It's about time this word is dropped completely by the government, because it fosters racist stereotyping and exclusion and perpetuates negative connotations in the media and society.
There is absolutely no reason to arbitrarily label a group of people because of their skin colour and ethnicity, which is it's common usage now.
If the government and society want to foster cultural inclusion, where equality and opportunity exists for all, getting rid of the word allochtoon is a good first step.
Immigration minister wants to get rid of that word: allochtoon
Tuesday 31 January 2012
The word allochtoon, literally meaning non-native, should no longer be applied to people born in the Netherlands, immigration minister Gerd Leers told a meeting on Monday night, according to the Telegraaf.
'I want people born in the Netherlands to be called Dutch, plain and simple, not non-native,' Leers told the readers of women's magazine Libelle.
'I can understand why people who give themselves 100% to society ask themselves why they are being dismissed in such a derogatory way.'
Dictionary
Government departments and institutions have different definitions of the word, which according to the Van Dale dictionary, means migrant, foreigner or alien.
However, in popular usage, allochtoon is mainly used to describe non-western immigrants and their children. The third generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants are still known as allochtoon despite being born and brought up in Holland.
The Telegraaf says Leers' standpoint is notable because the anti-Islam PVV, which has an alliance with the minority cabinet, wants to make use of the word broader.
According to the CBS (central bureau of statistics) here are the current government lables in use for “allochtoon” :
People with a foreign background
Someone with a non-western background (Niet-westerse allochtoon) = commonly referred to as allochtoon
Someone originating from a country in Africa, South America or Asia (excl. Indonesia and Japan) or Turkey.
Someone with a western background (Westerse allochtoon) = commonly not referred to as allochtoon by the media or in society.
Someone originating from a country in Europe (excl. Turkey), North America or Oceania or Indonesia or Japan.
Strange note only on the Dutch pages:
On the basis of their socio-economic and socio-cultural position, immigrants from Indonesia and Japan are counted as western immigrants. These are mainly people that were born in the former Dutch East Indies and employees of Japanese companies and their families.
Nice to see you back again Q. This site needs a bit of liveliness with some real political discussion by those who have been here a while.
I totally agree with you. Based on current normen en waarde (norms and values) I am not an alloctoon, but in my heart I would rather be considered alloctoon.
You see, my problem is that I am white and a western alloctoon. Although I am tolerated , I will never be fully accepted -- that's okay by me. For some reason autochtoon think it is even okay to slam not western alloctoon in front of me. Because there is a misguided belief that I am more like autochtoon than alloctoon they think this is acceptable. Unfortunately, that is what learning the language and culture have made all too apparent (I wish I would not have). They pass laws that affect all of us alloctoon, so why not treat us all equally -- for good and bad?
I was just reading an article by NRC, which personally I think is better than the rest of media (okay, just a drop of water in the desert), and was once again reading the dreaded alloctoon word: SCP: criminaliteit en jeugdwerkloosheid grootste integratieproblemen (crime and youth unemployment biggest integration problems).
At least they seem to be finally acknowledging that racism and exclusion may be the cause of many of the criminal problems. I do think it would be interesting if they would stop comparing apples to oranges, i.e., not western alloctoon (read black) to autochtoon (read Dutch white), and instead compare all alloctoon to autochtoon (of every colour).
Then it would be so obvious that racism and the lack of opportunity are the real problems.
qed said:
they have been saying they want to rid the word allochtoon for a long time now. Wonder when they will get on with doing it. The least they could do is redefine the meaning. Why should someone who is born legally in the NL or have a parent who is a Dutch citizen be called an allochtoon?
