The late Queen and the J-Lo affect

As we all know, Queen Elizabeth recently passed away at the ripe old age of 96 causing intense critiques and backlash. While her country mourns over her passing and the end of an era the rest of the world bears the question, Why should we mourn the queen? After all, the queen was the head of an institution that was responsible for terrible things such as slavery and thievery. The truth is, although her life is indeed intertwined with history, she is not at all responsible for the poor actions made by her ancestors, as we aren’t either. No, her death doesn’t require global mourning as she didn’t make an impact on the majority of the world’s population, however, her death should not spark a slew of hateful, grotesque commentary on her character or the character of other members of the family considered royal. I call this common yet unnecessary backlash "The J-Lo effect". As human beings, we have a tendency to do two things: create and destroy and this aspect of ourselves is not limited to inanimate objects but people’s lives and legacies. Jennifer Lopez, the Puerto Rican princess born in the slums of New York City, somehow managed to escape from a life of retail work in pursuit of an entertainment career. Did she choose prostitution like so many of today’s Gen-Z and millennials? No, she literally worked her ass off, or on I should say. However, ask any random individual what they think of the pop star and they mostly all say the same things: she can’t sing, she’s racist, she’s not black or white enough, she’s promiscuous, she’s trash. The J-Lo effect is when you build up an individual and then inhumanely tear them down, which is exactly what is happening with the Queen of England. Race, unfortunately, continues to hold utmost importance in people’s minds, so much so that people hold others’ skin color above their contributions to culture and humanity.