General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Dutch: Traditional, or Racist? [View all]JustAnotherGen
(31,811 posts)Netherlands[edit]Although slavery was illegal inside the Netherlands it flourished in the Dutch Empire, and helped support the economy.[89] By 1650 the Dutch had the pre-eminent slave trade in Europe.[90] They were overtaken by Britain around 1700.[citation needed] As of 1778, it was estimated that the Dutch were shipping approximately 6,000 Africans for enslavement in the Dutch West Indies.[91] The Dutch shipped about 550,000 African slaves across the Atlantic, about 75,000 of whom died on board before reaching their destinations. From 1596 to 1829, the Dutch traders sold 250,000 slaves in the Dutch Guianas, 142,000 in the Dutch Caribbean islands, and 28,000 in Dutch Brazil.[92] In addition, tens of thousands of slaves, mostly from India and some from Africa, were carried to the Dutch East Indies.[93]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery#Netherlands
We tend to let European countries off on both slavery and the horrific treatment of Native Americans in the Americas (North, Central, South, Caribbean) . . . but they started it.
That said - We have plenty of our own racism towards us black folks to go around right here in America that needs to be addressed. I've been treated better in the Netherlands as a lone black female walking around than I have at Summit Mall in NJ. And that's a fact.