As we discussed this week, Prince William attended the Tusk Conservation Awards on Monday night. He’s a long-time patron of Tusk Trust, a conservation charity, and he handed out awards to some of the people working on the ground in Kenya and other African countries. Unfortunately, William also made a lil’ speech and the dude has not gotten new speechwriters in years. Which is why Baldingham returned to one of his favorite subjects: how “overpopulation” is a problem for Africa alone, and how there are too many Africans and they’re ruining his colonialist playground. The father of three expressed similar (if not identical) sentiments in 2017 and 2018. While we covered it, I wasn’t expecting the whole internet to drag him. But that’s what happened.
Prince William has been accused of racism for comments linking the human population of Africa to pressure on wildlife.
William, a Tusk patron, handed out prizes to leading conservationists from African nations at the ceremony on Monday. He told the audience in London: “The increasing pressure on Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over. But it is imperative that the natural world is protected not only for its contribution to our economies, jobs and livelihoods, but for the health, well-being and future of humanity. We owe it to our children and future generations to act now.”
William did not specifically mention population growth. However, his comments were condemned by many on Twitter as an attack on the continent’s Black population by a figurehead from an institution with a colonial history. Kensington Palace declined to comment.
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles said: “‘If the natives keep reproducing, there won’t be as many impalas for me to shoot!’ Morally backward as this line of thinking is, one cannot help but be amused by the audacity.”
Franklin Leonard, a movie executive and founder of the Black List, wrote: “‘There are too many Africans’ is quite the position.”
Bolu Babalola, the British author of Love in Color, wrote: “lol he is so hateful it’s actually funny.”
Survival International, which advocates for tribal people around the world, wrote: “Prince William says mounting pressure on Africa’s ‘wild spaces as a result of human population’ is a ‘huge challenge for conservationists’. Staggered by the racism & hypocrisy?”
The human rights organization also shared a video of Mordecai Ogada, a Kenyan ecologist, saying: “The fact is, if we look at absolute figures, Africa is more sparsely populated than Europe or Asia, and the fact is the absolute numbers of people in Africa are far from being a problem for our environment. More so for the very light footprint of the people here…. The average western family of five will have a carbon footprint of a few hundred Maasai tribesmen in Kenya.”
[From Newsweek]
I enjoy the fact that William was being dragged internationally, by all corners of the internet. What’s shocking to me is that… this was not the first time he said similar sh-t about how there are too many Africans, and he was dragged those other times too! Maybe he wasn’t dragged as thoroughly in 2017 or 2018, but there was definitely backlash and… he just didn’t care. He’s like “No, people need to hear this! There are definitely too many Africans and it affects my colonialist safaris!”
— Sarah M (@ForumsMeghan) November 23, 2021
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— Munya Chawawa (@munyachawawa) November 25, 2021
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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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