Some 1,500 people participated in a protest march against racism and discrimination through the city of Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon. The march started on the Beursplein and ended on the Museumplein, ANP reports.

The march was organized by Comite 21 Maart. People from all races participated, including a black Sinterklaas on his horse. Many people joined the march enroute. The protesters carried banners reading: "Refugees welcome, racism not!" and "All black life matters".

Several people spoke on the Museumplein. Among them was Oosman Yoonis, from refugee collective We Are Here. "It seems like we have forgotten that we are all people. The people on the Macedonian border could have been us."

Sometime NL Times writer Marvin Hotstam made a similar call in Afro Magazine - all people are just people. "It seems time that the Netherlands has a practical lesson in 'stepping outside your comfort zone'. Time that concepts like multiculturalism and diversity are more than popular buzzwords", he writes. "A blck man calling to his son in a shopping center is nothing more than a MAN calling for his son in a shopping center. A group of black people gather in a city to demonstrate is no more than a group of PEOPLE."