Friday, March 20, 2009

Britain's "first black queen"?

German-born Queen Charlotte (1744-1818), namesake of the North Carolina city where I lived from 2004 to 2008, is the subject of speculation concerning her alleged African ancestry. Since Queen Charlotte in any case would have been "black" only by the most fanatical application of the "one-drop rule," I can't see what is so significant about this story, and link to it only due to its connection to the city that was my home for four years.

As long as we're on the subject of British queens, American places named after them, and race (how often does that combination come up?) here is an interesting 1998 article about the saga of how New York City almost erected a giant statue of Charles II's wife Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705), the Queen after whom the borough of Queens was reportedly named, only to see the plan scuttled by leftist activists. Also see this shorter article. Naturally I am sorry but not surprised at what happened eleven years ago. As far as I'm concerned, the only valid argument against the statue would have been the historical doubts as to whether Queens was in fact named after her, and I have my reservations about the agenda of the sculptor...but I still think it's unfortunate that this turned out the way it did, and have no sympathy for the politically correct professional grievance-mongers that plague modern Western societies.

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