The King of the Netherlands apologizes for slavery
Dutch King Willem-Alexander issued his official apology for his country’s involvement in slavery on Saturday, saying he was affected “personally and deeply.”
“Today I stand before you as King and a member of the government. Today I apologize to you personally,” said Willem-Alexander in cheers marking the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in the former colonies.
These celebrations were attended by thousands of descendants of slaves in the former South American colony of Suriname as well as the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
“I feel this in the depths of my heart and in my soul,” King said, before adding, “The slave trade and slavery are crimes against humanity.”
Willem-Alexander added, “The kings of the House of Orange (from whom the present King descends, editor’s note) did nothing to prevent it. Today, I ask forgiveness for this inaction.”
Celebrations marking the true end of slavery in the colonies take place every year in Amsterdam, a celebration called “kitty-koti”, or “breaking the chains” in Srantongo (one of the languages of Suriname).
The celebrations are the first since the government issued an official apology in December for the Netherlands’ slavery past.
The King’s speech, delivered from Amsterdam’s Oosterpark, was broadcast live on national television.
The slaves’ descendants asked the king to issue an official apology.
“It’s important to be able to digest the past of slaves,” Linda Noetmeyer, head of the National Institute on the Past and Legacy of Slavery (NiNsee), said in May in an interview with Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
– Wealthy royal family –
Since the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, the Netherlands has engaged in an often difficult debate about its colonial past that made it one of the richest countries in the world.
According to a report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and published in June, between 1675 and 1770 the colonies brought the royal family the equivalent of €545 million, at a time when slavery was widespread.
The current king’s distant ancestors, William III, William IV, and William V of Orange-Nassau, were among the greatest beneficiaries of what the report described as a “deliberate, structural, and prolonged involvement” in slavery.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued a formal apology to the government in December for the Dutch state’s role in 250 years of slavery, which he called a “crime against humanity.”
In his Christmas address, the King of the Netherlands welcomed these apologies, declaring that they were “the beginning of a long road”.
Slavery helped finance the Dutch “Golden Age”, a period of prosperity through sea trade in the 16th and 17th centuries. About 600,000 Africans fled the country, mostly to South America and the Caribbean.
While the official abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies dates back 160 years, its actual application is only 150 years old.
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