King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands delivered a historic speech on Saturday, apologizing for his country’s involvement in slavery and seeking forgiveness. The speech, which was met with cheers and applause, took place during an event commemorating the abolition of slavery in Dutch colonies. This apology follows Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s apology last year for the country’s role in the slave trade and slavery.
The king announced that he has commissioned a study to determine the exact role of the royal House of Orange-Nassau in slavery in the Netherlands. He expressed remorse for the failure to take action against this crime against humanity. After completing his speech, Willem-Alexander emotionally laid a wreath at the national slavery monument in an Amsterdam park. The Dutch colonies officially abolished slavery on July 1, 1863, but many enslaved laborers were still forced to work on plantations for another decade. This speech marks the beginning of a year-long series of events to commemorate the 150th anniversary.
A recent research revealed that the king’s ancestors made approximately 545 million euros ($595 million) from slavery. This included profits from shares that were essentially gifted to them. While Rutte’s apology in December did not include compensation for descendants of enslaved individuals, the government has established a 200 million-euro ($217 million) fund to support initiatives that address the legacy of slavery and improve education on the topic. However, there are critics who believe that this amount is insufficient.
Prior to the king’s speech, two groups, Black Manifesto and The Black Archives, organized a protest march under the theme “No healing without reparations.” The Dutch involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade dates back to the late 1500s, and they became one of the major traders by the mid-1600s. The Dutch West India Company eventually became the largest trans-Atlantic slave trader, according to Karwan Fatah-Black, an expert in Dutch colonial history and an assistant professor at Leiden University.
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