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Visitors to the Netherlands in winter are often surprised to see the Dutch version of St. Nicholas’s helpers have their faces painted black, wear Afro wigs and have thick red lips — in short, a racist caricature of a black person.
Most Dutch are devoted to the holiday tradition of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) and insist he’s a harmless fictional figure who doesn’t represent any race. But a growing number are questioning whether he should be given a makeover or banished, seeing him as a blight on the country’s image as a bulwark of tolerance.
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’s black face derives from the soot he picked up climbing down chimneys to deliver presents — although that hardly explains the frizzy hair and big lips.
A sea change may have occurred during last year’s festivities, when four men were arrested for wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “Zwarte Piet is Racism” outside a store during an appearance of St. Nicholas. They were charged with protesting without a permit. Police threw one, Quinsy Gario, to the ground, and kneed him in the back repeatedly as they dragged him away, though he offered no resistance. A video of the incident was placed on YouTube, and the slogan began trending.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/06/zwarte-piet-is-racism-criticism-of-dutch-fictional-christmas-figure-black-pete-grows/
Most Dutch are devoted to the holiday tradition of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) and insist he’s a harmless fictional figure who doesn’t represent any race. But a growing number are questioning whether he should be given a makeover or banished, seeing him as a blight on the country’s image as a bulwark of tolerance.
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’s black face derives from the soot he picked up climbing down chimneys to deliver presents — although that hardly explains the frizzy hair and big lips.
A sea change may have occurred during last year’s festivities, when four men were arrested for wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan “Zwarte Piet is Racism” outside a store during an appearance of St. Nicholas. They were charged with protesting without a permit. Police threw one, Quinsy Gario, to the ground, and kneed him in the back repeatedly as they dragged him away, though he offered no resistance. A video of the incident was placed on YouTube, and the slogan began trending.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/12/06/zwarte-piet-is-racism-criticism-of-dutch-fictional-christmas-figure-black-pete-grows/
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