Dr. Naomi Ruth Barber King’s Address:
First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Mark Rutte for his instrumental role in strengthening the profound relationship between Atlanta, a city known for its pivotal role in the civil rights movement, and the Netherlands. Under his leadership as Prime Minister, we witnessed the establishment of Atlanta's very first Dutch consulate, a momentous milestone in our diplomatic history. We also fondly remember his visit to Atlanta a few years ago, and we remain hopeful that he will grace us with his presence again, even after the upcoming November elections, as we know he will not be seeking re-election.
Prime Minister Rutte had the foresight to recognize Atlanta as a beacon of progress and innovation in America in recent years. It has become the fastest-growing city, a hub for commerce, a thriving center for the music and film industry, and above all, a Mecca for civil rights and social justice.
Over the past two decades, Europe has grappled with racial and ethnic tensions, as exemplified by the summer riots in France. The AD King Foundation, with its wealth of expertise, is committed to helping as a clearinghouse for organizations and individuals working across the entire spectrum of issues, from combating racism to addressing various forms of discrimination. We stand ready to lend our knowledge to reduce symbolic acts of violence that require special attention.
We are immensely grateful that both King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands have acknowledged the painful history of slavery in Suriname and have shown their support for the Keti Koti movement, signifying a commitment to breaking the chains of the past. As we move forward, our mission encompasses combating all forms of discrimination and racism, from any form of phobia to racial discrimination. Our vision is not a one-off event or initiative but a continuous effort to build upon the strong foundation we established in collaboration with the city of The Hague.
As the center of justice for the west, and perhaps the entire world, thank you profoundly for inviting, The A D King Foundation to this important issue of racism. The origin of racism is ignorance! Educational activities and moral value re-examination are the essence to true transformation, edification, reconciliation, and resolution.
“The concept of racism usually starts with what is called in psychology a “Predilection”. And every human has a predilection. Predilection is defined as the preference we all have for our own kind. That’s human and there is nothing wrong with us in preferring our own type, be it the type of food we prefer to eat, like the Netherlands food, if there is anything like that 😂, the Chinese food, the African type of food, or the American food. If I may add, every American food did originate from other parts of the world, from the immigrants to the US.
With a predilection, you may even prefer people of your similar background or roots, of same gender, or people of your similar political persuasion. But when our predilections or preferences become so rigid and fixated on our mindset, they become a prejudice. That’s when our minds begin to gravitate to a prejudicial level. At this point, we may still not be so dangerous to the society we live in, or to others, especially if we have less contact with people of different races or different skin color or ethnicity.
However, if our prejudicial mindset or our strong predilection is for our own race or color of skin only, then our demeanor may become a problem in our human relationships. This is because he or she may begin to prefer to associate with only people of his or her race or skin color. At this point, such a person is nursing or developing a racial prejudice. But such a person may be psychologically dangerous only to himself or herself, if only he or she has no power whatsoever. Meaning that he or she has no one to discriminate against, no victim or victims.
A racially prejudiced person is a racist because he or she discriminates against others of different races or color of skin. When such a racial discrimination is in an institution, it is called an “institutional racism”. An institutional racism is possible when a racist person has a political power, or a positional power, like being a boss at a workplace, or being an employer, a police officer, a judge, a schoolteacher or a university professor like Dr. Babs Onabanjo, the President/CEO of A D King Foundation.
When a racially prejudiced person has any of these positions in a society, such a person has an opportunity to practically exhibit his or her racial discrimination by controlling or limiting the chances of other people whose races or color of skin are different from him or her.
Racism is taught, the society must rid itself from racism through educational programs and activities which may include challenging or re-examining our values. God bless you.
10 окт 2023
