Colonization and Multiculturalism in the Netherlands

Figure 1: A memorial in Oosterpark to commemorate freedom of speech.

Monday, we received two lectures: one on the colonial history of the Netherlands and another on Dutch multiculturalism. The rest of the day’s activities got cancelled because the museum was closed and the weather that day did not permit our evening tour of Amsterdam-North.

The Dutch needed to explore the world and start some sort of colony because they weren’t doing so well competing against the businesses of Spain, considering how they were controlling spices from their colonies, making them very competitive in the business field. They went out and explored a couple times, but they failed, so they made a small business titled VOC, the United East India Company. Unfortunately, not many Dutch people were willing to risk their lives for business, so the VOC joined ventures and spread the work among several businessmen throughout the different surrounding countries. With all the pros and cons to weigh, the VOC had to make a choice: focus on business or focus on colonization. Some people, like Jan Pieterszoon Coen, supported colonization, but others, like Multatuli, completely opposed it. I personally have positive and negative feelings toward colonization. I think colonization is great for people from other countries and cultures to meet and learn from each other so that people’s perspectives and knowledge on life will be broadened, which will increase people’s appreciation for other ways of life. However, it appears that the people that make a colony on another country’s territory treats the native people of the colony as slaves or tools to get whatever they want to accomplish. I think this malign treatment of people is what causes conflict between two parties. For example, the Dutch colonized Indonesia and in an effort to make Indonesians more Dutch, they oppressed the Indonesian culture and forced them to take on the ways of the Dutch. This caused the Indonesians to protest against the Dutch and become independent. I feel that if the Dutch treated the Indonesians as people, as friends, or even as if they were their own people, they would have developed a more harmonious relationship with them such that the two groups of people would work together for the benefit of both cultures. It’s generally a bad idea to think that the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you. In the end, every person has his or her story which makes them unique, and you can learn from each and every person.

After colonizing the East Indies, some Indonesians made it to the Netherlands and immigration increased, therefore many different religions and cultures in the country were introduced. With many different opinions and cultures, there was bound to be some grinding against other people, and because the Netherlands was very progressive, people have been very open about their opinions of other religions. There were many Muslims that lived in the Netherlands and didn’t approve of some of the teachings in the Netherlands, thus causing division in the school system. There was a time when the Netherlands was a religious country and all of the decisions made were based on the Bible, but that time is now gone, so political decisions can now be made without any religious reasons involved.