“Concerned citizens” as an entity and a category scare me. More often than not, this is a label utilized to push for reactionary and often racist rhetoric instilling fear of the “Other”, the “delinquent”, the “rioter”, the “threat to peaceful citizenry”. So, I checked out this new Dutch Facebook group with dreadful anticipation. And I was not disappointed! A group of such “concerned citizens” has started a campaign against intimidation and violence in the public sphere. Now, as of this writing, of the 143 members in the group, there are only 5 non native Dutch (for new readers, I have extensively written before about the racial categories of Dutchness and non Dutchness; one such example can be found here). Now, of course, this group, devoid of context does not mean much. However, in a country where media is inundated with stories of “aggressive Moroccan youth” and “scary Antilleans” and “the scourge of the dangerous non Western immigrants”, this group is not innocent, and neither is its rhetoric.
And here’s another amusing tidbit: they have named the group “Basta!”, in Spanish, the very same language I was physically attacked for using in public. Because the current discourse is one of absolute compliance with the Dutch language. Only a native, White Dutch person could get away with naming this group with a foreign word. If any of us had done so, we would be facing public outcries of “non integration” and “disrespect for the Dutch culture”. Probably words like “deportation” would be thrown around as well. But I suppose that’s one of the prerogatives of the “concerned citizen”: they can get away with appropriating the very same words I am punished for using.
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