How do you explain to another, how it feels like to be the other? A comic scene about the history of Dutch slavery, daily racism and its effect on society. Because I can’t escape my skin color, I made sure my project confronts the viewer with an inescapable conversation about racism. This is meant to create awareness.
The attitude of white Dutch people towards people of color has been strongly influenced by a racist system established in colonial times. Racism was 'normal', negroes, and other non-Western peoples, were seen as inferior beings, something to be scared of or to find ugly, if they were not portrayed jolly, stupid or submissive. This is reflected in the children's books that people grew up with. The exciting stories of "Tintin in Africa", "Oki and Doki with the Negroes", "ten little niggers or" the Big Negro Book "full of entertaining and funny fairy tales, fables and verses for white children. Not for black children. White superiors love their 'negroes', you can see that in the latest comic of Suske en Wiske that was released in July 2017. An African man was drawn with the characteristics of a monkey. We live in 2018 and this should no longer be acceptable in our society. Change is a slow and laborious process, but this progress is to slow.