{"id":156805,"date":"2023-06-29T12:32:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T10:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=156805"},"modified":"2026-04-01T17:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:07:38","slug":"first-july-took-on-a-different-meaning-for-these-students-after-they-came-to-the-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/06\/29\/first-july-took-on-a-different-meaning-for-these-students-after-they-came-to-the-netherlands\/","title":{"rendered":"First July took on a different meaning for these students after they came to the Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday, 1 July marks 160 years since the Dutch proclamation of the abolition of slavery. Three Caribbean students talk about how they view this day and how their views have changed since they arrived in the Netherlands. \u2018Why did it change? Because of the trauma.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Some celebrate it, others commemorate it, and others still are not concerned at all with 1 July or Keti Koti<\/em> as the day is called. These differences can be explained historically, because the abolition of slavery occurred in a completely different manner for the citizens of Suriname and all six Dutch Caribbean islands. In Suriname, the first day of July is an official holiday. This is not the case anywhere else in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Not in the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius, which are part of the Netherlands as a country, nor in the independent islands and countries within the Kingdom: Aruba, Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten. In the Netherlands, there is debate about whether 1 July should be declared an official holiday.<\/p>\n

\u2018Used to be a holiday, now there\u2019s no longer a feeling of celebration\u2019<\/h2>
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\u201cThe party already started the day before 1 July\u201d, says Surinamese Val\u00e9rie Tjin-A-Djie (27), a master student in Medical Business and Innovation. \u201cThat day, we were all allowed to go to school in our traditional attire. I remember lots of different colours and designs and lots of delicious food. On 1 July, everyone had a free day, so we spent the day with family and friends. We grabbed our swimsuits and lots of goodies and headed out of town by car. We sat down in the sand, alongside a creek. It really felt like a holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I no longer get a feeling of celebration on Keti Koti<\/em>. Instead, I spend time thinking about the consequences of slavery, about the racism that still exists in society. This change has come about very gradually. During my first year in the Netherlands \u2013 I was 18 at the time \u2013 1 July fell in the exam period, so I was mostly studying. Each year, I felt more and more emotion about this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mostly feel misunderstood, because people here in the Netherlands don\u2019t learn about slavery and its consequences. In Suriname it\u2019s so different, everyone knows about the history and how it shaped our country. Here, I have to explain it all the time. Since slavery is a difficult subject, it also feels like a heavy conversation. Currently, there\u2019s a petition circulating to make 1 July an official holiday here as well. I hope it\u2019s successful. More people will also learn about the magnitude of these past events.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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The bill to abolish slavery was introduced in 1842. The law was eventually passed twenty years later and it was declared that emancipation would take effect on 1 July 1863. For many years, discussions were ongoing on how slavery was to be abolished and what kind of compensation plantation owners would receive for the loss of their property. In Suriname, the newly freed people had to continue working on plantations for another ten years. Those who owned enslaved persons received three hundred guilders per head as compensation. In 1859, slavery was abolished in the Dutch East Indies, which is now Indonesia.<\/p>\n

The abolition is commemorated annually on 30 June and celebrated on 1 July. In addition, there is a monument in memory of slavery<\/a> in Rotterdam. The commemoration ceremony will begin at 19:00. Several wreaths will be laid by Erasmus University and others, and there will be speeches and musical performances.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

\u2018The colonial mindset still exists on the island\u2019<\/h2>

\u201cThe first of July is seen very differently in Suriname and Cura\u00e7ao\u201d, says Camille Blaaker (22), a third-year medical student and president of the Dutch Caribbean Association. \u201cI learned about it because my father is from Suriname. When I was seven, we moved from the Netherlands to Cura\u00e7ao. There, we celebrate 17 August, the day that Tula, our national hero, and other leaders began the great slave rebellion of 1795. For Cura\u00e7ao, 1 July doesn\u2019t hold much significance. At any rate, the emphasis is more on celebrating one\u2019s culture, for example, during Carnival, the Se\u00fa<\/em> festival and Siman di kultura<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy father didn\u2019t just bring up this history on 1 July, he talked to us about it throughout the year. He said that people had to continue working on plantations for ten years after 1 July 1863. He felt it was important to emphasise this. Recently, 1 July has become more important to me. I consciously reflect on life on the islands. The colonial mindset still prevails on the island. Especially among the older generations, because they grew up with it. If someone has straight hair, that generation calls it \u2018good hair\u2019. Straight hair used to truly be considered better. Fortunately, this is less prevalent among the younger generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve started living in the Netherlands again, I find that I appreciate the culture, language and history of the islands and Suriname more. I have gained a greater appreciation for everything that makes us, us. Moving was difficult. You go from a place that breathes colonial history to one that doesn\u2019t. More and more research is being done in the Netherlands on its colonial past. Who knows, maybe those results will help people in the Netherlands learn about the past and the aftermath of a history of slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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