The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is under heavy fire in the UK. The occasion is a cartoon showing Queen Elizabeth kneeling on Meghan Markle’s neck, a not so subtle reference to the death of the American George Floyd.
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The cartoon in question graces the cover of Charlie Hebdo’s latest issue. Entitled “Why Meghan Left Buckingham”, a grinning Queen Elizabeth can be seen planting her knee on Meghan Markle’s neck, prompting her to “Because I couldn’t breathe”. A direct reference to the last words of George Floyd, the man who died last year when a police officer held his knee on the black American’s neck for nine minutes during his arrest in Minneapolis. That case led directly to the worldwide ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests.
The cover has been described across the Channel as “downright shocking”, as if Charlie Hebdo would use Floyd’s death to sell more. “This is wrong on every level,” Halima Begum, CEO of the anti-racism think tank Runnymede Trust wrote on Twitter. “This doesn’t challenge, doesn’t make anyone laugh, or makes you think about racism. It belittles those issues. ”
“A weak and poorly thought out answer from Charlie Hebdo that only makes things worse,” says the non-profit organization Windrush Anchor. “This kind of simplistic satire has no place in the fight against racism. Downright awful and sad. ”
“Shameful, nauseating, fascist racism,” the Black and Asian Lawyers For Justice the cover again. “Charlie Hebdo takes advantage of George Floyd’s pain for profit.”
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