Her royal highness, the Latin blonde Maxima of Orange-Nassau has upset the nation. In a speech she claimed the Dutch identity does not exist and appearantly she tossed around some not too flattering stereotypes about greed and meddlesomeness. I didn't hear the princess herself, so I can't comment on that, but ultra-nationalist MP Wilders called the speech "tea-table talk" and tricked his opponents into reacting. Thus the debate about the Dutch identity was launched once again...

All foreigners who apply for Dutch citizenship or certain sorts of residence permits have to take the so called  'inburgeringstest'. It's one of those horrible Dutch words which are every now and then invented by politicians. If I were to translate it literally it would be something like 'in-citizen-ing test'. It roughly means foreigners have to learn about Dutch values and language.

Of course, at first sight, this seems a good plan: After all, it's in their own interest to know something of the country where they want to live. Yet whereas I have no objection to teaching people the Dutch language, I have very serious doubts about teaching them so called ' Dutch values'. For the things those people have to learn are ridiculous: Why do the Dutch celebrate New Year with fireworks? How many biscuits do you present with tea? Do you have to clean the street in front of your house?

One such test was once presented on TV as a quiz and the public was divided up into different groups. The result was that the native people from the Zeeland province scored worst, whereas Chinese immigrants scored best. So those Chinese knew more about the Dutch than the Dutch themselves, and moreover, according to that quiz, if those Zeelanders would have to apply for Dutch citizenship, they'd fail!

Amidst all this talk about the Dutch identity, they lost me. Although almost half of me is ethnically Dutch, I am beginning to feel less and less connected to this country and its government. Perhaps that is because I am currently rediscovering that other half, but I think it also has to do something with the changing attitudes of the Dutch themselves.

Many are nowadays far from the tidy, stuborn, hardworking and somewhat ignorant people they were once suposed to be. Gone are the clean pavements, the punctuality and the full churches on sundays. What stayed behind were the greediness and business, the arrogance and the coldness. Already just accross the border, their Flemish brothers refer to them as lazy, rude, uneducated and terrible arrogant, a view shared by many expats and immigrants.

Meanwhile though, the Dutch choose to look the other way. All problems in this country are blamed on the immigrants in general and those which are Muslim or black in particular. Immigrant youths are labeled criminal, disrespectful and uninterested... Allright, they have some point; There are a lot of troublemakers within the migrant communities, but aren't we forgetting something? What about the native youths? Are they such great examples of good behaviour? Those white teens with their tracksuits and their baseball caps, littering the streets, throwing insults and worse things at people? Why don't I hear mr. Wilders about them? Because their skin is pale and they don't wear beards?

If I am already beginning to doubt my Dutchness, then what about those young men and women who do not have 'native' relatives and friends? What abouts those Muslims who are constantly blamed for all sorts of things as a group rather than as individuals? What about those Africans and Latin Americans who are discriminated against because of their dark skin? Don't give me that "we don't discriminate" nonsense. Years of forced political correctness didn't root out racism. On the contrary: It caused it to grow and grow and I'm afraid that what we are seeing nowadays is just the tip of the iceberg.

The Dutch identity... Does mr. Wilders think people wish to adopt a culture which doesn't respect itself? A culture which doesn't even know its own identity? A culture which in spite of these things considers itself superior to the thousands of years of civilization of their own? A culture which seems to have lost its moral compass and national pride? A culture so inflexible that it refuses to change? A culture which seems to be in decline? A culture which discriminates others?

If you want people to adopt this culture, you will have to set a good example yourself. Truly superior cultures aren't afraid of the other. They don't force people to assimilate, but invite them to join.