Written by: Chandra Frank and Simone Zeefuik

In his intro, Groenhuijsen argues that “Black poverty in the US comes forth out of racism, but you can’t blame white people for everything.” Groenhuijsen, a white Dutch journalist, writer and public speaker who’s based in Bethesda (USA), is the quintessential poster boy of his country’s distorted approach to Black people’s histories, the national sentiment that whiteness outweighs research or study and the subpar level of journalism all this produces. He continues: “Ask Americans what the biggest problem of the country is and they will start about the economy, unemployment and the role of the government. And since this Spring also racism. Not that racism was ever gone, but it wasn’t on top of the list. Because of deathly incidents where police officers killed black civilians (Ferguson, Staten Island, South-Charleston) racism is back on the front pages. It is a persistent  problem. Contradictions between white and black are rather bigger than smaller. Also the first black president of the US does not bring improvement. Obama doesn’t realize the impossible. Which is not a reproach.”

The Dutch in any case, from their role in slavery to their grave abuse of the rights of illegalized refugees, demand nuance. Whenever racism is discussed in the Netherlands it is always in conjunction with nuance. Groenhuijsen has no intention to break his country’s code of whiteness: “Who in a discussion about racism insists on nuance can count on criticism. What is there to nuance about racism? I will try either way. Not to suggest it’s not that bad with discrimination in the US. It is bad. Large and small racism is there every day. At the office, at school, in shops, on street corners. It leads to an angry debate that gets stuck in the hopeless binary of right and wrong, victim and perpetrator. Too often it is about the consequences in the 21^st century of slavery in the 18^th and 19^th century: a black-white dispute in which bitterness and pessimism prevail. Too many whites say: racism is about over. If a black American can conquer the White House, is everything possible. Stop complaining and demonstrating. Oh, and as well-meaning white person I don’t want to be blamed for something that happened two centuries ago.”

Groenhuijsen’s call for nuance is appalling. Not only is he telling Black Americans what to do in a Dutch newspaper, he suggests Black Americans play an equal part in the current racial affairs. He fails to ask why Black people are attacked and incarcerated daily, fails to ask how white people contribute and maintain the very white supremacist system that he calls nuanced racism. Where does he question how it is possible that Black people are arrested on non-existing grounds and die at the hands of the State? The problem with Groenhuijsen and the likes is that next to forever wanting nuance they also are firm believers of equality. After his ‘analysis’, he deems himself important enough to offer ‘solutions’ for America’s future. And of course, the answer lays in the idea that Black and white both need to let go of their prejudice and work together towards a ‘hopeful’ future. “Is there only bad news for black America? No, the good news is that more and more African Americans are successful. You can become professor, surgeon, director, top athlete, popstar, and indeed president. Unfortunately, the number of those who structurally stay behind remains too large. Too often Black Americans misused deprivation (as powerlessness, despair?) as something to be proud of. Who tries to do better is a show off: ‘You are acting so white’.”

As a good little white progressive, Groenhuijsen reminds us what his kinfolks are known for: discussing racism and discrimination by talking about how it affects white people. “In the meantime, discrimination against white people is very common. Just ask a random white pupil or student. Is it a form of bitterness?” This is the kind of mind that produces hashtags like #AllLivesMatter but limits calls for ‘inclusion’ to occasions when whiteness fears that its ‘other, better side’ is being ignored. Unable to see racism as an oppressive structure, white people like Groenhuijsen fail to graduate from the ‘Why don’t you like me? Why aren’t we talking about what this means for me?’-part of the conversation. To him and the vast majority of his countrymen, racism is the result of a lack of effort to overcome inequalities. Groenhuijsen references cops killing Black people, the link between poverty and racism, the existing figures on racism, and still argues whites will only change their attitudes if Black Americans change their behaviour. Groenhuijsen eagerly makes use of the widespread idea that Black humanity is dependent on white goodwill. He states: “[…] young black Americans: you don’t need to impregnate 16 year old girls because your grandmother sat in the back of the bus. You don’t need to shoot and kill fellow blacks because there was once slavery […] Of course black lives are of value. But why do Black Americans kill each other so often (more than 40 deaths a week)? When compared to whites, the number of African American killers is seven times as high. Doesn’t your battle cry count in those cases? Why isn’t there a black leader standing up to yell “Yes, all black lives matter” for every black murder victim? […] Obama is the best possible ally of black Amerika. But don’t expect a black president to solve just solve all problems for you.”

The aim of the translations we offer here is not to reproduce his racist and violent words, but to hold Groenhuijsen and Dutch media responsible and call them out on their racist propaganda. Dutch media needs to face their daily reproduction of whiteness plus answer for it on both a national and an international level. It is utter cowardice to write such bold, anti-Black statements about a movement but do so in a way in which the changes of a response are slim to none. Did Groenhuijsen approach any American media in an attempt to sell his Dutch views on the Black Lives Matter movement? If Groenhuijsen is serious, or at least sincere, about the advice he wants to offer Black America, why did he choose this rather inaccessible form? Could it be that, not quit unlike a growing group of white liberals/progressives/saviors/etc. Groenhuijsen thinks that conversations about Black people need to be had far away from the reality that we might respond and drag them for filth?

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Yesterday, Premium Times excited my fellow list lovers and me by publishing a teaser of their 2014 list of Most Influential Africans. I’m certain their overview is more impressive than the illustration that ‘graced’ it and I’m sure we’re not even a three digit countdown away from someone who’ll start philosophizing about artistic freedom or an illustrator’s right to abstractions and interpretations but really… what’s up with this colouring? At least six of them are buckets of white lighter than they truly are.

Clockwise, the drawing shows the following icons:
1. Lupita “My Dreams Are Valid” Nyong’o. If it wasn’t for the dress, this could have depicted Halle Berry.

2. Truth be told… I’m not certain about who the lady next to Nyong’o is supposed to represent. If I didn’t know better I would hope that the illustrator saluted South African singer and composer Sathima Bea Benjamin because her influence and artistry remains ever so relevant but I doubt that my jazz heart will be so lucky. Speaking of luck… this isn’t C.A.R.’s interim president Catherine Samba-Panza, is it?

3. Obiageli Ezekwesili (pic), former member of the Nigerian government  and one of the Nigerian ladies who spearheaded the #BringbackOurGirls campaign

4. This one made me Google all the names in the text but if my Sherlock senses don’t deceive me, this is Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank and Rwandan economist.

5. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (pic).
6. Kelvin Doe a.k.a. DJ Focus, 18 year old engineer and innovator.
7. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

The questions write themselves.