Amsterdam Officially Apologizes for Slave Trade
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The mayor of Amsterdam officially apologized about her city's role in the slave trade, saying that her city's "involvement was direct, worldwide and large-scale."
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The slave trade used to be an integral part of Amsterdam's practices.
Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema has officially apologized for the city's participation in the slave trade, marking the first Dutch city to apologize for its role in promoting slavery centuries ago.
In a speech on Thursday, marking the anniversary of the end of slavery in the Netherlands, she said, "I apologize for the active involvement of the Amsterdam city council in the commercial system of colonial slavery and the worldwide trade in enslaved people."
The mayor stressed that while acknowledging the shadow of slavery looming over her city, saying that "not a single Amsterdammer alive today is to blame for the past."
The largest cities in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht, all reported benefiting directly and indirectly from "slavery" starting from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
Halsema mentioned this fact by referencing researches showing that "from the end of the 16th century until well into the 19th century, Amsterdam's involvement was direct, worldwide, large-scale, multifaceted and protracted."
Despite the involvement of multiple Dutch cities in the "slave trade," only the capital, Amsterdam, has issued an official apology.
