Johan Derksen — © BELGAIMAGE
Dutch TV figure Johan Derksen has again come under fire in his own country after he made what many critics considered a racist statement. However, Derksen does not want to apologize, because “then I would be a hypocritical prick.” This is what the Algemeen Dagblad writes.
Derksen (75) said on Tuesday in the popular talk show Today Inside that MP Habtamu de Hoop was not allowed to comment on the decision of the Dutch government to allocate 18 million euros to promote the Frisian language. “He’s not Frisian, is he? I’m not Surinamese, am I?” Derksen noted. Although De Hoop was born in Ethiopia, he was adopted as a baby by Frisian parents.
Derksen’s statement caused – as often happens – quite a stir among our northern neighbors. Several prominent politicians expressed their dissatisfaction, and a Frisian organization filed a complaint against Derksen for discrimination at a hotline.
No excuses
Yet Derksen does not intend to apologize. “I’m not going to grovel for something I didn’t mean to do,” said the same television program on Wednesday. “I didn’t know his background. I was already quite annoyed that 18 million goes to the Frisian language. And then a gentleman with an African background appears, and he starts giving a cheering story about it… Then I think: ‘Hey, what are you getting into?’ And then we have the euphoria and chemistry at the table that we sometimes blurt out those kinds of things.”
“It was just a comment, it had nothing to do with racism at all,” said Derksen. “That’s why I can’t apologize. That would be hypocritical, because then you would be doing it on stage. I’m a hypocritical asshole if I start apologizing here.”