Commercial Irony: T-shirt in tourist shop.

Who is in and who is out? Everydbody in? That is what living a democracy suggest. Ofcourse reality is always more complex. In Curacao nothing is 'natural' or self evident. Its history as a colony and a population that consist of immigrants the concept 'nation' is confusionn. There are no natives to claim the title. The indiginous people that lived here, a few thousands, werre deported or died. The population now consist of people who came here out of free will, those who fled their homeland because of povverty or persecution and descendants of those who were brought here against their will.

During the centuries that past since the West India Company set up shop here the population has become more and more mixed. Both racially and socially. Colour is no longer the distinctive marker of sociale position. Who belongs to which social class is still quite clear. Your name, where you live, where you are from, are all markers. And whether you were born here: if you are yu di Kórsou, a child of the island.

This concept: Yu di Korsou is an alternative kind of nationality. It plays an important role in identity and politics now. We will try to figure out if it is a much needed liberation of oppression, or a burden on an island that is so dependant of non yu di Kórsou for employment and business.....

Very interesting read is the following article from Rose Mary Allen, a Curaçaoan anthropologist, who has published on the oral history of former enslaved people of the Dutch Caribbean islands.

http://www.academia.edu/11888116/FROM_BONDAGE_TO_NATIONAL_BELONGING_IN_A_DUTCH_CARIBBEAN_CONTEXT_ADDRESSING_THE_YU_DI_K%C3%92RSOU_IN_POST_EMANCIPATION_CURA%C3%87AO_1863-1915

 The 'uprising' in 1969 as an unforeseen consequence of a labour conflict is a defining mometn in Curacao history. It was the awakening of a sense of self. We, the people of Curaçao, became manifest. And, according to this article, a new distinction was made: macamba, the outsider and Yu di Korsou, the child of Curacao.

http://curacaochronicle.com/social/remembering-the-uprising-in-curacao-may-30-1969/

When you don't have a history you can connect to, are denied the right to have a history, the year time starts is probably the time you have a child. For this child this place will be the only place it knows from experience. The more generations have a shared memory of a place, the more this place becomes home. This is what Rose Mary Allen describes in her essay. Even thoughtheir position was more or less the same, the enslaved whith the longer history on the island would claim to be more at home. More belonging here.  Having more in common with the other people that lived here. It shows that the need to belong, to be a part of a community with an identity and a history is strong.

Tula, 1975, Toos Hagenaars

uit het dagblad Trouw 1995:

Vijfentwintig jaar geleden maakte een Nederlandse beeldhouwster, Toos Hagenaars, een standbeeld van Tula, vertelt Martina: “Een mooie, naakte, jonge neger die fier opkijkt en de ketenen aan zijn polsen van elkaar rukt. Er kwam een storm van protest, het beeld werd afgekraakt, de symboliek werd nauwelijks begrepen. En de laatste drogreden van verontwaardiging was: hoe durf je op het eiland een 'naakt' neer te zetten.”

Het Tula-beeld kreeg geen plaats op Curaçao, de maakster nam het mee naar Nederland en het staat nu ergens vergeten in Winschoten. Martina: “Ik zit helemaal niet op een beeld van Tula te wachten, in deze tijd is persoonsverheerlijking uit den boze.  Maar ik wil wel een mooi architectonisch gedenkteken, sober maar kunst, waarin alle mensen die zich sinds 1795 hebben ingezet voor de emancipatie en de afschaffing van de slavernij worden geëerd.”

http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/5009/Archief/article/detail/2603777/1995/08/17/Cura-ccedil-ao-heeft-nog-steeds-moeite-met-z-n-slavenopstand.dhtml

uit de Volkskrant 1998:

De voorzitter van de Asosiashon Promoshon Konsenshi Istóriko, de vereniging ter bevordering van het historisch bewustzijn, heeft ook enige reden om opgetogen te zijn. In een scheepsruim in de haven van Willemstad wacht Tula, in brons gegoten en nog ingepakt, op een terugkeer op het eiland. De Antilliaanse beeldhouwer Nel Simon zette naast Tula nog een slaaf en slavin op de sokkel. De beeldengroep wordt over enkele maanden op een kale vlakte langs de kust geplaatst. Daar, vlak bij de oude wijk Otrobanda, heeft Tulas verminkte lichaam aan een galg gehangen.Vroeger wilden maar weinigen iets van hem weten. Toen Bacilio nog op de lagere school zat, werd de slavenleider nagenoeg genegeerd. Een schurk was het, een exponent van een ellendige tijd. Als de rebellie werd herdacht, kwamen slechts zo'n dertig Curaçaoënaars naar die desolate vlakte.

http://www.volkskrant.nl/recensies/zij-wilden-als-vrij-man-werken~a459985/

Can everyone that is born on the island be part of the yu did Korsou, the children of Curaçao? On that subject the vote is still out. Late Herman Wiels was clear: no macambas. White is out. Others are less adamant. The language Papiamentu is a big part of it.

Even if you are born here you need to speak Papiamentu to qualify. So if your first and maybe only language is dutch you're not really from here. Papiamentu is the language that evolved from Portuguese, Dutch and an African portuguese pidgin language called Guene. Papiamentu has also some words from the arawak, the native inhabitants. It is in that way a living reminder of the history of the island and the thing that is truly form here.

But Papiamentu is not the language of science, government or higher education. If you want to go abroad to learn you need Dutch or English. Going abroad is a necessity, not a luxury, because there is very little higher education on the island. That makes Papiamentu as well the language of the less educated. A political language.

New concepts or rules and regulations that come form the Netherlands are in English or Dutch. So you'll hear Dutch and English words popping up in a papiamentu conversation. As a consequence new and political things sound like and maybe feel like  'outside influences'. Not from here.

Today the current prime minister Mr Ben Whiteman has given his resignation. A last minute attempt to save the cabinet by involving the PAR as partners till the planned elections end of 2016, failed. It looks like elections will be sooner.

It is said that this is in favor of politician Gerrit Schotte. Prime Minister in 2011 he and his ministers had to leave because of allegations of fraud. Leading to a trial against him. But he is still hugely popular on the island, because of his generosity. Cars, parties, all is good when he visits your neighborhood. If the elections are to be had earlier, his trial won't have come up. He will still be a free man, able to stand for prime minister again.

Is he Yu di Kórsou? Yes, although his mother is Colombian. It shows that this concept is not limited to nationality. But to the twitter group Yu di Kórsou he is not, "because he has given tourism and investing on Curaçao a bad name" making it more than just a technical issue being born here, but also an ethical one. There is also something as behaving like a Yu di Kórsou.

Watch the Gerrit Schotte plan: 100 AG for everybody that is poor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjQFoMVU9D8

I am now an independent member of parliament of Curacao. I do not and will not continue to support the Government actions against the people of Curacao. I thank everyone for their continue support and I am looking forward to continue working for you.

"But the Dutch won't give us our elections. They 're too afraid of Gerrit Schotte. He's looking good in the polls and when he wins they are afraid he'll put again family and friends in charge of the island and help himself to a lot of money." This we hear from several people on different occasions. It is said the the Dutch government loved former prime minister Asjes. Could live with Ben Whiteman. But Schotte is a no go.

The governor of Curacao, Mrs Lucille George-Wout, is now having talks with parties to see if there is still a chance for a new government. Negotions with the PAR failed this weekend. Maybe the member of parliament Marilyn Moses who withdrew her support for this government and caused the current politcal trouble will change her mind?

We're curious. The governor is the representative of the kingdom of the Netherlands and the head of the gouvernment on Curacao. The governor appoints the person in charge of forming a new cabinet. Could it be that in the background the Dutch still have this power over Curacao? Interesting times.

Why would you want  a man like Schotte to be your Yu di Kórsou leader?

The answer is: young people and women. They melt for his charms and know that he's a bad boy, but, so pretty, so charming. And young people: Schotte is brass and bold and has money and didn't finish school so if he can I can.

Plus: he and his party go to every neighborhood, give parties. But also tablets, phones, fridges. Touch everybody and give out telephone numbers. "He knows me and will do something for me. He is my man in high places."  And he probably is.

What it shows that belief in democracy, is not the same as believing in the importance of the common good. As in many places, the right to vote is the right tolook out for yourself. A vote for Patronage.