Hidden (hi)stories of the Bijlmer

Short before the independence of Suriname in 1975 there was an influx of Surinamese inhabitants moving to the Netherlands. This caused a whirlwind of commotion in the political sphere as the government tried to prevent ‘ghettos’ (Jansen, 2006, p. 30), prevent tension with the ‘autochtonous’ Dutch community (Biervliet et al, 1975, p. 337), propositions were made to change the constitution to send ‘non-economically profitable’ migrants back to Suriname, municipalities were reluctant to provide housing (Buddingh, 1995) and migrants were barred from certain neighborhoods in Amsterdam (Overleggroep Pensions, 1978). Eventually, from squatting movements (Heilbron, 2017), the Bijlmer grew to be culturally diverse, with the African diaspora holding the highest share (Gemeente Amsterdam, 2018).

The newer street names in the Bijlmer are comprised of names of persons that have become prominent figures for the black community and were established by the mayor in conjunction with eight aldermen (‘College van burgermeester en wethouders’) to which a commission for naming public space is an advisory body (‘Commissie naamgeving openbare ruimten’) (Gemeente Amsterdam, n.d.). To exemplify, as mentioned in ‘besluitenlijst 19970221’, some names included are Isabella Richaards, Efua Sutherland and Nilda Pinto.

This representation in the form of street names is very important, as representation significantly influences people’s view of the world (Boboltz & Yam, 2017). This especially, as underrepresentation can be found in the Eurocentric general Dutch school curriculum (Agirdag & Merry, 2016), as well as in the Dutch media (Takken, 2017). This underrepresentation brings about negative psychological consequences, due to effects such as ‘symbolic annihilation’ (Gerbner & Gross, 1976, p. 182) and the hindering of the effect of ‘cultural socialization (Hughes et al, 2006). From this, low self-esteem grows, as found in a study by University of Michigan (Martins & Harrison, 2012).

To add as to why these stories are important for the representation of the current Afro-Dutch community, we can find the answer in the political philosophical branch of communitarianism, for which Michael Sandel stated that “cultural membership forms identity” (Pierik, 2016), Christian Joppke stressed that a community has “a shared frame of reference” (Pierik, 2016) and Alasdaire MacIntyre finds: “the self is not detachable from its social and historical roles and statuses for the story of my life is always embedded in the story of those communities from which I derive my identity. I am born with a past.” (Sandel, 2009, p. 119).

To conclude, representation matters.

Tenisha Nahar

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