Pahud vetoed racial-mixing proposals by recasting exclusion as compassion

Evidence

But the “Spanish model”—advocating racial mixing—was fatally flawed. The possible benefits of mixed marriages were summarily dismissed by Minister of Colonies Pahud, as was De Bruijn’s expert knowledge; the for- mer unilaterally vetoed its consideration before the suggestion could be aired or discussed. He insisted that Indies youths schooled in Holland would lag behind their Dutch cohort and be subject to ridicule for their crude manners and Indische ways. Exclusion was converted into compas- sion. For their protection, he recommended that they be kept in the Indies to “improve the race.” — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 711

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• SEED: ‘Exclusion converted into compassion’ is a reusable analytic frame for how colonial governance laundered race-based policy as protective paternalism.