Keti Koti at 150

Keti Koti is Surinam for Broken Chains. Officialy slavery was abolished in the Dutch colonies exactly 150 years ago. In reality it takes forever.

Please don't ever say "for us this is real." Just be grateful, truly grateful. To choose the life you want.

"Hulde der Koloniën" Central panel on the royal golden carriage, the colonies paying tribute to her majesty [1898]

Let's start today with a long list. No, not a boring one, an import one. Here we go. Surinam; Trinidad & Tobago; Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands; Anguilla; Honduras; Colombia; Venezuela; Brazil; Chille; Mauritania; Ghana; Angola, South Africa, Benin, Nigeria and of course New Amsterdam. We all know what happened with that last name.Frank Sinatra made an entire career out of it. 

Johannes Vingboons (1616-1670), Gezicht op Nieuw Amsterdam, 1664.

And yes part of all those teritories was under Dutch control one time or another in the past 500 year. "The Dutch were among the earliest empire-builders of Europe, following Spain and Portugal and one of the wealthiest nations at the time." "The majority of the Dutch colonial empire's overseas holdings consisted of coastal forts, factories, and port settlements with varying degrees of incorporation of their hinterlands and surrounding regions." And as anyone who has take Management 101 class knows, there's no better profit than when you profit from the people who work for you. OK, working might be exaggerated and by that I mean, you get to choose the job you love. It's more like you wake up one morning in chains. Before you know you're dragged to the harbour and onto a sailing ship across the Atlantic. As soon as you set foot in that strange new world - assuming you survive the voyage, about one in three of the 'human cargo' died - you're no longer considered human, you're some else's property, legally binding and so on. Yes, please read that again. It's true. OK, the colour of your skin also had something to do with it. My real name is obviously not Dutch, please call me Mr. Snowwhite. I'm also kinda fond of time machines, but even if you take me back in time, say three or four hundred years, I'm not at risk. We all know why.

And yes, slaves were suffering long before the photo camera was invented.

When it comes to making money, we Dutch are quick-witted. Given up easy profit, we're slower than most. And not by accident. "On 1 July 1863, slavery was abolished by law in Suriname and the Caribbean islands, then colonies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands." NOT REALLY. Manumission came at a price. So-called former slaves were obliged to work ten more years for their former owner to make up for the investment loss. As if it was their own decision to become enslaved and work for free. But no-one asked for their opinion. Basically because nobody cared. But hey, they were finally free and what they did with that new-found freedom was... Not up to them.

For [no doubt] nefarious reasons Dutch prime-minister Mark Rutte insisted on apologizing for the role the Netherlands played in 500 years of international slave trade, last December. Descendants of former slaves were furious and not just in the Netherlands. If you mean it, timing is everything.

Today is July 1, 2023, exactly 150 years after slavery was officially abolished in the Netherlands. A celebration in Dutch is a happy, joyful occassion. In English it can be either something good or bad but whatever it is today you're celebrating, slavery was wrong, is wrong and always be wrong. Like the French say: Liberté, égalité, fraternité. We all got our work cut out for us.

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[1] Keti Koti comes from the Surinam language, meaning broken chains

[2] Today's mast head image is of the king's golden carriage. The panel on the side about the Dutch colonies paying tribute to the queen and her husband. 'Hulde der kolonien' was painted in 1898 and for at least a hundred year nobody batted an eye. Not even the sovereign who claimed she wanted to be there for everyone and unite us all. In 2015 the golden carriage finally had to undergo repairs and hasn't been seen since.

[3] Just read on the government website that Slavery Memorial Year is from 1 July 2023 to 1 July 2024. Because - and I quote - "Historic involvement in slavery is a very painful, significant, and - until recently - underexposed part of our shared history." 

[4] Painful? Yes, obviously but I doubt the government refers to the suffering of the former slaves when writing this. How about using proper words like wrong, evil and inhumane? As for significant, slavery has always been a significant part of Dutch national history. What took you so long? As for under-exposed, I doubt it if you are the descendants of former slaves.

[5] It's impossible to say anything useful about the celebration of the fact slavery was abolished in the Netherlands 150 years ago in a half-page post. For now, just remember todays generation  who descend from those who spent their lives as a slave for the profit of others, are still forced to carry the burden that comes with the horrors inflicted upon their ancestors. By us. White people like me. You cannot undo the past but you can correct the wrong that still haunt us. How 'bout equal treatment or equal access to medicine and education. And that's just the beginning. "One day..."