Since the start of the protests against the controversial excavations,
Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean has been excluded from
participation by the government representatives of St. Eustatius and the
ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). None of our numerous
requests have been honored no matter what the report of the Statia
Heritage and Research Commission (SHRC) may claim. The reason for this
is that both local and Dutch national government refuse to see the core
of the problem with the excavations in the light of colonial relations
and the structures behind them. It is a refusal to address systemic
racism and inequality and the effects on everyday life of people in the
Afrikan diaspora to the present day. But even though St. Eustatius is an
island, this attitude can no longer stand, as several decolonization
themes are now very topical.
Racism: addressing the elephant in the room
In
connection with the maiden visit of the new state secretary Ms.
Alexandra van Huffelen, of Kingdom Relations, and her quest to
familiarize herself with the colonial part of the Dutch Kingdom, we deem
it important to reiterate the importance of the respectful treatment of
persons of Afrikan descent from the past, present or future.
We
can remain quiet and not address “the elephant in the room” pointing to
the fact that although her previous Dutch (Kingdom) Government, who
almost on the eleventh hour before going into an election, resigned
because of the blatant racist attacks by the tax department on persons
of Afrikan descent, emerged even more victorious. This indicates to us
that dealing with racism should be even more important than global
warming. Because of a racist posture, persons of Afrikan descent might
most likely be taken advantage of in the areas of, to name a few:
Climate and the environment; Housing; Health; Education; Work and taxes;
Law and order; Immigration and asylum; Mobility; and Arts and culture
(list taken from December 15, 2021, DutchNews.nl “The new government’s
plan: what you need to know”).
It might be comforting for the
present Dutch government to have as one of the areas of the coalition
accord to allocate annually part of 170 million euros for arts and
culture, to contribute of the establishment of a national history and
slavery museum. It is the hope of our Alliance that artifacts and
remains that were gained through what they might call legal plundering,
should not be in such an institution but must be returned to the
rightful places from which they were stolen from, and treated with
dignity and respect.
Ghosts of the past still present
In
a recent article of February 10, 2022, The Daily Herald “Reports
highlights Dutch central bank’s links to slavers and the slave trade”
where more facts of the Dutch continued accumulation of wealth because
of the trade. What is mind boggling is, that even though slavery was
abolished by the Netherlands in 1863, almost 160 years ago, business
still continued as if nothing had changed.
A company like the
“Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie” also known as “The Dutch West
India Company” still owns properties in the Caribbean, including St.
Eustatius. An interesting question is: who still dare to manage assets
of this company’s, knowing that the Trans-Atlantic slave trade has been,
and still is, a crime against humanity. Similar companies also were
established by Denmark, French, and Sweden, all with the charter to
monopolize the trading of enslaved persons.
Pushing the decolonization agenda forward
Since
the release a few weeks ago of the final report by the Statia Heritage
Research Commission, the commission that was put in place to investigate
the mishandling of the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research
(SECAR) with respect to Golden Rock excavations, recently not much been
heard of, other than appointing a person to an official position within
government of St. Eustatius as a Heritage Inspector and embracing the
recommendations.
At the end of 2021, UCF Caribbean formed the St.
Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance. We now have allies in
Jamaica, St. Helena, the US and the Netherlands. We will continue to
expand this network of Afrikan centered activists, scientists, and
organizations and together we will push the decolonization agenda
forward.
A Dutch version of this press release is available via https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/2022/02/aandacht-voor-dekolonisatie-werkbezoek-vanhuffelen.html
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