“That history teaches us that change is possible, but the present teaches us that change is too slow. We have to work harder. ” That said mayor Halsema this afternoon in the Oosterpark, where dhe abolition of slavery was commemorated and celebrated during Keti Koti.
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–Mayor Halsema lays wreath at slavery monument
Due to the corona crisis, no public could be present this year. Mayor Halsema addressed the current situation in her speech. “We see that the coronavirus, and its social consequences, hit hardest on the people who are already disadvantaged,” she said.
Tipping point reached
At the same time, according to her, we now see ‘the justified impatience among the thousands of people who gather, from the Mandelapark in Amsterdam’s Bijlmer to the Grote Markt in Groningen.’
‘Black lives mattershe continued. Or, as can be read on banners, ‘Enough is enough’. According to the mayor, this has ‘reached a tipping point’.
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“In the last month this has grown into a new popular movement of mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren.”
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‘What started with a few activists who dared to question injustice and start confrontational conversations. They were ignored and ridiculed, or more often hated and threatened, “said Halsema.
“That has grown into an unstoppable new popular movement of mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren in the past month. From shopkeepers, teachers, nurses and police officers. “
“We have to work harder”
The mayor thinks the past should not be erased, but new history should be added.
“That history teaches us that change is possible, but the present teaches us that change is too slow,” she says. “We have to work harder.”
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“The injustice, the pain, the humiliation and the grief deserve recognition. Now, tomorrow and all the years after ‘
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According to Halsema, this can be done by examining the past and the role Amsterdam has played in this. In addition, she says, for example, education is improving, which means that there is more information about the slavery past.
“The injustice, the pain, the humiliation and the grief deserve recognition. Now, tomorrow and all the years after, however far slavery may be in the past. “
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–Linda Nooitmeer, chairman NiNsee
‘Ethnic profiling, discrimination on the labor and housing market. These are all examples of what Prime Minister Rutte calls’ systemic ‘racism’
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Linda Nooitmeer, chairman of NiNsee, also discussed the Black Lives Matterdemonstrations. “The consequences of institutional racism are so disastrous that tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against this institutional racism in various places in the Netherlands during the past Keti Koti month.”
Ethnic profiling
According to her, this is exactly why NiNsee was founded ‘in 2002 and fulfills its mission’. “And that is desperately needed, because what is still insufficiently realized is that the impact of slavery and the colonial past for Dutch people with African roots is central to taking control of their own future,” she said in her speech.
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It is also about ‘the impact on the Dutch cultural archive’, according to Nooitmeer. ‘Ethnic profiling by public services, under-advice in education, discrimination in the labor and housing market. These are all examples of what Prime Minister Rutte calls ‘systemic’ racism. And all of this must be approached from a historical understanding. “
‘Important milestone’
Never, like the mayor, sees education as an important key to creating more awareness of the slavery past. Since today, July 1, Keti Koti has been included in the Canon of the Netherlands within the slavery window. That is an important milestone. “
Check out the important moments of Keti Koti below:
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