On the 11th of November, Licere was inspired by Meghann Ormond to, quite literarily put on their curiosity glasses and visit Lombok in Utrecht for a very special story. Normally when tours are given in the Netherlands, the focus lies on historical accounts of citizen, that are stereotypically define as Dutch. But what is it really to “be Dutch”?
Migrantour is a two-hour long tour given celebrating cultural diversity by telling the stories of migration and cultural heritage from the perspective of first- and second-generation migrants. The tour started off with questions that are posed during the Dutch immigration exam. This exam comes with some noticeable flaws, even the native Dutch had a hard time answering the questions and wondered if the answers were correct.
We then went round the Lombok area in which we discussed amongst each other wat exclusion and inclusion is, and what migration meant to each of us. Not only did we learn from our wonderful tour guides Jill (lecturer University of Utrecht) and Fiona (Former MTO student), but we also learned from each other and what the experience of members was being in The Netherlands. This was interesting as the majority of the Licere group was not born in the Netherlands.
What I learned during the tour and personally never knew was that there were special schools in the Netherlands called “Zwarte scholen” (black schools). This term is still used nowadays to indicate schools in which 60-70% of its pupils have another nationality other than Dutch. The reason these were set up was because both parents with a migration background and the Dutch authorities believe that, because of the language barrier, having different schools would be beneficial (NPO,2022). However, this might have negative effects on society as we from a young age segregate people based on culture.
After having lit a candle for St Maarten, we decided to continue the celebrations as we happen to pump into Meghann Ormond, the teacher that set up and recommended this tour. The party continued at de Voorkamer were we truly got to celebrate cultural diversity as we danced to music from all over the world and learned all kind of dances. Rather than segregation, we celebrated cultural diversity and how stories connect us with one another.
We would like to thank Jill and Fiona for telling their interesting stories and Meghann for recommending the tour.
Source Zwarte Scholen: