Han van der Maas | Guilt and pride in the debate about the history of slavery
Now that the formation of a new cabinet has begun, columnist Han van der Maas reflects on nationalism, colonialism and slavery in politics. “There is considerable polarisation surrounding this theme.”
“Awake” and “woke” people in the Netherlands have a special relationship with their past. In progressive circles, the emphasis is on “our” responsibility for the atrocities committed in the former colonies. Who “our” refers to is always a little vague. It is not just about the Dutch, but about all Europeans, or at least the inhabitants of countries that have been guilty of colonialism or other forms of international exploitation. But not all inhabitants: Dutch people with a migrant background are presumably acquitted. Or do they also incur a debt with a Dutch passport?
Ancestors
All this angers right-wing Dutch people. “Why am I responsible for the crimes of my ancestors? I wasn’t there.” No living Dutch person was there, and national declarations of guilt and apologies are misplaced. A child is not guilty of crimes committed by a parent, for example during the Second World War.
The strange thing is that the same Dutch people do take pride in the achievements of our ancestors. Conservative parties, wherever in the world, emphasise national pride. “We did drain the Netherlands, invent the microscope and create atlases, after all.” Whereas the “woke” Dutch mainly point to the abuses of slavery, the “awake” Dutch emphasise that it was Europeans who abolished slavery.
Anger
There is considerable polarisation on this issue. A well-known example is the academic controversy surrounding Bruce Gilley, who published, or rather attempted to publish, the essay The Case for Colonialism. The title is a good summary of the content. It led to enormous anger in “woke” academic circles: petitions, threats, the withdrawal of the article and even the resignation of editors from the journal. Whatever one may think of the content, the aggressive treatment of Gilley was hardly academic.
On the other, “woke” side of the spectrum are leaders such as Trump, who make national pride the spearhead of cultural and museum policy. The Dutch history magazine Historisch Nieuwsblad analysed the programmes of Dutch political parties on this theme. JA21 is against reparations, and the PVV and FvD want to withdraw previous apologies. The left-wing parties, on the other hand, focus on the abuses surrounding the history of slavery.
I find it a complicated issue. Should I feel guilty about our collective past, or should I be proud, or both, or neither? Isn't some consistency required here? Difficult questions if you are neither “woke” nor “awake”.
