(2021) A little while ago, I took a walk through Hoorn. Along the way, I came across a ridiculous number of racist stickers. I peeled off as many as I could. The ones that wouldn’t come off, I marked over with a permanent marker.
The Friday after that, I went on another walk and passed by the Westerhaven residential care center. There, they seemed to have made a real effort to display as many racist caricatures as possible, as if they were trying to make a statement. I gathered my courage, walked in, and made a statement of my own: “I’m giving you the opportunity to remove these racist caricatures by the end of the day. I’ll come back tomorrow to check. If they’re still up, I will take further action.” I was met with a lot of dumb resistance from the woman at the front desk and the manager. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised.
I’ve since raised the issue in multiple places. The complaint department of Wilgaerden Westerhaven picked it up, and so did the GroenLinks political party in Hoorn. If all goes well, it’s now being discussed in the city council. The mayor of Hoorn, Jan Nieuwenburg, never responded to my email. Apparently, fighting racism is not a priority for him. As I reflected on all this, it occurred to me that maybe it’s not even that surprising. As long as our national villain JP Coen is still proudly standing in the heart of our city, Hoorn remains a place where racism is tolerated or at the very least, not clearly condemned.
Racism and fascism always begin with nationalism. And honestly, I’m deeply ashamed of all this Dutch nationalism. I am a human being with my own identity. I don’t need a flag, racist caricatures, or a war criminal on a pedestal to define it.
With love,
STHOM
