A picture of the gentrification, or urban renewal, of Amsterdam Bijlmermeer. The notorious high-rise flats together with the new homes.
For most Dutch (black and white) people the Bijlmer flat apartments are ‘ the’ example of a black ghetto. Although it is not comparable with the real ghettos, the Bijlmer is portrayed in the media as the black trouble district of the Netherlands. But things are changing as you can see in the picture.
The Video
In the video the image of the urban black neighbourhood is cultivated, it’s a video of youth group called Bijlmerbreakz. Most interesting about the video – at least from an ethnic perspective - is the mix of two big black communities in the Netherlands, the Surinamese and the Antillean community of Curacao.
Although they both have the same Dutch colonial background, the biggest difference between the two groups is that the Surinamese are more English Caribbean and the Antilleans are much more Latino.
They also speak a different language. Surinamese people speak Sranan Tongo (Surinam tongue), a Dutch/English creole language with an African structure. The Dutch Antilleans speak Papiamento, a more Spanish language.
The clip is called “Dit is wat ik wil” (This is what I want). In de the video they speak Dutch, Papiamento, and Sranang Tongo.
Pas op, pas op = Watch out, watch out (Dutch)
Tags
Netherlands