CAN A MINORITY RETAIN ITS IDENTITY IN LAW?that they could one day become a member of a minority. But it is debatable whether this
is still the prevailing view.
After all, if I ask what we mean in the Netherlands by ‘‘minorities,’’ I hear many
people thinking, ‘‘Well, of course, we mean Surinamers, Antilleans, Turks, Moroccans,
and all those others who have come to the Netherlands in the past forty years.’’ In other
words, non-Western immigrants, orallochtonen, as they are known in the Netherlands, a
term that we wish to jettison but seemingly cannot. And I also hear ‘‘Muslims.’’ In other
words, it is about the presence ofnewgroups, of ethnic minorities, and of a new religious
minority (the Muslims) in our midst. Most people are no longer aware that there is a
chance that they themselves belong to a minority.
According to James Kennedy, professor of modern history at the Free University in
Amsterdam, the Dutch tradition of respecting minorities has come under fire in recent
years. In his view:
for the first time a majority culture has come into being that can be described as
liberal, secular, and white. As these people no longer feel that they belong to a minor-
ity culture, they are less inclined to recognize the value of respect for minorities. As
it is no longer part of their own experience, they find it harder to understand why
minorities should be accorded a certain respect. This is an important and ongoing
development.^4Sjoerd de Jong, a columnist withNRC Handelsblad(a Dutch daily), saw the contours of
Dutch society entirely redrawn following an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. He expressed
it as follows:
From Hirsi Ali’s radical engagement emerges the picture of a different, more abstract
country from the plodding polder nation with which we are familiar. Now the Neth-
erlands seems, above all, to be the expression of a high ideal: ‘‘the West,’’ ‘‘moder-
nity,’’ or ‘‘the Enlightenment.’’ From this perspective the culture of consultation and
compromise, of give and take, that is so often referred to as ‘‘typically Dutch’’ can
signify only one thing: betrayal of the Enlightenment. A complex intellectual tradition
thus becomes a complete and pure ideal that must not be tampered with.^5According to Kennedy, the development of a liberal, secular, and white majority culture
is bound to have consequences.
- For the first time in the history of the Netherlands, it is conceivable that something
in the nature of a ‘‘Dutch identity’’ can be constructed, behind which a majority of Dutch
would be willing and able to shelter. This would have been inconceivable when Dutch
society was divided along denominational and ideological lines. - There is a tendency to view this Dutch identity as a ‘‘mono-identity’’ opposed to
ethnic and religious identities, which are incompatible with Dutch identity.
PAGE 543543.................16224$ CH27 10-13-06 12:36:52 PS