Speech by Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf at the 2024 National Slavery Memorial Day Ceremony
How do we write ourselves into this next chapter, with how many arms and with which words will we pull the past out of the shadows, look it in the eye and embrace it?
The words of Poet Laureate Babs Gons
which she wrote to mark the national slavery Memorial Day ceremony last year.
I believe I can speak on behalf of all members of parliament when I say that it is an honour to be with you on our last day in office.
We are here in the Oosterpark in solidarity with everyone who wants to remember with us.
At the Museum Square in Amsterdam, in Surinam and on Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba,
or anywhere else in the world.
Vergiffenis. Apologise. Diskulpa. Pardon.
Words make a world of difference.
They are powerful,
they can heal,
but they can also be weaponised and cause deep wounds.
In the run-up to this Memorial Day ceremony, words have reopened certain wounds
and I have seen your discomfort, heard your concerns and felt your pain.
Let us take courage from a Memorial Day ceremony that is dignified and communal.
And from the realisation of how far we have come.
Let us reflect on the past slavery memorial year during which
towns and cities, institutions and families shone a light on their own suppressed slavery past
apologised.
Our slavery past has been the centre of attention in all kinds of different ways. In memorial ceremonies, podcasts and dialogues.
In slavery-related walks, teaching materials and theatre performances.
More people were actively involved in commemorative events than ever before.
Determined to continue this work
and, as minister responsible for coordinating the memorial year, I had the privilege of spending time with you.
The many conversations we shared have opened my eyes
to how little I knew.
I had to learn how one-sided my knowledge was and how small my world had become.
I had to learn how deep-rooted and widespread racism and discrimination are in the present.
And how much inequality still results from that.
Each and every day.
Those conversations were often painful, but always valuable.
They taught me that the way forward is difficult for everyone in different ways.
You have to turn your gaze through one hundred and eighty degrees. Away from your usual beliefs and knowledge.
You have to view other people with an open mind and genuine curiosity
and look the unknown person before you in the eye.
Although you may not know the way, you do know the direction. And that is forwards!
I wish that everyone had that open view
and could clearly see the new storylines and perspectives.
The story of the indigenous communities, driven from their lands and enslaved.
The inhuman violence of centuries of slavery, in all corners of the globe.
And the opposition to it.
The heroic escapes, such as by the Maroons.
The injustice of indentured labour.
But also the knock-on effect of this past in the here and now, of which we still do you not have the complete picture.
All these chapters of history need to be told and heard.
Entire human lives, entire communities were deliberately erased from our history.
And yet something continued as a legible reminder. Between the lines.
The most fragile and personal did survive history.
The song a mother uses to rock her child to sleep.
The recipe handed down from generation to generation.
The hairstyle that speaks its own language.
These sparks may have flickered, but they were never extinguished.
These soft, fragile forces stood the test of time
because people carried them in their hearts,
where others couldn't reach them.
Those people passed on their culture.
Precious gifts like rituals, language and family stories.
From these threads they wove an indestructible cord of resistance,
which you keep extending each and every day.
Without the resistance of you and your ancestors,
without the perseverance of teachers, researchers, activists and many others, the Memorial Year and the apologies by Prime Minister Rutte and the King would never have happened.
Apologies that we, as members of the government, found to be very meaningful and historic at a personal level as well.
It has taken over a century and a half for those apologies to be made
and it is perfectly understandable that not every descendent is yet ready to accept them.
It is important to be critical.
True emancipation means that your opinion, your outrage, your call for equality should be subject to the same rules as others
and you should be able to take your place in society as easily as anyone else.
Emancipation is nothing less than redressing historical injustice.
That's the considerable challenge facing everyone in society,
including the next government and every government that follows.
Today, we are also moving forward in this recovery process.
From now on, descendants in the European and Caribbean Netherlands who carry the pain of a plantation past in their surname will be able to change their name.
And from today, Papiamentu will also have protected status here, in the European part of the Netherlands.
As a Kingdom we will continue to move forward.
A permanent Slavery Memorial Committee is going to be established,
as will a National Slavery Museum.
Funds are going to be made available for more research and education.
So that the whole story can be told
and so that we can expand our knowledge.
What we know, we cannot un-know.
Knowing makes us aware.
The way forward is a long and winding road and we are bound to encounter headwinds. However, the steps we are taking are irreversible.
And our apologies are irreversible.
They have changed reality.
We have crossed a threshold.
As true as we are together today, we carry the past in our genes.
The pain of that past has been an equally distributed.
But everyone is an heir to the past
and an ancestor of the future.
“Who are we tomorrow?” the Poet Laureate asked in her poem.
Let's not wait for the answer,
but, from now on, make history together instead.
Let us continue to work towards a shared future.
Thank you for your attention.
Read the speech in Papiamento, in Papiamentú or in Dutch.