The Ideologically Colonized Metropole: Dutch Racism and Racist Denial

Abstract

Many in The Netherlands deny the existence of race and racism even as significant research strongly suggests otherwise. This paper synthesized existing literature to illuminate The Netherlands' unique form of racism, which is rooted in racial neoliberalism, anti-racialism (i.e. the denial of race), racial Europeanization, and the particular Dutch history of colonial exploitation. This article summarizes existing scholarship addressing racism in wide array of social institutions in The Netherlands before addressing the historical roots of Dutch racism and how Dutch aphasia and racial Europeanization deny the links between contemporary and historical oppression before, finally, offering an explanation for this disconnect.

Identity experiences of black people in the Netherlands

“…Third, participants reported to be stereotyped by mainstream Dutch society. This theme confirms that Dutch whites hold stereotypes of black people, and thus supports other scholars in their claims on "Dutch racism" (Essed & Hoving, 2014;Weiner, 2014) . On the other hand, positive stereotypes were also present, but these were not experienced as such when they were perceived to conflict with the participants' view of themselves or made them feel objectified.…”

“…To us, it seems that black people experience acceptance as both directed towards them and coming from themselves . On the other hand this reciprocal acceptance was not always present; which supports Weiner's (2014) belief that the Dutch society is not as "colour-blind" as many claim it is . Inclusion was another theme derived .…”

“…The findings might be an equally useful contribution to the socio-political discussion on racism towards black people in the Netherlands (Essed, & Hoving, 2014;Weiner, 2014) .…”

The Sound of Silence: Ideology of National Identity and Racial Inequality in Contemporary Curaçao

“…The result is that the interrelatedness of Dutch colonial exploitation and persisting racial inequality in the Netherlands and its former Caribbean territories is not easily addressed in Dutch and Dutch Caribbean academia (Bijl 2012;Helsloot 2012;Jones 2012;Weiner 2014 and sophisticated contributions to the knowledge produced on Curaçao, they thus do so in fields of inquiry that have always been, and continue to be dominated by white scholars, and that has a long tradition of turning a blind eye on he importance of race and the necessity to study local forms of racism.…”

“…A few scholars, such as Paul Bijl (2012), Philomena Essed (1987, Ramón Grosfoguel and Eric Mielants (2006), John Helsloot (2012), Guno Jones (2012), Melissa Weiner (2014 and Gloria Wekker (2016) have made important contributions to the study of race and racism in the Netherlands, and to the critique of contemporary academia in the Netherlands for its lack of engagement with race and racism.…”