Guest blog by Paul Wennekes
It’s stormy in the Netherlands. Foreigners who have settled there are taking over the helm. They are no longer foreigners, as they have got the title ‘co-nationals’. That’s okay, isn’t it?
Yes! They have got the same rights. But … they want more! They want to transform Holland into a country without traditions and without ‘troublesome’ elements. Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), the companion of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) is one of them. Piet is black. Yes. But that’s because he is an eavesdropper who crawls through chimneys . He is Saint Nicholas’s servant and it is his task to let Santa know if a child has been good or bad. And Sinterklaas? He is a Good Holy Man. A real friend of children. Who brings sweets and presents on December 5th, as this is his birthday. Nothing wrong with it, you would say. No, he simply belongs to Dutch life and traditions. It has been like that for hundreds of years! He is a symbol. But … nowadays, there are co-nationals who believe that Piet may not be black. And that he may not act as an eavesdropper. Zwarte Piet must disappear. The privilege of spying upon others has recently been passed to Mr. Obama. Who is black, too. But nobody is protesting!
Only a small number of Dutch people show revolt. On the contrary, they are just sitting and waiting to get slashed. Like slaves in the old times! It is true, you might say that the Dutch people have become slaves of many immigrants who have found a good life in Holland. In fact, they have left their own country as they didn’t find it good enough. And now they are running the show. And they like it.
This is how a small country on the North Sea is deprived of many things that pertained to tradition and history.
Last week I walked with Mariana along the promenade from Igalo to Herceg Novi. The weather was warm and sunny. We had a cup of coffee in an open-air bar and heard a sound of music from far away. Curiously, we approached. And look, a platform had been built on the quay of Herceg Novi’s port. Some actors were showing a historical play, accompanied by an excellent flautist. It was very nice and the spectators, many of them, listened with great interest and in silence. Nobody talked. It was solemn. Around the scene were several performers dressed in traditional costumes and in costumes of the old Boka Navy. With real guns.
Suddenly it became silent on the platform and a man, the town’s mayor, told us what would happen. A sculpture would be inaugurated. A monument of a mighty king from the past. As a remembrance but also to emphasize the development of Montenegro. To remind us that we had, have and will always have a history and tradition. Always.
Guns were fired. The monument was revealed and there was King Tvrtko in all his majesty. Applause. And no immigrants to protest. This is how it can be!
Commenting this from Sweden in 2020 it’s obvious thing have become even more polarized on this issue. Inspired by the BLM movement in the US representatives of immigrant organizations here in Sweden have demanded that statues of Carl von Linne, an 18th century scientist who laid the basis for the latin classification system!