‘Who wants to feel white?’ Race, Dutch culture and contested identities

Abstract

Is the concept of ‘whiteness’ applicable to the Netherlands (and – mainland Europe)? This article explores cultural expressions of white normativity and possible interpretations of the notion of whiteness as identity. For that purpose we combine two data sets: first white and/or Dutch normativity in political and public life and in the media are discussed, and, second, everyday experiences of racial and/or national identity among whites. The former includes MA theses on newspaper coverage of the Dutch multicultural society. The latter draws from student essays about the meaning of whiteness in their life histories. Dutch students avoid references to ‘skin colour’ and to ‘whiteness’ because of the ‘racial’ connotations. Inequalities are not denied but recognized and verbalized more readily in terms of ethnicity, citizenship, national identity or western superiority and civilization.