{"id":115322,"date":"2020-07-02T11:36:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T09:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=115322"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:24:59","slug":"id-love-for-keti-koti-to-become-a-celebration-for-all-people-living-in-the-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/07\/02\/id-love-for-keti-koti-to-become-a-celebration-for-all-people-living-in-the-netherlands\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019d love for Keti Koti to become a celebration for all people living in the Netherlands\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 July is the day on which Keti Koti (which means \u2018the chain is broken\u2019 in Sranan Tongo) is celebrated. The abolition of slavery in the former Dutch colonies on this day in 1863 is commemorated both in the Netherlands Antilles and in Suriname. In the Netherlands, too, 1 July is the National Day for the Remembrance of Our Slavery Past. So how is the Netherlands dealing with its colonial history? And how does Erasmus University fit into this process?<\/p>\n

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The celebration of Keti Koti<\/span>

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When Tiara Almeira, the chair of the society of Indonesian students PPI Rotterdam and Management of International Social Challenges (MISOC) student, came to the Netherlands to get a degree, she heard about the golden carriage in which the Dutch Royal Family is transported on Prinsjesdag, the day in September when the Dutch king delivers his annual address to the States General. The whole thing made her a little uncomfortable, as one of the paintings decorating the carriage depicts the inhabitants of the then Dutch Indies (present-day Indonesia) paying tribute to a white ruler. And this is not the only symbol of its kind to be found in the Netherlands. \u201cDutch people consider themselves to be highly tolerant, and in my experience, they generally are,\u201d says Tiara. \u201cBut as a result, they are sometimes blind to their own racist prejudice. If more attention were paid to colonial symbolism at Dutch schools, they might be better able to understand why these things make me uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colonial monuments<\/h2>

Sheetal Nicolaas, the chair of the Erasmus Multicultural Associations (EMA), agrees with Tiara. \u201cRacist comments or behaviour is often caused by ignorance. If people knew more about the Netherlands\u2019 slavery past, they wouldn\u2019t be so surprised if they heard, say, a Surinamese person speak Dutch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheetal considers the act of erecting a monument or naming a street or institute after a person a token of society\u2019s appreciation. \u201cHowever, with some of these people, we should ask ourselves if we really want to show them this level of appreciation. Some people are afraid that the removal of a statue or name means that all the history associated with it will be swept under the rug. However, the removal of an object like that does not equal the deletion of history. We will still educate the public about these people, but we will no longer give them any recognition for their gruesome acts. We will shift the emphasis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Lees meer<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t