Former Secretary of State Colin Powell died early Monday morning. If you used Twitter at all that day, you likely saw some combination of the following: news organizations breaking the story, people posting memorials, current and former politicians issuing statements — and crab emojis.
Irish electronic musician Noisestorm changed how the internet reacts to the deaths of famous people with his 2018 song “Crab Rave.” The music video features CGI crabs dancing to the song on a tropical island. For reasons too weird to get into, the song and its video have become one of the ways the internet celebrates the passing of some of the world’s great villains.
Twitter followed a predictable pattern after the news of Powell’s death. People first remembered him for his statesmanship and poise under pressure as a general and diplomat. Then, others rightfully pointed out that his 2003 speech before the U.N. — you know, the one in which he claimed based on faulty evidence that the Iraqi government possessed weapons of mass destruction — paved the path for the U.S. invasion. That invasion caused incalculable damage and immense loss of life, and Powell faced no real consequences for it. This stage of the Twitter reaction is when people post crab. Finally, those who pointed out the immense damage done to the world by the deceased diplomat were chastised for speaking ill of the dead.
Why, though? Why are the dead off limits when it comes to acknowledging people who have caused harm? By 2019, 64% of military veterans and 62% of all adults in the U.S. said the Iraq War wasn’t worth fighting, according to Pew research. I don’t know of a similar poll among Iraqis, but the Associated Press estimated at least 110,600 Iraqis had died violent deaths as a result of the invasion by 2009. Of course, Powell isn’t directly responsible for those deaths, but he absolutely contributed to them. The fact that he died on Monday doesn’t change that.
And, ultimately, none of the crab rave meme’s targets are harmed whatsoever by Twitter posts after they die. They are dead. David Koch, one half of the environmental regulation-flouting Koch brothers, died a billionaire, and his company continues to operate today. Prince Philip was the longest-serving member of the British royal family despite his well-documented racism and sexism. Jonathan Sackler was the billionaire co-owner of Purdue Pharma, which plead guilty to federal criminal charges for its role in the opioid crisis. Rush Limbaugh mocked those dying of AIDS at the height of the epidemic.
These people were immensely powerful, incredibly harmful and lived their lives in unimaginable privilege. Yet, people online are upset about others teasing them with a crab meme post-mortem.
I know it’s upsetting to think that people might celebrate if something bad happens to you — if you become a general who leads your country into a disastrous conflict, a billionaire who openly flouts ecological regulations, a bigoted member of the British royal family, a different billionaire who contributes to and profits from the opioid epidemic or one of the most controversial talk-show hosts in history. But I have good news: You don’t have to become any of those things. But, if you do and the worst that happens is that some people on the internet post a video of dancing crabs, you still won’t have faced any actual consequences.
