Toespraak staatssecretaris Van Huffelen bij slavernijherdenking Saba

Toespraak | 01-07-2023

Good Day,

Thank you for having me today, and allowing me to speak a few words.

It is a special, historical day which we are commemorating.

Or perhaps, it is more fitting to say: a day which we are marking.

July first, 1863.

On this day, a 160 years ago, slavery was abolished.

160 years.

I have given this number a lot of thought recently.

When you’re young, a 160 years sounds like an eternity.

Ancient history.

A period that can’t possibly have anything to do with the things that are important to you now, with what you’re going through at school, or with the future you envision for yourself.

But when you get older, you realize it’s different.

That it only takes an instant to grow up, change from a child, to a parent to a grandparent.

So previous generations are close to us.

They have something to tell us, they make us who we are.

So maybe I should say: it is only a 160 years ago that slavery was abolished.

And the period during which adults and children alike were taken from Africa, often by Dutch slave traders, was twice as long.

So commemorating or marking, a 160 years or only a 160 years.

These considerations illustrate that, in all honesty, finding the right words for this occasion is not so easy.

On the day that prime minister Rutte apologized for slavery on behalf of the Dutch state, which some of you have witnessed together at the Queen Wilhelmina library, I spoke on Curacao, next to the statue of resistance hero Tula.

It was a very emotional day where rehabilitation for Tula was a central element.

Rehabilitation also for the resistance heroes on other islands, who had to pay with their lives for their heroic opposition to a criminal system.

The history of slavery is a history of pain, of suffering and injustice, but also a story of courage, resistance, fighting for what’s right.

It is this resistance that has ultimately led to abolishing this dehumanizing system.

When prime minister Rutte spoke on December 19, 2022, he spoke of his personal change in thinking.

About how through talking to descendants, his ideas and opinions about slavery changed dramatically.

Over the past 1.5 years, I have talked to dozens of people, here on Saba, on other islands and in the European part of the Kingdom.

Elderly people, young people, descendants, people who relate to this history in their own unique ways.

But what they have in common, is that this past is still so tangible.

That the past still has an effect, is still felt.

Felt in sadness about what previous generations had to endure.

Felt in a sense of being different, being less or being perceived as such.

In feeling disadvantaged, a second-rate citizen in the Kingdom.

It is our responsibility to fix all of this, and do so within this generation.

Descendants have shown me this, concrete and tangible.

I saw it in theaters, in plays that depict how deep the distrust and insecurity really run, still.

I heard it in a discussion with high school students in Rotterdam, who wondered if white people could ever understand their pain.

And I felt it at the Juan Pablo Duarte school in Willemstad, where young students told me they felt like second rate citizens.

Of course, these conversations and experiences were uncomfortable, sometimes.

They even made me feel a sense of shame.

But most of all it gave me a sense of the importance of paying lasting attention to this past.

These stories, the stories of these atrocities that were committed by the Dutch state and their lasting effects today, have to be told and heard – heard by everyone.

I’d like everyone in the Kingdom to hear these stories and I’d like everyone on Saba to be able to share the stories, the true stories, about this island.

Because the picture of what slavery was really like on Saba is becoming clearer and clearer.

For a long time, there was this narrative about how slavery on Saba wasn’t too bad – but this narrative is changing.

Which is also why I want to stress the importance of oral history, and preserving it for future generations.

So that every child knows the names of the Saban heroes, and the history of Saba will be told from a Saban perspective.

I know a lot of people on the island are working really hard at this, for instance in the Heritage Center, and we want to support these efforts any way we can.

So the coming year, and also the period after, we are taking efforts to accomplish this.

We are going to shine a light on these underexposed parts of our history.

And we are doing this together.

This means we are going to discuss the best way to spend the 200 million euros in the slavery history fund together.

Interest groups representing descendants will have a lot of influence on that process.

We are going to organize gatherings which bring people together, give them a chance to meet each other and engage in conversation and discussion.

And it won’t only be words.

Because we are also going to create these places that make the past tangible, that bring us eye to eye with it.

Here on Saba, at the Harry L. Johnson museum, it was possible to see pay stubs for the purchase of four slaves, which would be transported from Statia to Saba.

Pieces of paper of 12 by 8 inches, with the prices paid for human lives: 250 dollars paid for the male Talamack, 24 dollars paid for the woman Nan.

Artefacts like these force you to reflect on this crime against humanity.

This is important.

That’s why we are going to create places fit to commemorate and reflect, and places that invite you to come together and engage in dialogue.

Here, on Saba, there’s going to be a name monument.

We are also going to invest in genealogical research in the archives, in searching through ship’s logs, and also in DNA-research.

Because we know far too little about the Sabans from before 1863.

I know a lot of people on Saba have questions about their forefathers, who they are and where they came from.

We want to take responsibility in finding the answers.

And we want to contribute to awareness through education.

And even after July first, 2024, this process is far from over.

Because there is so much work to be done still.

In the European part of the Kingdom, we want to make strides in increasing knowledge about our shared past, increasing knowledge about the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom.

And here, on Saba and other islands, there is a need to commemorate and to process the past.

We are also committed to intensifying the fight against racism and discrimination.

To this end, we have extended the equal treatment act to include Saba, Statia, and Bonaire.

This was the explicit wish of the executive councils and the result of in-depth discussions on the islands.

I hope the Slavery Memorial Year will bring everyone in the Kingdom closer together.

That it brings more attention to your island, your stories and your way of life.

That it helps in closing the psychological distance between the different countries and municipalities in the Kingdom.

Together, we will bring about more knowledge, attention and more respect.

Thank you.