Black Lives Matter spurs scrutiny of Dutch colonial past

17th century has gone down in Dutch history as Golden , when unprecedented tring wealth helped fund likes of artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer.

But grim flip side of prosperity — fortunes generated by seafaring trers, slavery and iron-fisted colonial rulers — is being brought into sharp focus amid global protests sparked by killing of George Floyd.

Activists spurred by Black Lives Matter protests in United States are seeking to shed more light on Dutch colonial past and tackle what y call ingrained racism and discrimination in Nerlands, a nation that was once kwn as a beacon of tolerance.

latest target of activists is a statue of a top officer of Dutch East India Company who in 17th century founded city that is w Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Protests calling for removal of statue of Jan Pieterszoon Coen and a counter-demonstration supporting it are planned for Friday evening.

Hored since late 19th century as a colonial ruler and leing light in Dutch East India Company tring powerhouse, Coen also is reviled as “butcher of Banda” for a bloody 1621 assault on a group of islands in order to secure a mopoly on spices grown re. Thousands of island inhabitants were killed.

“He is a murderer, and we shouldn’t ... have murderers on a statue. That’s t done,” Marisella de Cuba, one of protest organizers, said.

“When it comes to J.P. Coen, y are blind to pain of people,” ded De Cuba, who was born on Caribbean island of Aruba and has lived in Nerlands for years.

Karwan Fatah-Black, a historian and lecturer at Leiden University, thinks many protests in Nerlands in wake of Floyd’s death at hands of Minneapolis police officers on May 25 are a response to voices of migrants and descendants of people from former Dutch colonies being marginalized in Dutch society.

“ir concerns were always brushed aside for a very long time,” Fatah-Black said. Among concerns he listed: Racial profiling by police and tax authorities, discrimination in workplaces, schools and on housing rental market, and cases of police brutality.

demonstration, set to take place in Coen's hometown of Hoorn, follows protests across Nerlands in recent weeks against police violence and racism, including two in Amsterdam that drew thousands of participants. A statue of Piet Hein, a colonial era mariner widely regarded as a hero, was daubed with red paint and word “killer” last week.

Prof. Remco Raben, who teaches Dutch colonial and post-colonial history at University of Amsterdam, said protests targeting statues are "a kind of correction of vision of nation as it emerged in 19th century and t as a rewriting of history. It’s rewriting of im of nation.”

“That’s where it ties in with post-colonial communities in Nerlands, because y see that y are t presented in public, political sphere, ... so y demand for correction of that,” Raben said.

But re are still plenty of people in Nerlands who reject such a reevaluation of past.

Populist lawmaker Thierry Baudet recently laid a bunch of roses at base of Coen statue in Hoorn, saying in a video posted on Twitter that he was horing Dutch identity and history. fast-growing Forum for Democracy party that Baudet les is using protests as a rallying cry to recruit new members.

In Nerlands, it is t only statues that have ties to slavery and oppression. Across country, streets bear names of Golden figures. wealth of 17th-century trers funded stately mansions that still stand on Amsterdam's canals.

horse-drawn Golden Carri, currently undergoing a lengthy restoration but tritionally used to carry Dutch monarch to state opening of Parliament each year, also is getting a reassessment. One of its panels is decorated with a painting depicting Africans and Asians carrying goods to present to ir colonial masters.

In recent years, much of polarized Dutch debate about race has revolved around divisive children’s character Black Pete, who is often portrayed by white people wearing blackface makeup at celebrations each December marking Sinterklaas, a Dutch celebration of St. Nicholas.

Activist De Cuba said she hopes that protests inspired by Black Lives Matter will also tackle Black Pete this year.

“I think people are waking up and I hope, I really hope, it’s t like a hype and that everybody who is standing at a Black Lives Matter protest will show up also in vember when we’re protesting Black Pete and will show up every time when we are dressing issue of racism in this country,” she said.