AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologized Saturday for his country’s role in slavery and asked for forgiveness in a historic speech to cheers and shouts at an event marking the anniversary of the abolition of slavery.
The king’s speech followed the Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte’s apology late last year over the country’s role in the slave trade and slavery. It is part of a broader recognition of colonial histories in the West that has been spurred in recent years by the Black Lives Matter movement.
In an emotional speech, Willem-Alexander addressed that apology as he told a crowd of guests and onlookers: “I stand before you today. Today, as your King and as a member of the government, I apologize myself. And I feel the weight of the words in my heart and in my soul.
The king said he commissioned a study into the exact role of the royal House of Orange-Nassau in slavery in the Netherlands.
“But today, on this day of remembrance, I apologize for the clear lack of action against this crime against humanity,” he added.
Willem-Alexander’s voice seemed to crack with emotion as he completed his speech before laying a wreath at the country’s national slavery monument in an Amsterdam park.
Some people want action to back up the words.
“Honestly, I feel good, but I still expect more than apologies. Repairs, for example,” said Doelja Refos, 28.
“I don’t feel like we’re done. We definitely haven’t gotten there yet,” Refos added.
Former lawmaker John Leerdam told Dutch broadcaster NOS that he felt tears running down his cheeks as the king apologized. “This is a historic moment and we have to realize that,” he said.
Slavery was abolished in Suriname and the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean on July 1, 1863, but most enslaved workers were forced to continue working on plantations for another 10 years. The commemoration and speech on Saturday mark the beginning of a year of events to commemorate the 150th anniversary of July 1, 1873.
Research published last month showed the king’s ancestors earned the modern equivalent of 545 million euros ($595 million) from slavery, including proceeds from shares that were effectively given to them as gifts.
When Rutte apologized in December, he stopped short of offering compensation to the descendants of enslaved people.
Instead, the government is establishing a 200 million euro ($217 million) fund for initiatives to address the legacy of slavery in the Netherlands and its former colonies and to improve education on the issue.
That’s not enough for some in the Netherlands. Two groups, the Black Manifesto and The Black Archives, organized a protest march ahead of the King’s speech on Saturday under the slogan “No Healing Without Reparation”.
“Many people, including myself, my group, The Black Archives and Black Manifesto, say that (an) apology is not enough. An apology must be tied to a form of reparation and restorative justice or reparations,” Black Archives director Mitchell Esajas said.
Protesters dressed in colorful traditional costumes at a Surinamese celebration of the abolition of slavery. Enslaved people were prohibited from wearing shoes and colorful clothing, organizers said.
“Just as we remember our ancestors on this day, we also feel free, we can wear whatever we want, and we can show the rest of the world that we are free.” said Regina Benescia-van Windt, 72.
The often brutal colonial history of the Netherlands has come under renewed critical scrutiny following the murder of George Floyd, a black man, in the US city of Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
A groundbreaking 2021 exhibition at the national museum of art and history took an unflinching look at slavery in the dutch colonies. In the same year, a report described Dutch involvement in slavery as a crime against humanity and linked it to what the report described as ongoing institutional racism in the Netherlands.
The Dutch first became involved in the transatlantic slave trade in the late 16th century and became major traders in the mid-17th century. Eventually, the Dutch West India Company became the largest transatlantic slave trader, according to Karwan Fatah-Black, an expert on Dutch colonial history and an assistant professor at Leiden University.
The Dutch authorities are not the only ones apologizing for historical abuses.
In 2018, Denmark apologized to Ghana, which it colonized from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. King Philippe of Belgium expressed his “deepest regret” for abuses in the congo. In 1992, Pope John Paul II apologized for the church’s role in slavery. Americans have had emotionally charged disputes over the toppling of statues of slavers in the South.
In April, King Carlos III indicated for the first time his support for the investigation of the The UK monarchy’s links to slavery after a document showed an ancestor holding shares in a slave-trading company, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.
Charles and his eldest son, Prince William, expressed regret over slavery, but did not acknowledge the crown’s connections to trade.
During a ceremony marking Barbados’s becoming a republic two years ago, Charles referred to “the darkest days of our past and the terrible atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history.” English colonists used African slaves to turn the island into a rich sugar colony.
Willem-Alexander acknowledged that not everyone in the Netherlands supports the apology, but called for unity.
“There is no model for the process of healing, reconciliation and recovery,” he said. “Together, we are in uncharted territory. So let’s support and guide each other.”
