Why talk about race?

I am Jitske. I am a white woman from the Netherlands. I moved to Curaçao; an island in the Caribbean.
Bare footed youth, bbq’s at the beach and sun drenched days. That sort of life.

Initially I wasn’t too keen to move here.

The Netherlands colonised Curaçao and actively prticipated in slave trade and slavery. Quite a bit of a stain on our shared history to say the least. I knew I would carry this stain wherever I carried my whiteness. That the smell of the past would impact the dynamics of the present. Subtle, subconscious and unintentional.

That is some complex and confronting stuff, so I figured it was best to stay away in order to stay comfortable.
I didn’t though. I couldn’t resist the temptation of island life.

Something James Baldwin said helped me find a way to be present in Curaçao and to sit with the discomfort I feel; ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’

So just face it right?

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