Sylvana Simons’ council membership has not gone unnoticed. In February 2019, the chairman of Bij1 was at the center of the most fierce debate that has taken place in this council term. The reason was a confused man who had been shot by police officers near De Nederlandsche Bank. He brandished a fake weapon, ignored orders from the officers, who then shot him. ‘Suicide by cop’, was the conclusion.
Simons requested an urgent debate on what she called “excessive and unnecessary police brutality.” Almost the entire council plus mayor Femke Halsema fell over her: how did Simons dare to question the actions of the police?
Tempers were running high, some councilors spoke of the low point in their political career. The debate exploded when Simons said he heard from young people of color that they were afraid of being shot by officers. “And those concerns are not unjustified.” She should be ashamed, her opponents thought. Or, as Johnas van Lammeren (Party for the Animals) said, ‘humbly sit down’, a comment for which he later apologized.
Simons acknowledged that had fueled the debate somewhatbut she did not give in. More than a year later, the black American George Floyd died of police brutality, a murder that sparked worldwide protests against racism and police violence and of the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘Zwartjes’
Simons saw it as her task to put uncomfortable subjects on the agenda that play a role among her, mostly black, supporters. That was how she had entered politics. In 2015 she spoke to Martin Simek in TV program The world moves on to his use of the term ‘blackies’, later she joined the fight against Zwarte Piet.
From that moment on, her life has been dominated by threats and racism. The prosecution has now prosecuted dozens of people for threatening the politician. She elicits many reactions. The program Football Inside makes it a sport to mock her in front of an audience of millions. Simons feels like a ‘national punching bag,’ she said in an interview with this newspaper last year. “That has an impact on the people around me. My mother is shocked now and then. ”
Not enough votes
Simons initially joined the Denk party, but that was not a success. In 2017 she tried to obtain a seat in the House of Representatives with Bij1, but she did not get enough votes. A year later, she was given a place in the Amsterdam city council, with her heels over the ditch.
Bij1 occupies a strategic position in the council: the party largely supports the progressive plans of the coalition of GroenLinks, PvdA, SP and D66 and acts as the conscience when it comes to topics such as racism and equality. The fact that GroenLinks in Amsterdam in particular has more of an eye for identity politics than for left-wing or green themes, is also due to Bij1, who is a competitor on the far left flank.
Simons also criticized the college when she felt that the progressive parties did not go far enough or wanted to build a mega library in the Zuidas. She is also, with arch rival Annabel Nanninga of Forum for Democracy by her side, against the tax increases that the college wants to implement to compensate for the financial damage of the corona crisis.
Privilege training
It also achieved concrete results. In March 2019, she filed a motion to allow municipal officials to follow so-called privilege training courses, so that they can better deal with minorities in the workplace; not only colleagues from a different origin, but also women, the disabled and the less educated. The idea is that these training courses reduce discrimination in the workplace. This motion has been passed and converted into policy by the Commission, with the emphasis now on white privilege training, where origin is central.
Simons played an important role in the proposal passed by the board to apologize for the slavery past. The Denk Party took the initiative, with Simons as an ally from the first second. In the meantime, research has been carried out into the involvement of the municipality of Amsterdam in the slavery past, the prelude to apologies. That would be a historic moment, especially for the supporters of Bij1. Furthermore, the party has initiated gender neutral toilets in the Stopera and the declaration of the climate crisis.
There was also criticism of Simons’ performances, such as during the debate about the shooting at De Nederlandsche Bank. Issues she raises often cause discomfort and sigh, especially among the conservative parties. They believe that Bij1 conducts a lot of symbolic politics and that more important issues such as gender-neutral toilets play a role in the city. They like to pick up these kinds of topics to show what a left-wing madhouse Amsterdam has become in their eyes.
Simons, despite all threats, make another attempt to get into the House of Representatives. Her seat on the Amsterdam council goes to Jazie Veldhuyzen, who is already a duo councilor and has recently become more prominent, because Simons was less often in the Stopera. As a lung patient, she didn’t want to take any risks in corona time.
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