to social media to attack and mock the Queen as news rolled in about her tragic death.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s former aide, for example, wrote: ‘I cannot imagine what my Irish grandparents would be feeling’ and Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic tweeted: ‘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.’

A University of Michigan associate professor, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, right, and Eugene Scott, a national politics reporter for the Washington Post, left, are among the woke liberals who have spoken out against the Queen after her death

American filmmaker Boots Riley tweeted about the Queen’s death on Thursday, writing: ‘The matriarch of a royal family legacy of slave-trading, imperialism, colonialism, theft, symbol of opulence and mascot for the ruling class is dead’

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, a University of Michigan associate education professor, compared the monarchy to the Confederacy in the United States

Scott asked when the ‘appropriate time’ would be to talk about the ‘negative impact of colonialism’ following the Queen’s death

Riley wrote that ‘The media will now parade the queen’s zombie ass in front of u while telling u that overthrowing capitalism is not what we need’

Meanwhile, during Friday’s installment of ABC’s The View, co-host Sunny Hostin also 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,’ Hostin added.

‘And now what you’re seeing, at least in the black communities that I’m a part of, they want reparation.

The Koh-i-noor diamond from India sits atop the crown made for the Queen Mother in 1937 and the Great Star of Africa sits in the Queen’s scepter.

The Imperial State Crown, along with a scepter, serves as the principal crown for the British monarch, with the Koh-i-noor being part of the Treaty of Lahore.

Many people have claimed ownership over the Great Star of Africa over the centuries including Mughal emperors, shahs of Iran, emirs of Afghanistan, and Sikh maharajas.

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 bejeweled crown

One Carnegie Mellon professor has also sparked outrage by wishing the Queen an ‘excruciatingly painful’ death, only to later rebrand the monarch’s reign as ‘violent.’

Uju Anya made the 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.

She went on to slam 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.’

Anya, 46, explained that her mother was born in Trinidad and her father in Nigeria, eventually meeting in England in 1950s, having been sent there to go to school.

She described herself as a ‘child of colonization.’

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.’

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

Anya was backed up by Zoé Samudzi, a Zimbabwean American photography professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, who tweeted 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.’

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.’

Though Queen Elizabeth II has ruled a post-colonial Britain, there have been calls from some to confront the monarchy’s past and, as Anya puts it, their continued attempts to ‘meddle in African affairs.’

Anya was backed up by Zoé Samudzi, a Zimbabwean American photography professor at the Rhode Island School of Design

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

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.

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.

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

Anya’s vile words about the Queen were slammed by thousands online, including billionaire Jeff Bezos, who 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 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.

Jeff Bezos was one of the many voices slamming the professor for her vile tweets

Still, 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 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 has distanced itself from Anya, telling DailyMail.com that it does ‘not condone the offensive and objectionable messages’

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 organization created a petition to get her removed from Carnegie Mellon University.

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

YouTuber Kevin Samuels, 57, died in Atlanta earlier this year. But Anya came under fire after mocking his death in May 2022

The vicious academic also found herself in hot water when he mocked the death of YouTuber Kevin Samuels in May 2022.

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.’

‘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.

‘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!!’

The Queen’s death was confirmed on Thursday, after dying ‘peacefully at Balmoral’

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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