The municipality of Schaerbeek wants to discuss what should be done with the bust of former mayor Roger Nols at the next city council in June. Nols is notorious for his discrimination against Flemish people and migrants. As reported by BRUZZ, Removing his statue completely, the municipality does not find a solution. “We prefer to opt for support and communication,” says Mayor Cécile Jodogne (Défi).
The Schaerbeek mayor on a camel, December 1986. It was supposedly a warning of what would happen to the municipality if more migrants arrived. Roger Nols (FDF, meanwhile changed to Défi), at the helm of Schaerbeek between 1970 and 1989, was often xenophobic and openly racist.
In the 1970s he made the national press by opening separate counters for French speakers, Dutch speakers and foreigners – completely against language legislation. In the 1980s he mainly focused on the migrants in the neighbourhoods around the North Station. And in addition to his media stunt on the camel, he attracted attention when he invited French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National).
There was indeed criticism, but Nols remained a voice cannon. For just under twenty years, he could count on broad support from the Schaerbeek electoral public. His bust still adorns the town hall today. In 2017 , anti-racism association MRAX (Mouvement contre le Racisme et la Xenophobia) asked for that bust to be removed. The then mayor Bernard Clerfayt (Défi) then ordered a study to better understand the figure of Roger Nols. That study is now, after five years, ready.
Historical context
“In the discussion about contested statues, the focus is often on a single figure, in this case Roger Nols, but they always function in a broader network,” says historian Joost Vaesen (VUB), co-author of the study. “Roger Nols was a voice gun. His policies are partly based on electoral mechanisms. For example, there had been campaigns and lobbying against the bilingual status of municipal officials for some time, even before he set up the separate counters. And in the 1980s, the police also carried out very targeted actions against immigrants.”
The municipality continued to struggle with a budget deficit, impoverishment and increasing unease. Migrants, who had no voting rights, were head of Jut. At the same time, a counter-movement of Flemish organizations and anti-racist associations developed.
The article by Vaesen and his colleague Serge Jaumain (ULB) was published on Monday at the Brussels Studies Institute. They are based, among other things, on ten interviews by historian Philomène Gallez (ex-ULB) with supporters and opponents of Nols. “It is important to highlight multiple angles in the debate,” emphasises Vaesen. Concentrating the criticism on Roger Nols alone, it still sounds, might understate other xenophobic figures and their constituents of the time.
Statue
The historians do not say whether or not the bust of Nols should disappear from the town hall. For that debate, they look to the general population. “Our report is a first building block for a substantiated debate,” says Vaesen.
The municipality of Schaerbeek plans to hold this debate internally for the time being. “First in the college of aldermen and then in the city council,” says chief of cabinet Marc Weber of mayor Cécile Jodogne (Défi). “A public debate may be possible later, but let us be clear: Mr. Nols is no longer well known to the general public.”
The municipality is now thinking more of a ‘travail de mémoire’, a historical awareness about Roger Nols and his legacy. “By removing the statue, you would be rewriting history. We prefer to opt for support, communication and information,” says Weber.
How this should be done will be discussed during the next city council on 1 June. Historian Joost Vaesen already believes that statues in public space can be an “opportunity to get started with difficult themes.” “If you remove all references to contested figures, there is a danger that you will end up in a historical forgetfulness or reach a kind of taboo,” says Vaesen. “It will be up to the municipality to shape that awareness.”
MRAX, which started the discussion about Nols’ bust in 2017, was unable to respond on Monday.
