Johan Derksen’s racist statements about Member of Parliament Habtumu de Hoop (GroenLinks-PvdA) are being put to rest, because Mirka Antolovic from reporting center and knowledge center Tûmba has filed a report against him. The analyst was silent on this last night Today Inside in all languages, but table guest Albert Verline still had something to say about the riot.
De Hoop’s name came up in the program earlier this month when it was about the Frisian language. According to Derksen, the MP has no right to speak about this. “He’s not Frisian, come on,” said Derksen. “I’m not Surinamese, am I?” The parliamentarian was born in Ethiopia and was adopted by Frisian parents when he was a few months old.
Derksen previously said that he did not intend to apologize and that they were not “intended to be racist”. “I saw a boy with an African background who is going to promote the Frisian language.”
In a response to the report yesterday, Talpa said that it had “taken note of it”, but did not want to comment further on the content.
Johan Derksen remains silent about reporting in Today Inside
Johan Derksen did not speak in the broadcast about the report that was filed against him earlier that day. He was also not asked about his reaction. The declaration was briefly mentioned by presenter Wilfred Genee.
Political reporter Sam Hagens, who was critical of the statements, was back as a bar guest for the first time last night. He feels like it. “I was already going to miss you.” Genee is curious whether Albert Verlinde is also interested. He was a guest on the day that Derksen first spoke out about De Hoop. “Or did you think: I shouldn’t come again after the last time?”
The gossip king didn’t think about that for a moment. He would still like to say something about it. Verlinde received heavy criticism, including from Beau van Erven Dorens, because he laughed at Derksen’s comment. “It was quite a storm. In a moment you decide, the way you sometimes laugh at a birthday, and then you drive home and you think: that was actually a strange laugh I had there.”
What happened to him afterwards was “really not nice”. “You get used to it, but the stupid thing is that everyone who is against discrimination started calling me a prick. So that is possible.”
‘It affects me personally’
But Verlinde mainly wants to respond substantively, about “why it hit people like that.” “I’m not talking about the people who start talking about racism, because that honestly doesn’t interest me that much. I’ve talked to a lot of people and they said, ‘When are we going to belong? Do I really have to be born here? What if I’m adopted?’”
According to the television face, people feel like they have to keep proving themselves. “I think that is an important message. As far as I’m concerned, everyone belongs, no matter where you come from. If you came here normally and followed all the rules, then you belong. It affects me personally that people have a kind of knocked-out feeling. A kind of resignation: here we go again.” Derksen agrees with that. “Everyone is just part of it. I have been living here with Moluccans, Moroccans and Turks for 75 years.”
Finally, Genee says that he was surprised by the criticism of Verlinde, especially because Van Erven Dorens is a friend of his. “There are always knives at the bottom of the drawer that people want to grab,” Verlinde responds. “That doesn’t matter, that’s the game. I’ve said things about him too. You can also say things to each other, right? I think that is the big problem of our time.”
You can watch Today Inside via KIJK.
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