Finally in St Maarten, the emancipation of Slaves is being acknowledge, our new national holiday. July 4th is Emancipation day. Considering most native St Maarteners are of slave descent, it should be a day to reflect on how far we've come as a people. It's also time that the Dutch acknowledge their wrongs, and issue a formal apology, or else there will always be lingering resentment. The Dutch were not the biggest slave traders. Holland is relatively small, and their involvement in the slave trade was brief compared to the Portuguese, the French and the Spanish. However it is time to acknowledge the misdeeds of the past, and to move on.
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