On 1 July 1863, the Kingdom of the Netherlands abolished slavery in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles. Both slavery and slave trading are parts of the Dutch history that not much light has been shed upon. In my days in school, I hardly learned anything about this black page in our history, nor on any other aspects of our colonial heritage. Of course it is nothing to be proud of, but the least we can do is recognize what happened in order to achieve peace, justice and reconciliation.
The very first article of the Dutch Constitution entails the principle of non-discrimination. This means that no one can be discriminated against on any ground. As a human right this is being laid down in various international treaties. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most famous treaty, serving as an inspiration for other international [United Nations] and regional human rights mechanisms.
The Netherlands have always proudly presented themselves as being tolerant and open-minded. The official 150 years of the abolition of slavery [it took until 1910 until slavery was abolished in the entire colonial kingdom], has been a trigger to carefully address the topic. However, several recent incidents have clearly indicated that our fundamental principles have been blurred..
Last month I went to Istanbul Turkey for a conference on international education. Next to the lobby of the hotel where I was staying, I came across this Douwe Egberts cafe [a Dutch coffee brand] with a disturbing advertisement. A huge billboard shows two former Dutch slaves presenting the finest coffee from the plantations. It is beyond my imagination that this is still possible in the year 2013.
.JPG)
The same amounts to the fact that the traditional celebration of Saint Nicholas had to be brought all the way before the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to condemn the phenomenon of “Zwarte Piet” or Black Pete. [See http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/10/zwarte_piet_is_a_throwback_to.php]. Even if this would never have been intended to be a reference to slavery [which remains questionable], this is how it’s been widely interpreted. Even the slightest suspicion of discrimination should not be tolerated. No argument where tradition is being invoked as a referral to the doctrine of cultural relativism, should be justified.
.JPG)
Tonight I saw the movie “Hoe duur was de suiker?” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhbgSiT-Fo] about the Dutch slavery in Surinam. Even though I have traveled by myself quite a bit, and even though I was often the only white person around, I was instantly very aware of my skin color. It felt like a curse, not a privilege. I recognize the feeling of embarrassment from when I was traveling through Indonesia [another former Dutch colony]. I felt ashamed to be Dutch.
The first part of article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights….” This is a fundamental right where no derogation should be allowed. Let us keep in mind that this means that the principle of non-discrimination should indeed be applied to everyone, everywhere, any time.
