Book burning over word “neger" troubles MP author

A protest action on the Dam square in Amsterdam on Sunday has SP parliamentarian Harry van Bommel concerned. His book Surinamers in de polder was set on fire by some 20 protesters because the book contains the word "neger". In the book 15 Surinamese people talk about their travels to the Netherlands. One of them is television producer Prem Radhakishu. Van Bommel cites him calling Humberto Tan and Barack Obama "neger", or "negro" in English, though often people of colour find the Dutch word to be harsher. Van Bommel calls book burning a "medieval method" to AT5. "To begin with I reject book burning as a means of protest, debating with each other is in my opinion the only correct protest", he said to the broadcaster. The SP politician plans to speak about his book during an information day in Zuid-Oost on January 31st. He hopes to convince the book burners to start a conversation with him. "The book will definitely not be withdrawn from the market and applying censorship goes altogether too far", he said.