WORLD NEWS | Dutch king apologizes for country’s role in slavery on 150th anniversary of abolition

AMSTERDAM, July 1 (AP) – Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologized for the Netherlands’ role in slavery and asked for forgiveness in a historic speech Saturday on the anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

The king’s speech followed an apology late last year by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte over the country’s role in the slave trade and slavery. It’s part of a broader reflection on Western colonial past, fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years.

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In a rousing speech, Willem-Alexander reflected on that apology, telling a group of invited guests and onlookers: “Today I stand before you. Today, as your king and member of your government, I personally apologize. I feel the weight of those words in my heart and soul.”

The king said he had commissioned a study to investigate the exact role of the Orange-Nassau royal family in Dutch slavery.

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“But today, on this anniversary, I ask forgiveness for our apparent failure to act in the face of this crime against humanity,” he added.

Willem-Alexander’s voice seemed to crack with emotion after finishing his speech and laying a wreath at the National Slavery Memorial in a park in Amsterdam.

Slavery was abolished in the Dutch colonies of Suriname and the Caribbean on July 1, 1863, but most of the enslaved laborers were forced to continue working on the plantations for another 10 years. Saturday’s commemoration and presentations marked the start of a year of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of July 1, 1873.

Research published last month showed that the king’s ancestors earned the modern equivalent of 545 million euros ($595 million) from slavery, including profits from shares that were effectively gifted to them.

When Rutte apologized in December, he did not offer compensation to the descendants of the enslaved.

Instead, the government is setting up a 200 million euro ($217 million) fund for initiatives to tackle the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies and improve education on the issue.

For some in the Netherlands that’s not enough. Two groups, the Black Manifesto and the Black Archives, organized a protest march ahead of King’s speech on Saturday under the banner “No Reparations No Healing.”

“A lot of people, including myself, my group, the Black Archives, and the Black Manifesto, have said that an apology is not enough. An apology should be tied to some form of restoration and reparative justice or reparation,” said Black Archives Director Mitchell Esahas said.

Marchers in colorful traditional costumes take part in a celebration for the abolition of slavery in Suriname. Slaves were banned from wearing shoes and brightly colored clothing, organizers said.

“Just as we honor our ancestors on this day, we also feel free, we can wear what we want and we can show the rest of the world that we are free.” Regina Venecia, 72 Said Regina Benescia-van Windt.

Following the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, USA on May 25, 2020, and the Black Lives Matter movement, the brutal colonial history of the Netherlands has once again come under scrutiny.

In 2021, the National Museum of Art and History presents a groundbreaking exhibition that does not hesitate to examine slavery in the Dutch colonies. That same year, a report described the Netherlands’ involvement in slavery as a crime against humanity and linked it to what the report described as persistent institutional racism in the Netherlands.

The Dutch first participated in the transatlantic slave trade in the late 1500s and became major traders in the mid-1600s. Ultimately, the Dutch West India Company became the largest transatlantic slave trader, said Kavan Fatah-Blake, an expert on Dutch colonial history and an assistant professor at Leiden University.

Dutch authorities are not alone in apologizing for historic sexual abuse.

In 2018, Denmark apologized to Ghana, which was colonized from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Belgium’s King Philippe has expressed his “deepest regret” over the abuses in Congo. In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized for the Church’s role in slavery. There was a heated debate among Americans over the removal of statues of southern slaveholders.

King Charles III first expressed support for research into the relationship between the British monarchy and slavery in April after a document revealed his ancestors owned shares in a slave trading company, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

Charles and his eldest son, Prince William, have expressed sadness over slavery without acknowledging the royal family’s connection to it.

At the ceremony when Barbados became a republic two years ago, Charles referred to “the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocities of slavery which have stained our history forever.” British colonists used African slaves to turn the island into a wealthy sugar colonies.

Willem-Alexander acknowledged that not all Dutch people support the apology, but called for unity.

“There is no blueprint for the process of healing, reconciliation and recovery,” he said. “Together we are in uncharted territory. So let’s support and guide each other.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a syndicated news feed, the latest staff may not have revised or edited the body of content)