The
Netherlands is rapidly learning why:
Europe
has more than its share of angry anti-immigrant political parties these days.
But one party has turned the politics of immigration on its head, positioning
itself as perhaps the first in Europe with a pro-immigrant stance, run by
people from immigrant backgrounds.
That party, called Denk, or Think, is led by a multicultural group of candidates seeking to combat xenophobia and racism in the Netherlands.
Denk has promoted itself as a kind of answer to the nativist and isolationist positions of the flamboyant far-right populist candidate Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party, which has been surging in the polls.
“What is unique about Denk is that it’s a party of people with a migration background who completely control the party,” said Cas Mudde, a specialist in European political and radical parties who was born in the Netherlands.
“Nonwhites have been in Parliament for a long time, but all the parties are still dominated by white Dutch people,” added Mr. Mudde, who is an associate professor at the School for Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. “We haven’t had a party dominated by nonwhite Dutch that has a potential chance of getting elected into Parliament.”
The Denk party has proved contentious. It has been greeted with skepticism by its political opponents and criticism in the Dutch media.
Denk was accused in the local Amsterdam centrist newspaper, Het Parool, of “fanning flames of immigrant discontent.” On social media, the party has been called “Netherlands haters.”
Among the Denk party’s stated policy goals are banning from legislative forums a pejorative term often used for Dutch nonwhites, “allochtoon,” and to replace the term “integration” with “acceptance.”
It wants to establish a “racism register” to track the use of hate speech by elected officials and to bar those who promote racism from holding public office.
That party, called Denk, or Think, is led by a multicultural group of candidates seeking to combat xenophobia and racism in the Netherlands.
Denk has promoted itself as a kind of answer to the nativist and isolationist positions of the flamboyant far-right populist candidate Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party, which has been surging in the polls.
“What is unique about Denk is that it’s a party of people with a migration background who completely control the party,” said Cas Mudde, a specialist in European political and radical parties who was born in the Netherlands.
“Nonwhites have been in Parliament for a long time, but all the parties are still dominated by white Dutch people,” added Mr. Mudde, who is an associate professor at the School for Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. “We haven’t had a party dominated by nonwhite Dutch that has a potential chance of getting elected into Parliament.”
The Denk party has proved contentious. It has been greeted with skepticism by its political opponents and criticism in the Dutch media.
Denk was accused in the local Amsterdam centrist newspaper, Het Parool, of “fanning flames of immigrant discontent.” On social media, the party has been called “Netherlands haters.”
Among the Denk party’s stated policy goals are banning from legislative forums a pejorative term often used for Dutch nonwhites, “allochtoon,” and to replace the term “integration” with “acceptance.”
It wants to establish a “racism register” to track the use of hate speech by elected officials and to bar those who promote racism from holding public office.
Most Americans don't understand that the
same process now at work in the Netherlands has ALREADY significantly altered
US law and American society. The only difference is that the various
distinctions between "nonwhite Dutch" and the native Dutch are more
glaringly apparent than the superficial differences between Americans and
"Irish-Americans" or "German-Americans" or "Jewish-Americans".
That is how the US immigrants managed to so successfully transform American
society and eliminate so many American traditions without meeting much
resistance.
It's a little ironic that so many Americans are prone to proclaim "the end of Europe" on the basis of an non-European immigrant population below 10 percent when they don't understand that they have already lost their own nation to immigrants who not only outnumber them, but now rule over them as well.
The top priority of immigrants has always been more immigrants. Because most post-18th-century immigrants are economic migrants who fully intend to reshape the land they have invaded to be more to their liking. See: Californication.
The only solution is to not permit immigrants to vote for at least three generations, until they are at least potentially assimilated. The same policy should have been adopted by the U.S. States in the 1950s.
It's a little ironic that so many Americans are prone to proclaim "the end of Europe" on the basis of an non-European immigrant population below 10 percent when they don't understand that they have already lost their own nation to immigrants who not only outnumber them, but now rule over them as well.
The top priority of immigrants has always been more immigrants. Because most post-18th-century immigrants are economic migrants who fully intend to reshape the land they have invaded to be more to their liking. See: Californication.
The only solution is to not permit immigrants to vote for at least three generations, until they are at least potentially assimilated. The same policy should have been adopted by the U.S. States in the 1950s.
