Why do People in the Netherlands Reject or Minimise the Idea that Racism is Structural, Despite Substantial Evidence that Structural Discrimination Exists?

Abstract

This article examines an apparent paradox in contemporary Dutch society: the persistence of substantial empirical evidence of structural discrimination alongside continuing resistance to, or minimisation of, the concept of structural racism. Drawing on Dutch and international scholarship, governmental reports and social-psychological theory, the article distinguishes structural racism from individual prejudice and argues that discriminatory outcomes do not necessarily depend upon conscious racist intentions. Evidence from employment, housing, education, policing, government administration and other institutional domains indicates that unequal treatment cannot adequately be understood solely as a collection of isolated interpersonal incidents. The analysis situates contemporary inequalities within the broader historical context of Dutch colonialism, slavery, economic extraction and racial classification. It argues that colonial history remains relevant to understanding the development of racialised social categories, cultural representations and institutional relationships, while cautioning against assuming a simple causal relationship between historical colonialism and every contemporary inequality. Particular attention is given to the paradox whereby race is rejected as a legitimate biological category while racialisation continues to produce identifiable social consequences. The article subsequently examines several mechanisms that may contribute to resistance to structural interpretations of racism. These include a positive Dutch national self-image centred on tolerance, equality and liberalism; colour-blind and anti-racial ideologies; incomplete collective engagement with colonial history; preferences for individual rather than institutional explanations of inequality; system-justifying processes; competing definitions of racism; defensive responses to threats to personal and collective moral identity; and increasing political polarisation. These mechanisms help explain how individuals may sincerely endorse equality and oppose explicit racial prejudice while simultaneously underestimating institutional processes capable of reproducing unequal outcomes. At the same time, the analysis identifies increasing institutional recognition of structural discrimination in the Netherlands, reflected in governmental investigations, the childcare benefits scandal, greater attention to colonial history, the Dutch State's apology for its role in slavery, and expanding academic and public debate. The article therefore rejects both collective accusation and collective exoneration. Evidence of structural discrimination does not demonstrate that Dutch people are inherently or uniformly racist; conversely, the absence of conscious racist intent does not demonstrate the absence of structural racism. The article concludes that scientific and policy debate should move beyond the binary question of whether “the Dutch are racist” and focus instead on identifying the historical, institutional, cultural and psychological mechanisms through which unequal outcomes are produced and maintained, and on developing empirically supported interventions capable of reducing them.