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a32 local
Saturday 20 June 2020
Black Lives Matter spurs scrutiny of Dutch colonial past

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
HOORN, Netherlands (AP)
— The 17th century has
gone down in Dutch history
as the Golden Age, when
unprecedented trading
wealth helped fund the
likes of artists Rembrandt
van Rijn and Johannes Ver-
meer. But the grim flip side
of the prosperity — fortunes
generated by seafaring
traders, slavery and iron-
fisted colonial rulers — is
being brought into sharp
focus amid global protests
sparked by the killing of
George Floyd.
Activists spurred by the
Black Lives Matter pro-
tests in the United States
are seeking to shed more
light on the Dutch colonial
past and tackle what they
call ingrained racism and
discrimination in the Neth-
erlands, a nation that was
once known as a beacon
of tolerance.
The latest target of activists
is a statue of a top officer of
the Dutch East India Com-
pany who in the 17th cen-
tury founded the city that is
now Indonesia's capital, Ja-
karta. About 500 protesters
gathered Friday evening
in the town of Hoorn, north
of Amsterdam, calling for A Moluccan demonstrator against the statue, right, holds a flag while those in favor of keeping the statue hold a Dutch flag around
the removal of the statue the statue of the Dutch Golden Age trader and brutal colonialist Jan Pieterszoon Coen, rear, in his hometown of Hoorn, north of
of Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, June 19, 20202. Associated Press.
A counter-demonstration
supporting the statue drew grants and descendants of colonial and post-colonial history. The fast-growing Fo- the polarized Dutch de-
far fewer participants. people from former Dutch history at the University of rum for Democracy party bate about race has re-
Honored since the late 19th colonies being marginal- Amsterdam, said the pro- that Baudet leads is using volved around the divisive
century as a colonial ruler ized in Dutch society. tests targeting statues are the protests as a rallying cry children's character Black
and leading light in the "Their concerns were al- "a kind of correction of the to recruit new members. Pete, who is often por-
Dutch East India Company ways brushed aside for a vision of the nation as it In the Netherlands, it is not trayed by white people
trading powerhouse, Coen very long time," Fatah-Black emerged in the 19th centu- only statues that have ties wearing blackface make-
also is reviled as the "butch- said. Among the concerns ry and not as a rewriting of to slavery and oppression. up at celebrations each
er of Banda" for a bloody he listed: Racial profiling the history. It's the rewriting Across the country, streets December marking Sinter-
1621 assault on a group of by police and tax authori- of the image of the nation." bear the names of Golden klaas, a Dutch celebration
islands in order to secure a ties, discrimination in work- "That's where it ties in with Age figures. The wealth of of St. Nicholas.
monopoly on spices grown places, schools and on the the post-colonial commu- 17th-century traders fund- Another organizer of Fri-
there. Thousands of island housing rental market, and nities in the Netherlands, ed stately mansions that day's protests, Marisella de
inhabitants were killed. cases of police brutality. because they see that they still stand on Amsterdam's Cuba, said she hopes that
"Everyone here today gives The peaceful demonstra- are not presented in the canals. The horse-drawn protests inspired by Black
a voice to the victims," one tion, in Coen's hometown, public, political sphere, ... Golden Carriage, current- Lives Matter will also tackle
of the protest organizers, followed protests across so they demand for correc- ly undergoing a lengthy Black Pete this year.
Romy Rondeltap told the the Netherlands in recent tion of that," Raben said. restoration but tradition- "I think people are wak-
crowd. "A mass murderer weeks against police vio- But there are still plenty of ally used to carry the Dutch ing up and I hope, I really
does not deserve a statue." lence and racism, includ- people in the Netherlands monarch to the state hope, it's not like a hype
Karwan Fatah-Black, a ing two in Amsterdam that who reject such a reevalu- opening of Parliament and that everybody who
historian and lecturer at drew thousands of par- ation of the past. each year, also is getting is standing at a Black Lives
Leiden University, thinks ticipants. A statue of Piet Populist lawmaker Thierry a reassessment. One of its Matter protest will show up
the many protests in the Hein, a colonial era mari- Baudet recently laid a panels is decorated with a also in November when
Netherlands in the wake of ner widely regarded as a bunch of roses at the base painting depicting Africans we're protesting Black Pete
Floyd's death at the hands hero, was daubed with red of the Coen statue in Hoorn, and Asians carrying goods and will show up every time
of Minneapolis police of- paint and the word "killer" saying in a video posted on to present to their colonial when we are addressing
ficers on May 25 are a re- last week. Prof. Remco Ra- Twitter that he was honor- masters. the issue of racism in this
sponse to the voices of mi- ben, who teaches Dutch ing the Dutch identity and In recent years, much of country," she said. q