Category Archives: #UndocumentedNL
Dutch cartoonist mocks both anti-Black racism and the Lampedusa tragedy in one comic strip
The November 20-edition of Dutch newspaper Metro featured a comic strip in which Dutch cartoonist Aimée de Jongh displays both her intellect and sense of ‘satire’ by comparing the crashing of a boat full of Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) to the Lampedusa tragedy.
A frame-by-frame translation of the cartoon
1: “Sinterklaas, Sinterklaas*!” “What now, Piet?”
2: “An iceberg!!” “Yeah, right. Is this another one of your corny jokes?”
3: “Once again a boot with refugees capsizes near Lampedusa. The question now is: How did this happen?”
The cartoon – background info
The Sinterklaas mentioned in the first frame is a Santa Claus-esque figure who, together with his Zwarte Pieten (an army of Black servants who’re all called Zwarte Piet and who’re portrayed by white people with blackface, afro wigs and Moorish outfits) brings presents to the kids in Holland. This Zwarte Piet-figure has faced opposition for more than 60 years but since October 2013 the displays of Dutch anti-Black racism have become extremely violent and gained more international attention than ever before.
The Italian island of Lampedusa made worldwide headlines when on October 3 of this year, more than 360 people died when the “migrant boat” that was taking them from Libya to Italy sank not too far from the Lampedusan shore.
Filing complaints/ demanding apologies
To join us in filing complaints against Aimée de Jongh and her tasteless
mocking of Black people, please use the following information:
The cartoonist: aimeedejongh@gmail.com
The cartoonist on Twitter: @aimeedejongh
The newspaper: nieuwsredactie@metronieuws.nl
The newspaper on Twitter: @Metro
Hashtags: #Dutchracism
Copyright
The picture of the cartoon has been circulating on several ‘Dutch’ FB pages. Camera phones capture the darnest things…
El Mouthana
As soon as the front door opens they surround him, hug him, pick him up and he, carried on both their shoulders and prayers, surfs his way through the building. It has been six weeks since he saw his comrades, six weeks since the Dutch government decided that his quest for safety earned him a spot among criminals. Jails ain’t shelters and ‘housing’ asylum seeking Brothers and Sisters in institutes built to lock up killers and rapists goes against every form of humanitarianism the Netherlands likes to associate with itself. Or at least it should…
I recognize him from one of the posters with the summarized stories of those who were jailed or deported. His name, El Mouthana, is frequently featured in my Brothers’ narratives about the casualties of politics and the importance of collective visibility. Both their protest songs and their silences illustrate that war is so much more than a series of hollow headlines serving Islamophobic propaganda the West likes to call ’(inter)national security/safety’. The stories have faces and his is one with character and a moustache, eyes tired of questions and a radiant smile without answers. The Brotherly Parade passes us and for a second our eyes meet. Mine are scanned by a glance that, blurred by emotions, is hunting for familiar faces. I’m sure he doesn’t see me.
(Amsterdam/ January 14, 2013)
El Mouthana is one of the 100 asylum seekers who’re staying in De Vluchtkerk, a church turned housing project in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) that provides a temporary stay for Brothers and Sisters from East and West African countries like Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Côte d’Ivoire. They can stay there until March 31st 2013. After that? Nobody knows… I truly hope some of my fellow writers (especially those based in Holland) will donate a few moments of their time and craft to the proper documentation of this horror story and to help raise the awareness it deserves.
Picture by Aja Monet
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