We are the Netherlands’s dirty secret

Christie Mettes

Illustratie: Norman Lindsay

An open letter to Prime Minister Rutte, concerning his comments on the independence of the Caribbean Netherlands.

After expressing the unwillingness of the Dutch Government to provide any economic support to the Caribbean Netherlands, you felt the need to encourage the secession of these regions: “Als u mij morgen belt dat u eruit wilt, dan gaan we dat onmiddellijk regelen.” “If you call tomorrow and say that you would like to leave, then we will arrange that immediately”

First, a few disclaimers. One, this article does not aim to take the responsibility off of the Islands for their current state. Two, when I speak as ‘we’, I do not claim to represent all views present in the Dutch Caribbean, or even on my home island of Aruba, but I feel my sentiments are rational enough to speak as ‘we’, if only on behalf of those sharing my views.

Colonialism is the tie that binds us

We, the Caribbean Netherlands, are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, every one of us a full Dutch citizen and a member of the EU. We don’t need to share a language to be Dutch. Like Belgium with its half Walloon, half Flemish population, Spain with the Catalans and Basques, Canada with its English- and French-speaking provinces, or India with its several hundred documented native languages. The political unity of the European and Caribbean Netherlands is a function of history, not culture. And in our case, colonialism is the tie that binds us.

Earlier this week the city of Detroit, formerly the center of the booming 20th century American industrial economy, declared bankruptcy. Its population is over 80 percent black. One might compare this to the situation of the Caribbean Netherlands. Despite all the racism in the US, recently illustrated with the Trayvon Martin case, imagine the US central government responding with: we are not going to provide any financial support to the state of Michigan, as it is not our responsibility. However, if Michigan would like to secede from the USA we would be more than happy to facilitate this.

Misuse of power

That is what you, as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said to the Islands. And yes, there have been discussions about independence, particularly in Curaçao. There are discussions of independence in Wallonia, in Quebec, and in Catalunya (to mention a few). It is to be expected of a multi-cultural political entity. But it is our process. Yes ours, that of those who have been suppressed. It is a misuse of power for the Dutch government to attempt to rid themselves of their politically awkward colonial leftovers by insulting our pride. And we will not fall for this lame attempt. While you refuse to recognize our dignity as your equal, we are no longer your slaves, and you cannot sell us or throw us overboard when we’ve lost our value. Such are the winds of time.

And for the record: we are not poor, definitely not among the Caribbean islands, there are many poorer islands which have independence. Being part of the Netherlands and being part of the European Union benefits us. It provides our children with greater educational opportunity, it facilitates our trade and tourism industry, and it protects our shores from foreign threat. So why would we throw away those benefits? Why? Why would we want to?

Ignorant and inferior

I know you and many others see us – Antillianen, Negers, Allochtonen – as ignorant and inferior, but you will not get rid of us. We are the Netherlands’s dirty secret, its bastard children, the skeletons in its closet, the shoulders it stepped on and crushed to support a ‘golden age’ of economic growth, The Other. We are part of your nation’s history and your present. We are what the Netherlands has made us.

We don’t all speak Dutch, but it was never deemed neither necessary nor desirable to be in contact with us. Our corrupt societies blossomed under a colonial structure which considered it easier to deal with one island than to talk to all of us and establish a transparent democratic system. The Netherlands has not invested in us as part of its nation. Blame us all you want, and tell yourself that the act of colonization happened hundreds of years ago, but it also lasted hundreds of years, and I will remind you that our autonomy is less than thirty years old!

Christie Mettes is a 24 year old master student Sustainable Development at the Utrecht University, who grew up on Aruba.