Ok good people today was one of those days where ALOT of information was consumed and I am still digesting it. My mind in going in so many directions as it relates to race in Europe (particularly here in Amsterdam)!! I will start by saying with each international trip I learn a little more about myself, what I will and will not tolerate, and more confidence/courage in myself as a budding scholar. And with today's post I'm going to be very transparent and not really bite my tongue (I just gotta speak from the heart as my grandma said.) So here we go....
Today's lecture dealt primarily with the Black Dutch presence in the Dutch merchant and maritime history from the 16th century moving forward...
1-What was most alarming for me is how some scholars (white) approach and/or avoid race as if it does not exist. I'm beginning to realize how race is seen as this object that does not have a space unless there is something to gain from it. For example, historically during slavery (and in some cases now) Black children were seen as accessories/pets/something to be passed around, and exoticized. I remember seeing that in the movie Mandingo, but hearing it again just gave me a visceral effect. (see an example in the image below)
2-Then there's also this idea of Dutch artists like Rembrandt who painted interesting pieces of work with Black bodies at the center (whether directly or indirectly), but at the same time not wanting to acknowledge that a "human" Black presence existed in the communities in which they lived in via the Netherlands.
3-The fact that people are still using terms like colored, beastialization, and 'well-intentioned' racism are very objectifying and problematic. Language is soooo very important!! And I can't tell you how many times I would cringe at this idea of a 'constant state of Black discovery' about people that have existed for centuries!! It's bad enough folks were measuring 'negro skulls' as a method of measuring intelligence...it's some jacked up stuff boy!!
4-And as many of us know slavery was an economic enterprise, but even more so for the Dutch. Many families are wealthy and banks flourishing to this day off the money made from backs of enslaved Blacks. In essence, wealth is directly connected to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. But, one thing that I can say is that reparations is real and Blacks in the Netherlands are getting what was owed to them.
5- Point blank within many European circles "Blackness, in the way we see it in the US, is not really claimed...more so geography is recognized!!
6-Some refreshing history was learning about this Dutch freedom fighter named Anton De Kom. De Kom is a celebrated war hero who can be likened to Surinamese version of Martin Luther King, Jr. His work in the Surinamese and Guyanese community is very pivotal into the liberation Black Dutch within his home country and Amsterdam.
7-When it's all said and done, I realize that White Europeans dismiss race because it is truly a horrifying experience to visual (place themselves into the situations they created) the traumatizing damage of slavery and its effects.Thus it is just easier to ignore. Furthermore, what what I am continuing to realize more and more is that it is very crucial to change the language that is used when interrogating race, and that we must change the way we reframe history by raising new questions and challenging the existing paradigms.
Needless to say today was very emotional and I found myself holding in this disgust, but relieved while writing this post. I often find myself trying to be 'nice'/'politically correct', but some stuff just ain't right!! Man oh man...There's so much more, but I will save that for tomorrow.
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