Is this surprising? Then why only in limburg? How far is a car "dimlicht" can reaches? 300m so are they telling us the black skin can absorb all the light limburgers car emit!! It is then better for them to provide all the animals with jackets!!!

By kwabena | October 23, 2009 12:31 PM

The Nazis also used a symbol so that certain groups could be easily identified. Shame on you NL. Why not find a way of bleaching dark skinned people so that all are the same colour? Racism is now rising well above the surface.

By Andrew | October 23, 2009 1:28 PM

Sometimess i dont understand why some people are just dehumenalised by others by just their colour or the situation they found themselves in.The town should give us
statistics of how many black asylum seekers have been knocked down by a car to support their claim. I think if so then all cars in africa, america, south america, middle east,not to mention amsterdam bijma should have extra lighting system to protect all the blacks. What about the black "diers" dogs and cats roaming on the street? what protection do you have for them?? enough is enough! today is moslems, tomorrow is the blacks, what next my society!!!

By kwabena | October 23, 2009 2:18 PM

Are Limburgers walking normally naked?

If black man wears a jacket from H&M/Hema/Lidl/wherever, or retired Dutchie wears the same jacket, what makes the difference for drivers? Face and palms?

BTW why exactly these fellows conquer other villages at night on foot? Looting gardens?

By Jon | October 23, 2009 2:22 PM

Does this mean that I, as a Dutch citiszen and being black, can live in Limburg but not wear a flurescent jacket at night, or does this apply only to black ssylum seekers? Oh, I remember, its in Limburg and they speak funnily there :)

By ABC | October 23, 2009 2:39 PM

why not just have all their teeth whitened and make them walk facing traffic with a grin?
It's equally humiliating.
It also makes them an easy target, or was that the point?

Reminds me of STAR once worn in Holland

By EX-PAT | October 23, 2009 3:31 PM

What about priests in their black cassocks?

By pieter van schaaij | October 23, 2009 4:24 PM

what do you expect from this town, they are trying to destroy the wide approach to drugs, why do u think NL has the lowest hard drug use, because ppl stick to smoking pot etc, again more idiocy from religion

By adhd | October 23, 2009 4:29 PM

Shame!!!!!!!!

By Dude | October 23, 2009 4:34 PM

Wow amazing you people turn an innocent safety suggestion to save lives into a big racism issue.
It's true, black people are hard to see at night, I've sometimes not seen them until the last minute when they wear dark clothes, which are so popular.
Dogs and cats are not as important as humans of course, so you can't use that spurious argument to deride this suggestion.
You cannot deny the simple fact that black absorbs light so it is less visible at night.
Sometimes I look in a car that looks empty at night and at first not notice a black person inside looking at me!
This is not good or bad or racist, just a fact.
You people just like to stimulate hatred and divisiveness in society, where only caring for others exists.

By Steve | October 23, 2009 4:45 PM

Dear DFD
Should we release a statement or protest this racist, dehumanizing and discriminatory decision?

Josh

By Josh | October 23, 2009 4:48 PM

Unfortunate, some would argue that this lends credence to the notion that discrimination is institutionalised in the Netherlands, sad really.

By LTCLC | October 23, 2009 5:30 PM

If the village is so worried about dark people getting run over by vehicles, they should worry about their other citizens too as all of us turn to dark colors during the winter. I find this act of the village very racial :(

By DK | October 23, 2009 5:53 PM

That's one of the most ridiculous story of the year. Maybe I should check what measures other countries use for people of "colour" like me?!

By Aggie | October 23, 2009 5:58 PM

OH- and what about the Black Petes!!!!

By RPK | October 23, 2009 6:07 PM

ROFL...omg, just waiting for those black petes to visit! I think it should be compulsory for them to wear the vests throughout Holland ,,, man they can sure give you a fright when they run amock in the night!
Better still, make it illegal to sell dark winter clothing in Holland, you can't see anyone at night and it is so !@#$% depressing.

By jaycee | October 23, 2009 8:10 PM

What is the problem. Dark is dark, they don't know the rules they cannot be seen, they get free jackets, and then you complain again about racism? What about the Dutch taxpayer that has to pay for it?

By Henry | October 23, 2009 8:42 PM

ABC these jackets are a FREE GIFT!!! There is nothing obliged. Again the racism card being played here, I go tired of it, and just mind your own internal affairs and let us worry about ours! Black absorbs light..This is not good or bad or racist, just a fact.

By Henry | October 23, 2009 8:46 PM

HA HA, A new legilation from Limburg asking Blacks to wear Fluorescent Jacket.
Very soon, Parliament will pass the Law and this will be the first country in the world asking Blacks to wear taht Jacket.
South African Apatheid is back in Limburg.

By Yougbare | October 23, 2009 11:27 PM

Interesting, but not very amusing.

By Dada | October 24, 2009 12:33 AM

Take me as an example then ...

White Cripple nearly always dressed in dark clothes (they must be cheaper) and I have to walk mainly after dark, to get a stable cool temperature environment. Cold is better than heat.

In Winter ... I even wear a balaclava, hood up, gloves on ... I doubt if anyone can tell if I'm white or dark skinned ...

so I must qualify for free reflective and luminous clothing ...?

By Gerard | October 24, 2009 9:07 AM

Reminds me of a time not too long ago when the Dutch painted a big yellow Star of David on the Jews. I hope one of these dark skinned and bright coated people keeps a diary because the Dutch will be able to turn it over for a massive profit in the not too distant future.

By wicked | October 24, 2009 9:50 AM

If you think it's hard to see as you drive around town, anticipate the worst and for f-ck's sake, slow down!

By Todd | October 24, 2009 11:38 AM

Waht about fluorescent stars?

By funnyGuy | October 24, 2009 12:19 PM

I have a dream, that one day the people of Limburg will not be frigtened by dark-skinned people at night, that one day the people of Limburg will let the dark-skinned people walk on their roads at night without fluorescent jackets, I have a dream !!

By Emmanuel | October 24, 2009 12:30 PM

This is 100% ridiculous. And to those who defend this as a pure safety issue- get real. We know what's really below the surface. We're not turning this into a racial issue, it IS a racial issue.

By Blk American w/Dutch husband | October 24, 2009 1:12 PM

No it is not a racial issue. It is a safety issue. If it had to do with racism, nobody would care if those people would walk the street safe.
What was completely wrong is how this is communicated to the press. Fact is that lots of people wear reflective vests in the dark: joggers, people with dogs. These vests are used more and more. Skin color has nothing to do with that. The village of Tienray provided the asylum centre with these vests so that asylum seekers can wear them too.
And by the way, the Dutch didn't paint anything on the Jews, the nazis did. And they were Germans.

By axel | October 24, 2009 2:19 PM

why don't you let them carry a bright lamp on their head so that they can be seen from space.@henry so you mean only white people pay taxes in this country very interesting, you are a very fascinating person
@steve so now you are telling me that these cars you see at night drive themselves hmmmmm fascinating

By jayjay | October 24, 2009 5:20 PM

The jackets are freely provided and no one is obliged to wear them! (which means, for those who don't understand, this is not a legal obligation, but a request and offer) And additional the refugees are getting (also for free) traffic lessons. The also have a new playground for the children (for free) and they can sport (for free) on the field of the local football club who offered them time on the field. There are also 11 new (extra) volunteers who will (for free) invest their time and care in the wellbeing of the refugees. All these things are made possible by the locals and the commitee.

So why keep so many people playing the racecard? Because they just want to scream "racism" so bad? They do not even invest a little time investigating the accuracy of this poorly written and biased newsreport, because it simply clear that it is racisme (by default).

Now that is a shame. Especialy for those people who are on this commitee, offering time, thought and energy for the welbeing of everyone involved. Because it is so easy to say that somebody is racist!

By Johnny B Good | October 24, 2009 9:26 PM

Don't make such a fuss, if it truly is for safety reasons, they should also mandate white people wear a dark coloured vest during the day..

By Ivan (Spain) | October 24, 2009 11:06 PM

"Safety issue"...riiight. Seems to me that people are assuming that refugees too stupid to learn traffic safety. That sounds pretty damned racist to me...

By CW | October 25, 2009 3:11 PM

Incredible! The scary part is that some people seem to think this is normal and a good idea. This proves that we can't blame the "small village mentality" that probably dominates Tienray - it seems to be deemed acceptable by (white?) people nationwide. Would this pass in any other country? Imagine President Obama walking around in a fluorescent jacket "for his own protection"!

By expat | October 25, 2009 7:39 PM

What do you do with the white people from holland that spend a few thousand dollars to go to a warm country and lay in the sun to get dark and try to look like the darker skin people, get a live people in limburg.

By j de boer | October 25, 2009 9:34 PM

For all those who think this is OK, the problem is skin colour not clothing, so we should give the dark skinned people white, or rather pink masks, so that they will appear just like any other white Dutch person. Clothing does not enter this debate, so please do not try and justify your racism.

By Andrew | October 26, 2009 12:33 PM

Reflective vests are worn in the Netherlands by children, people with dogs, cyclists, joggers, literally everyone wears them. It is encouraged to ensure that you can be seen at night. How is it racist to provide asylum seekers of vests which are worn by thousands of other people?

By axel | October 26, 2009 2:38 PM

Let’s face it, this is not a road safety issue, it has far more sinister undertones. Almost, every Buitenlander who has lived in The Netherlands for any considerable period of time will have experienced Dutch racism no matter what color you are. The earlier comment that “pink face masks should be distributed, fits the bill perfectly”. Or, why is the wearing of fluorescent jacket not suggested in all country’s populated by dark skinned people. And, are the pedestrian fatalities higher because of dark skin color? It’s a bit like, “why don’t we tax a Muslim woman 1000 Euros that insists on wearing a headscarf”. How long before that dyed blond arse suggests that they should also be fluorescent too?

It’s astonishing to think, that it may be within the realms of possibility that, The Netherlands thirst for racism will be quenched at the next election, assisted, I am certain, by loyal supporters from the, who me a racist! inhabitants of Limburg, and elsewhere in the country. Time to leave this sad little nation to its own demise, freedom of speech, freedom for all, absolute bollocks.

By Gerry | October 26, 2009 4:49 PM

Let me see... Does this apply to African Americans? Does this also apply to British dark skinned people? Or is it only for asylum seekers? I don't understand. I just think Dutch people went way too far this time. As a foreigner in Holland I am worried. Too sad.

By Gisa Muniz | October 27, 2009 10:16 PM

I think it's mainly foreigners like Americans who make such a big deal out of a good safety suggestion. That's why America is such a racial mess - any reference to different colours of people is latched onto and used to create hatred and divisions between people.
Here in Holland the skin colour is nothing, not even noticed by most people, completely irrelevant.

Here it is quite embarrassing to read the US media always on about Obama being 'black'! He's half white, and what of it anyway, he's just a human!

If he had big ears or some other feature, normal people wouldn't continually allude to it. So rude constantly referring to some physical feature as if it is important!

Some years ago in an Iceland town they discovered a lot of car-pedestrian accidents were due to the blond people wearing white clothes, so it was suggested in the media to wear dark clothes. This was apparently successful and reduced injuries significantly.

Nobody cried 'Racism!!', it was just practical.

By Steve | October 28, 2009 5:04 PM