10-10-10: Equality for All?

For those that may have been unaware, on October 10th, 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was disbanded and two brand new countries were formulated. The islands of Curaçao and St. Maarten became "equal" partners within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius (the rest of the islands that formulated the Netherlands Antilles) became "special municipalities". Put quite frankly, overseas territories of the Netherlands. But for Curaçao and St. Maarten, it was an amazing time. A chance to take part in the glory that Aruba already enjoyed (Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986). And for awhile, it seemed that way. Colorful festivities and great intellectual conversations on how to steer Curaçao and St. Maarten on the straight path so as not to become an overdeveloped tourist island took place. You see, while Aruba has been autonomous within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, some would say it has paid a price. Most of Aruba's culture has been lost and now individual groups are trying to revive the cultural heritage that once enriched the island. Most on the islands of St. Maarten and especially Curaçao, did not want that to happen. They wanted to have prosperous islands that still retained their cultural heritage.

Before I continue, I just want to take some time out and talk a little about the former Netherlands Antilles. Before Aruba left the Netherlands Antilles in 1986, the Netherlands Antilles was an uneasy blend of six completely different islands. Although three of the six shared a language, each island had their own unique history. Just because they were all considered Dutch citizens, it didn't mean that they all felt one nationalistic pride.

This was ever more evident when Aruba wanted to split from the Netherlands Antilles. Growing dissension between Aruba and Curaçao created the eventual split of Aruba from the Netherlands Antilles. Aruba felt at the time that most of the money and power that was being appropriated to the Netherlands Antilles was only going to Curaçao and not to the other islands. They wanted a chance to be on their own and to not answer to the Netherlands via Curaçao but rather just to the Netherlands.

Twenty years later the other islands in the Netherlands Antilles started to feel the same way. They wanted a chance to make it on their own without having to go through Curaçao first. But the problem didn't start with Curaçao. In fact, many Curaçaoans do not believe that they received special treatment. Historically, Curaçao was the most profitable of all the islands and it is the biggest in land size. This is why the capital and head of the Netherlands Antilles was situated in Curaçao. But this is still not the reason why the Netherlands Antilles didn't work. Or why there was so much dissension. The problem starts with colonialism. After the end of the Second World War, the Colony of Curaçao and its dependencies were renamed the Netherlands Antilles and were granted autonomy within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. This would have been great if all of the islands were similar and could get along like for example Indonesia, another Dutch territory that was granted full independence after World War Two. But they ultimately did not because they didn't belong together in the first place. Which is better for the Netherlands? Having one former colony as your equal within the Kingdom or six different former colonies as your equal? And as I stated before, each island had a complete different history with the Netherlands so to group them together as one country was bound for failure.

So although the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles meant that two new countries would be created, it was still a far cry from full independence. As of now, the majority consensus on all islands is to maintain their current status and not have independence. This decision is prevalent because neither of the islands feel that they would be able to survive completely on their own. But to be at least autonomous with the Kingdom of the Netherlands meant freedom to make their own decisions. The status for Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius became a double edged sword. While they enjoy the full benefits of being part of the European Union, they also have to pay European taxes. Since the Euro was never the main currency on the islands to begin with, this is proving problematic. But for Curaçao and St. Maarten being their own countries means having the freedom to be themselves and to their own voice and space within the Kingdom. But I digress.

A year later since autonomy and not much has changed. As I think about what is currently going on with OccupyWallStreet and specifically the use of the term occupy, I think about my little islands in the sun. While we are still owned I mean part of the Dutch, we still do not receive recognition that we are countries. The islands are still considered part of the Netherlands Antilles on any outlet. For instance, social media websites such as Facebook still lists the Netherlands Antilles. I understand that it takes awhile to update these lists but come on, it has been a year. Even when you sign up for something such as Skype, where you are supposed to indicate what country you are in, there is no Curaçao or St. Maarten. It's as if we were the only ones who knew that we became countries. And what's worse is that even the Olympics refuses to recognize them as countries. This means that their athletes, either from St. Maarten or Curaçao, have to run under the Dutch flag or the Olympic flag. We are not just some tourist destination were you can escape your problems and drink piña coladas while you look at the sunset. I mean you can but we are more than that. We are islands that deserved the recognized as countries, even if we are still in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

So my question is this: A year after 10-10-10, are we really equal? Are we seen as having the same status as the Netherlands since we are "equal" partners in the Kingdom of the Netherlands? I would hope after a year we would. But seeing as how Curaçaoans, St. Maarteners, and even Arubans (who have been "equal" since 1986) are still considered allochtonen (foreigners) within the Netherlands, even though they have a Dutch passport, it remains to be seen.