{"id":4681,"date":"2016-11-25T20:23:45","date_gmt":"2016-11-25T20:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=4681"},"modified":"2016-11-25T20:23:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T20:23:45","slug":"why-the-dutch-government-no-longer-uses-the-terms-allochtoonautochtoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/why-the-dutch-government-no-longer-uses-the-terms-allochtoonautochtoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why The Dutch Government No Longer Uses The Terms Allochtoon\/Autochtoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, the Dutch\u00a0Rijksoverheid\u00a0<\/em>(government) – or, more specifically, the Raad voor Regeringsbeleid\u00a0<\/em>(Council for Government Policy) and the\u00a0Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek\u00a0<\/em>(Central Office of Statistics) –\u00a0decided to drop the use of\u00a0the often used terms\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0autochtoon<\/em>. What do they mean? And why did the government decide to stop using them? And what do they use now instead?<\/p>\n

What The Terms Mean<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Image<\/a>

Allochtonen?\u00a0<\/em>(Image by Franklin Heijnen at Flickr.com under license CC BY SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

The term\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>is made up of the Old Greek words\u00a0\u1f00\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 <\/i>(other, alien) and\u00a0\u03c7\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd\u00a0<\/i>(earth). So in that sense, an\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>is a person from another country – a euphemism for the word\u00a0immigrant\u00a0<\/em>(immigrant). It was introduced in 1971 together with the term\u00a0autochtoon<\/em> – a person from the own country. In 1989, the government embraced the term as the most neutral. But apparently, that has changed… Anyway, for some official definitions, the Dutch\u00a0Van Dale\u00a0<\/em>dictionary gives the following:<\/p>\n

allochtoon –\u00a0iem. die van elders afkomstig is\u00a0<\/em>(sb. that originated somewhere else)<\/p>\n

autochtoon\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0oorspronkelijke bewoner\u00a0<\/em>(original inhabitant)<\/p>\n

These are different than the terms that the government uses. Somebody is an\u00a0allochtoon<\/em>\u00a0by the CBS’s definition if at least one of the parents were born outside of the Netherlands. Conversely, if both are born in the Netherlands, you are an autochtoon<\/em>. We’ll get into the difference below.<\/p>\n

Also, allochtonen\u00a0<\/em>were divided into\u00a0westers\u00a0<\/em>(western) and\u00a0niet-westers\u00a0<\/em>(not-western). Whichever you were depended on where exactly you came from. These two extensions will also no longer be used.<\/p>\n

Why They Had To Go<\/strong><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pgO2PEB7G3Q<\/p>\n

The terms are seen as\u00a0onduidelijk\u00a0<\/em>(unclear) and\u00a0kwetsend\u00a0<\/em>(offensive). They are onduidelijk<\/em>,\u00a0because of the definitions above. For example, if both of your parents are Dutch, but you are born in, say, Germany, you are an\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>in the\u00a0Van Dale\u00a0<\/em>definition. However, you are an\u00a0autochtoon\u00a0<\/em>under the CBS definition. That is confusing – and so that makes the terms\u00a0onduidelijk<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Another thing that makes the terms\u00a0onduidelijk<\/em> is that they are so all-encompassing. People are all thrown into one group and called\u00a0allochtoon<\/em> – there is no way to differentiate. That could lead to segregating in society. That leads to the second complaint:<\/p>\n

The term\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>is\u00a0kwetsend<\/em>, because there are negative associaties<\/em>\u00a0(connotations) with it. The picture above depicts two people that, what looks like, are moslims<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(Muslims). They could be autochtoon<\/em>, if their parents were both born in the Netherlands. This is of course entirely possible. But because of their appearance, they would in almost all cases be seen as allochtoon<\/em>. Due to xenophobia and other fears that led to generalizing comments about people that have a “non-Dutch appearance”, the term\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>became the go-to term. This should be avoided, of course! In the video above, Geert Wilders makes the same mistake.<\/p>\n

What Replaces Them<\/strong><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sp4vTbH40uY<\/p>\n

The video above explains everything quite easily. (And yes, you saw that right, they made a mistake at the end. It is migratieachtergrond or\u00a0<\/em>migratie-achtergrond<\/em>, not\u00a0migratie achtergrond<\/em> (Click here<\/a> for more on this so-called\u00a0klinkerbotsing\u00a0<\/em>issue).<\/p>\n

There will not be any direct replacement for the terms. The\u00a0CBS\u00a0<\/em>has announced that in future publications, it will use the terms\u00a0inwoner met migratieachtergrond\u00a0<\/em>instead of\u00a0allochtoon<\/em> and\u00a0inwoner met Nederlandse achtergrond\u00a0<\/em>for\u00a0autochtoon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is, by the way, not the first time that the government tried to get rid of such a term. In fact, the term\u00a0allochtoon <\/em>was the euphemism replacing the “wrong words” that came before it:\u00a0gastarbeider\u00a0<\/em>(guest worker) and\u00a0immigrant\u00a0<\/em>(immigrant). Then,\u00a0allochtoon\u00a0<\/em>was supposed to be replaced as well. Suggestions included\u00a0medelander\u00a0<\/em>(which sounds like\u00a0Nederlander<\/em>, the Dutch term for “Dutch person”, and simply means “co-countryman”) and “nieuwe Nederlander<\/em>” (new Dutch person). But both didn’t make it.<\/p>\n

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What do you think? Is it over the top to stop using the term, or was it long overdue? What do you think about the other suggested terms, such as\u00a0medelander\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0nieuwe Nederlander<\/em>? Do you have suggestions for a different term yourself? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a little extra at the end: The Dutch Jon Stewart, Arjen Lubach, talks in his show\u00a0Zondag met Lubach\u00a0<\/em>about the change in\u00a0terminologie\u00a0<\/em>(terminology). Enjoy!<\/p>\n