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Each year on Dec. 5th, the morning before the feast of St. Nicholas, children all over the
Netherlands and parts of Belgium wake up excited for gifts and candy while thousands of adults go to their mirrors to apply brown paint and red lips. In their Zwarte Piet costumes, they fill central Amsterdam and small village streets, ushering in the arrival of Sinterklaas who, in the Dutch tradition, rides a flying white horse.
Zwarte Piet was introduced in 1845 in the story "Saint Nicholas and his Servant," written by an Amsterdam schoolteacher named Jan Schenkman. In the story, Sinterklaas comes from Spain by steamship bringing with him a black helper of African origin. The book was wildly popular and with it began the inclusion of Santa's helper in Dutch Christmas festivities.
Despite
a rising tide of concerns and complaints about Zwarte Piet being a
racist caricature, most Dutch folks are fiercely devoted to the holiday tradition and insist
"Black Pete" is a harmless fictional figure who doesn't represent any race.
Zwarte Piet is frequently defended as part of Dutch cultural heritage, and those who don't like it are often bluntly invited to leave the country. Many Dutch say
Pete is black from the soot he picked up climbing down chimneys to deliver presents --
but that
doesn't explain the frizzy hair and big red lips.
Why do so many Europeans, and the Dutch in particular, still rationalize the use of this racial caricature? They know it's hurtful to blacks and other
minorities, but they also resent and fear the presence of blacks and other "outsiders." Just like in America, Dutch whites fear multiculturalism for what it represents to them -- the loss of political control by the white
majority and their culture along with it.
Those who defend Zwarte Piet are fighting harder now to protect him because they see that public opinion is turning against them.
It's important to remind everyone that this is not about American blacks or the history of blackface in America. It's about the history of racism in Europe.
The Opposing View
There are two sides to every dispute, and in the
interest of promoting greater understanding, I present the "other
side" from someone named Thierry Vader I found on a Facebook page
dedicated to preserving the traditions of Zwarte Piet. I apologize for
the quality of the translation, but I think readers can see that this
person is intelligent and sincere. Many of the concerns expressed by the
writer are common among those who have trouble with
multiculturalism. It is only by addressing the worries and the
resentments, rather than dismissing them as ignorant and xenophobic, that racist caricatures
like Zwarte Piet will become a thing of the past.
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For
all foreigners who can not understand why people are becoming bitter to
situations such as this, in my view this is far beyond the elimination
of Zwarte Piet. It
seems like more of a message of autochthonous direction immigrant and
government is that always ignorant Dutch tolerance has a limit, a
throbbing faster desire in the heart of the still actually naive
Dutchman to an era of toxic, crippling and underrated political
correctness and
to end before it's too late. liberality
We
see our culture and our national heritage wither before our very eyes,
the government are becoming incompetent, changing a once-beautiful and
most pleasant country in a home for the unthankful and a money factory
for Brussels and the list just keeps growing and growing. I
know I will be called a racist when I say this, but quickly this
correct, ramshackle world know I'm probably one of the most tolerant
people you will ever meet, however, the tolerance and flexibility
towards foreigners Dutch biggest mistake ever
been. You
are here, we have you and accept you. Habits Fine
as long as you behave. You
are welcome and we are nothing more or less than you. However,
one begins increasingly to realize that this favor more often than not
is not mutual and never ever will be mutual. Soon,
this no longer Netherlands We
can not say anything about the immigrants problematic, because '
discriminate ' we all winds the statistics and the fact that you are
here no punches. We
are the lapdog of the world has become and this makes many pain. We
are in an ethical and moral prison Netherlands where possible will rot,
lifelong way to the Netherlands only in name. Knot
fucking sometimes good in your ears and tape your other ear if necessary
close, Netherlands: soon, this is no longer Netherlands.
And
as always ruining a small group it again. Not
unexpected, but especially this babe of the UN is doing outrageous. She
is paid here to do research and that's fine. I
can not understand how you dare to pick up in advance to all judge a
centuries-old tradition in your head just because a white man a few
black people has run, if not centuries old, and though it was not a
tradition around. Doing
this is actually said that any white man who a few black people and has
a slave driver . They
even know the story behind Sinterklaas disagree, what way does the best
background story of a holiday that could be used against racism could be
and, though not too relevant, once one of the main reasons that Santa
exists is if
you want to talk about. World That
is racist. I
can understand that the Dutch are furious. Funny
how that works, is not it ? This
thought is apparently the consensus today. They
should be fired but I should also thank her. She
has since some fuel to the fire of the Dutch anger and brings us closer
to a real hope unleashing.
Moreover,
there are so many other things that the UN pressure on her head can make, and even though it was non-existent racism is a problem, there are
recognized by the UN holidays that really racist, discriminatory, human
rights stressful, ... where
they can care. located on There
are girls clitorises cut off and this is all fine as long as the Zwarte
Piet is still around to hopping in the world. Really
heavy, heavy pathetic. But
realize that this is a person and a person remains.
Again,
foreigners Dutchman with any sense has absolutely nothing against
foreigners, but the Netherlands has had enough. Tolerance
is like cancer for this country. Liberalism
is like cancer for this country. The
EU is like cancer for this country. The
UN is like cancer for this country. Almost
all of what 'correct ' is running us the neck . It
is really sad that such good intentions are answered . So It
has come to the point that many Dutch create prejudices about foreigners, and this is also wrong because it is only a minority that is so. It
creates a dangerous mutual tension between natives and immigrants . The
difference is that you are here, and we are not there. A
little respect towards indigenous ethnic minority, and also sometimes a
little more respect towards indigenous immigrant, I guess is not too
much to ask.
--
Thierry Vader
Another Opposing View
I received a couple of emails from someone who said I was
not presenting both sides fairly. He cited my inclusion of a
bunch of racist comments that were posted to Yahoo in response to an
article about Zwart Piet titled, "If Black Pete isn't racist, then why do so many racists defend it?" Upon
reflection, I realized that he was right. It was not only unfair, but
also pretty lame. Here's an unedited email from him that offers some
additional opposing views:
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You seem pretty (pre)determined to condemn all instances of white
people dressing as black as racism. Now this phenomenon might look
pretty weird at first to foreigners.
Let me start by explaining why the vast majority of Dutch people (it's
recently been polled) want 'Zwarte Piet' to stay the way he is and
don't think of it as a slur.
1. This is the country that was first to legalize soft drugs,
prostitution, and one of the first to recognize same sex marriage.
It's hard to then pitch idea that Holland has secretly been a country
with millions of racists all the time (deliberate or unconscious),
even during the days when nobody dared say anything against
multiculturalism.
2. Also, they/we see this as an attack on our childhood memories, on
an innocent tradition that everybody shares. Basically it's the
original version of Santa Clause, when he was still a Turkish bishop
and not a coca cola icon. Santa has elves, Sinterklaas has Pieten who
are every bit as imaginary. Suppose PETA wanted to take Santa's
reindeer away. That is how this accusation feels to millions of
people.
3. And that is because most Dutch people don't really see Zwarte Piet as
a real person of African stock. Because no-one in real life dresses like
that (no, not even rappers or hip hop artists). They look ridiculous,
almost clownish. To compare, everyone can see the difference between a
real person with dwarfism and Doc or Sneezy in Disney's Snow White.
Stereotypes? We see the Pieten more as a kind of Smurfs, if you like.
Some have a specialty, but apart from that they're very interchangeable.
The whole celebration is for small children after all.
There's no real reason why all fantasy characters should be white. The
story is in fact that the Pieten are black because they come through the
chimney. Now you might reject this and say it's a cheap excuse. But even
then, it's basically a Turk and his black friends bringing presents for
all the children. How is that a bad thing? (It's true that in the 1950s
Piet was the servant, but today, they are running the show.)
4. So could it not be that Zwarte Piet is possible here precisely
because there isn't a lot of racism, so it is not seen as an issue?
You come, I guess, from the US where race issues are far from solved
and have a long and sad history (including blackface). But other
countries have a shorter history, with much less tension. So it just
doesn't have the same meaning everywhere. There have been a few cases
in Germany of people dressing up as African characters as a tribute -
recently, a 'cosplayer' for example. To me that's an innocent and
positive act, but some people still find that offensive.
Just like you say that we are unconsciously promoting a racial
stereotype, you might in turn be unconsciously judging other cultures
by your own standards (in this case, your country's problems). That
woman who gave her unsolicited advice to the UN was invited to attend
the celebration last year, but she declined and preferred not to do
any actual field research...
But just to compare: The US has some patriotic traditions that would
never ever be done in Europe because that kind of nationalism is
associated closely with two world wars and everything that happened in
them. But I bet a lot of Americans would feel hurt and angry if
started a campaign to tell them to stop it on the grounds that it is
highly offensive in the light of WWII. They'd say, "But we're not
imitating nazis!".
5. That is not to say that there's no problems outside the US, or that
there's no prejudice in Holland, or that the Dutch didn't run slaves
in the 19th century - no, no, they certainly did. And they brought
them to Suriname and Curaco... Where Sint and Piet are still
celebrated today. A dance teacher from Suriname told me that Piet was
even portrayed a lot scarier there, threatening children who did not
behave. Personally, he had never seen any reason to think of Piet as a
caricature of himself.
So is there a minority being wronged here (minority as in, the
opponents are a small minority)? In contrast to my Surinam friend
above, who didn't have to prove anything, it's often malcontents who
grab the opportunity to complain, or to provoke, or who are out to get
attention.
You may have some quotes from racists (or people posing as racists to
troll a bit!) who defend it, but look at the opponents too please:
Just a few days ago 'Sint' officially debarked and the opponents
insisted on protesting right in the face of all the children (instead
of not in the same square at the same time as they had been asked to),
and started a fight. That's right, our Santa can't show himself
without police protection because he might be attacked by anti-Piet
people. So idiots are on both sides, that's for sure.
Finally, I really hope you won't take this the wrong way, but your
site is very ambitious. Racism is one thing, but not every stereotype
or prejudice equals actual racism (think for example of 'the nerd',
which one could link to anti-intellectual prejudice).
So should dressing up as someone of a different skin colour be
completely out of the question in all cases and countries? You feel it
should. There's nothing wrong with having strong feelings about and
against racism, but sometimes they cloud the issue when it's not that
black and white - no pun. There are for example a few cases of
complaints of racism against a joke where the racists were its butt (I
mean like the nazis are the butt in The Producers). Combating racism
isn't always as straightforward as it may seem, and people tend to
jump to conclusions very quickly.
-- Robert, Amsterdam
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My answer: Just so we're clear, I
am researching and presenting information about racial stereotypes and
how they negatively affect perceptions of other races. I am not
condemning others or making
accusations of racism. My intent is to educate people on the mostly
unintended but still negative consequences of racial stereotypes.
It
really doesn't matter that the intent is not meant to be hurtful. It's
the effect that matters. I can't go around saying "nigger" and
then say that's my tradition and I'm not trying to offend anyone. Times
are changing and part of that change is being more considerate of the
feelings of others.
You say it's mostly only "malcontents" who complain. That
raises two questions: How many "malcontents" have to complain
before you take the complaints seriously? and, Aren't you, by saying
it's only a few malcontents, dismissing the complaints as completely
unjustified. Do you really think that none of the complaints against
Zwarte Piet are justified? I have read in several places that all blacks
in your country get called Zwarte Piet at one time or another, as in,
"Hey, there goes Black Pete." Imagine how you would feel if
you were being compared to such a stereotype.
The US certainly has its own problems but in this case it is not the US
trying to impose their moral values on your country. This is a debate
between Dutch people, though of course many outsiders have an opinion on
it.
I agree with you about US
militarism. The US is an aggressive and warrior nation that has the
means and the desire to dominate others, and all the celebration over
our military is only making things worse. The idea of "American
exceptionalism" is very dangerous, because it means we
think we are better than everyone else, and we are most certainly not.
For instance, is there anything worse in American history than the genocide against the Native Americans? As a child, I knew it only as "Cowboys and Indians." Even today there's an American football team called the "Redskins."
Americans have been told many times that this is a racist name and image for the team but most just don't care. They want
to keep their "tradition" even though it is hurtful to others, but they
will eventually have to give it up.
Zwarte Piet has been going through a transformation in his looks and his
behavior over the past 50 years in response to complaints and we can
expect that transformation to continue until he is no longer identified
as a particular race. It's time to accept the fact that the black wig
and face paint will be gone soon. The holiday cultural traditions
will continue, with no one feeling excluded or humiliated, and that will
be better for everyone.
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