The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) apologized on Friday at the National Slavery History Memorial for the bank’s contribution to slavery. The apologies come after it was revealed in February that the bank was involved in the slavery practices of the Netherlands during the colonial period.
DNB acknowledged responsibility in February after research by Leiden University showed that the bank had contributed to slavery in the past. In response to the findings, the bank left open the possibility that an apology would follow, but first wanted to talk to civil society organizations.
President Klaas Knot of DNB expressed his apologies during a speech at the National Monument to Slavery Past in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark.
After its foundation in 1817, DNB was indirectly involved in slavery, even in areas that were not under Dutch rule, such as British Guiana. For example, DNB did not distinguish between customers who were and customers who were not involved in slavery. At the time, there was no legal basis for such a distinction, nor was this made in policy terms.
The money with which DNB was founded was partly earned through slavery. Administrators were personally involved in the slave trade and defended its existence and survival. Later, the effects of slavery were ignored. When slavery was abolished, DNB paid compensation to former plantation owners, including directors of DNB, on behalf of the Ministry of Colonies.
“The decisive factor for the apology was the conversations we had with the people who are still experiencing the consequences of our slavery past. DNB is also convinced that the consequences of this will continue to affect the present,” Knot told NU.nl.
Measures to reduce the impact of the slavery past
DNB will take measures in the Netherlands, Suriname and the Caribbean part of the Netherlands to reduce the impact of the slavery past in the present for those directly involved, she writes in a statement.
For example, DNB is setting up a fund for projects in education and health care that have a direct impact on the daily lives of people affected by DNB’s slavery past. The bank will earmark 5 million euros for the fund over the next ten years.
The National Coordinator against Discrimination and Racism (NCDR) Rabin Baldewsingh tells NU.nl that he is disappointed in the level of the DNB fund. “I am happy with the generous apologies and with the fund, but disappointed with the amount of only 5 million over ten years. This fund deserves a broader interpretation.”
DNB is investing another 5 million euros in initiatives with an educational character, such as the National Slavery Museum and an associated knowledge centre.
In the renovated building on Frederiksplein in Amsterdam, DNB wants to reflect on its involvement in the slavery past on the basis of the works of art that the bank owns. The art collection must also become more diverse and inclusive. DNB itself will also continue with historical research.
‘Inspiring climax in history’
The fact that DNB and ABN AMRO have taken responsibility for their role in Dutch slavery history, Linda Nooitmeer of the National Institute of Dutch Slavery History and Legacy (NiNsee) previously described as an “inspiring high point” in the institute’s twenty-year history.
“These banks set the tone for the developments that we can still look forward to,” said Nooitmeer. “If they make just one other top executive aware of the impact of the slavery past on people’s lives by apologizing, then I think we have already achieved a lot.”
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ABN AMRO’s predecessors were involved in the slave trade, plantation slavery and the trade in products derived from slavery. This emerged from research by the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. ABN AMRO apologized in April for its involvement.
Cabinet will respond to before 2023 Chains of the Past
During the national commemoration, Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection) said that 2023 will be “the year in which we will permanently anchor the change that we have been working on for so long”.
He also promised that the cabinet will respond to the report before 2023 Chains of the Past† In it, the Advisory Board Dialogue Group on Slavery History calls on the Dutch State to apologize for its Dutch slavery past.
This is how it is with the annual National Slavery Past Remembrance
- On July 1, the Netherlands commemorates the abolition of slavery in Suriname and the Antilles on July 1, 1863, although it took until 1873 before it really came to an end in Suriname.
- The National Slavery Past Remembrance has been taking place in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark since 2002. There is the National Monument to Slavery Past, as a place for reflection and commemoration of the Dutch slavery past.
- Central to the commemoration at the National Monument is a minute of silence in memory of the people who were enslaved during the Dutch colonial past.
- There are also speeches on behalf of, among others, the cabinet and the chairman of the National Institute of Dutch Slavery History and Legacy.