Wilders cites Martin Luther King in new "fewer Moroccans" statement
PVV leader Geert Wilders told the national Police today that he meant every word of the "fewer Moroccans" statements he made during an election day rally on March 19. The controversial politician also cited American activist Martin Luther King jr. in Wilders' own fight against what Wilders calls the "Moroccan problem."
His declaration was made as part of an investigation by the national police, ordered by the Public Prosecutor. Wilders could be prosecuted for inciting "discrimination and hate," and "insulting a group of people on the grounds of race" because of his "fewer Moroccans" statements during an election evening in March, the prosecutor announced.
"I close by saying there is nothing greater in all the world than freedom. It’s worth going to jail for. It’s worth losing a job for. It’s worth dying for," Wilders accurately quoted Dr. King as saying.
The quote is taken directly from Dr. King's keynote 1957 address (pdf) to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Atlanta. King's speech to 7,000 supporters referred extensively to the changing times in the U.S. as parts of the country began accepting minorities and the need for minorities to be allowed to integrate into society.
"No nation can live alone now; no individual can live alone," Dr. King said in the Atlanta speech. "And we must all learn to live together or we’ll all die together."
"I don't take back a word of what I said. I said nothing wrong", Wilders said in the statement.
"It is my job as a politician to point out the Moroccan problem we have in the Netherlands," Wilders said. "In my declaration I made it clear that in my fight for freedom and against the Islamisation of the Netherlands I will never let someone shut me up. At any price and by anyone, whatever the consequenses might be." He continued. "I do not discriminate or sow hate, nor do I incite to it. But I don't mince words when I defend our earned freedoms and point out the threats to our society"
"They came to feel that perhaps they were less than human," Dr. King said, referring to African Americans in the U.S. "See that’s the tragedy of segregation. It does something to the personality."
Wilders, a Member of Parliament, reiterated that he indeed wants fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands, but that this does not mean that he wants to get rid of all Moroccans or has something against all Moroccans.
Dr. King envisioned a "world in which everybody will respect the dignity and worth of all human personality," he said in the speech Wilders quoted.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "to segregate an individual on the basis of his race is to deny him of equal protection of the law," Dr. King said, referring to a landmark decision calling for the desegregation of schools.
With reporting by Janene Van Jaarsveldt
