The King of the
Netherlands is apologizing
for his country's
role in the global slave trade.
Now, King
Willem-Alexander
also asked for forgiveness
for his ancestors
profiting off that slave trade
and doing nothing to stop it.
The Netherlands outlawed slavery
some 160 years ago,
but it is estimated that the royal family
earned
the equivalent of $600 million in taxes
and other fees from Dutch colonies
that practice slavery was
the horrors of slavery in the past.
The consequences of this
can still be felt today
in racism in our society.
On December 19th last year,
the Prime Minister
apologized on the behalf
of the Dutch government
for the fact
that people
in the name of the Dutch state
were made into commodities
exploited and mistreated for centuries.
Today I stand here before you
as your king
and as part of the government.
And today I make these apologies myself.
Excuse me.
Joining me now for more on this is Linda,
where she is
the chairman
of the National Institute
for the Study of Dutch
Slavery and its Legacy.
And I want to thank you
for joining us on this.
I want to ask you,
how does this latest development
move the needle on this
deplorable history?
Why is it significant
that the apology come
from the royal family?
Thank you.
Because of the fact of the symbolic
the fact that the king is a symbol
not only in the highlands,
but also in the
the Caribbean part of Ireland
and in Surinam.
And and and he is head of state.
And the only thing we always said
as an entity
is that it is not about the citizens,
but it is the Dutch government
who has to acknowledge the slave history.
So the symbolic part
of the symbolic value
of the king is it's very big.
And you
and we have seen it in the reactions
in the community
Yeah.
And yet this apology
has been divisive
at times, even marked by acrimony.
In your opinion, why is that?
I mean, should the apology
stand as is with its presumed sincerity?
No, it shouldn't stand as
is because
for us, the agenda hasn't changed.
The the main thing for
Nancy is that we come to
eliminating the negative socio
economic and cultural impacts
of the slavery path.
But in the discussion, this will help.
And I think that we have come a long way
since a black pit in the in 1927.
And now we have another another face
we're going in.
And with the acknowledgment of the king
it's it's it will help us in the process.
You know, a reminder
that it was one
hundreds of thousands of people
from Africa and Asia
that were trafficked
by those Dutch merchants.
That's between the 17th
and 19th centuries.
I think some people will even quibble
with the $600 million mark.
So then I ask you, is the apology enough?
How does this move on to what you know
is a global discussion about reparations
Well I think that this can be an example
because you're right
the transatlantic slave
history is not a Dutch instance.
It is it is an international at this
instance.
And I think that if we talk about
reparations, if we talk about
investing in the communities
of people of African descent,
mainly from the colonies,
then I think that
that we have to acknowledge this
on worldly level.
So I, I expect that this can be
the first of many apologies to come
and that this will help
the international reparation, a get
agenda that involves
all people of African descent
whose ancestors were enslaved
And if you look at a continent in Africa,
there has a lot to be done that also has
has bound with the slave history
You know,
some would say that these apologies
are still late in the game.
What do you think has changed
in order to enable an apology
both from government
and the royal families
I think that's
because the ANC
first went for 21 years and we have
and the community
has been talking about this
for 60, 70 years.
One main fact is
are the Black Lives Matter
demonstrations in which the Dutch,
the Dutch people in Holland
came to the realization
that we still have
institutionalized racism in Holland and
we live in a global area
where their
knowledge is, is,
is it's going fast.
We live in a period where we are
we are questioning things
that were always like
they've always been and this also
and we
and we tend to talk
about human rights again
and if we talk more about human rights,
but we still accept that people
of African descent in the whole world
still have a marginalized
place in the world,
then I think that people understand that
that is not the
the right thing to do.
And I think in Holland that that has also
helped us in this struggle.
But that doesn't mean
that we are there yet
because we still have to face people
who don't want to take notice of this
history
and so there's still enough work still
to be done.
Yeah, for sure.
Historical ignorance is more
all of these discussions.
And I take note
that you do feel that the black Lives
Matter protests were an inflection point.
I have to ask you,
and I mean, given
what's happened in the last week
here in the United States,
even with the affirmative action
ruling from the Supreme Court,
I have to ask you, if you what do you say
to the 16 year
old disadvantaged socioeconomically?
A black teenager, Dutch
What do you say to them
about what
this apology will mean to them?
I think that this apology
because as I said,
the agenda hasn't changed.
We are not celebrating
as if we are there yet for us.
We always say the apologies are symbolic.
They help us.
And the fact that the king asks
for forgiveness,
they help us in the process.
And I think that everything we want to do
after the apology from prime minister,
prime minister, read to the comment
involves changing the narrative,
changing the position
of people of African descent.
So for him, I for that 16 year old,
I always want to emphasize
that look
at how your situation is changing.
We are making sure that your situation
will change.
That you can have a level playing field,
that you don't have to face racism.
And if you face racism,
we have the things in in order to
to challenge that.
So and that's why
I say that we are not there yet.
This is the symbolic part that is okay.
We need those symbols.
But at the end of the day,
we still have a lot to do
because to be frank,
if you're living in the community
part of Ireland,
answering in the impoverished
neighborhoods in Holland,
then this doesn't change your situation.
So there are more steps to make
and understood
and we thank you for weighing in
and certainly giving us
the relevance of this apology today.
Linda, thanks so much. Appreciate it.