This is how they celebate Christmas in the Netherlands complete with Father Christmas and his helpers in blackface.
A Dutch friend of mine provides some context:
” … Yeah, racism in Holland is still very open. I [am] actually shocked what still can be said in the public domain. The N-word [in Dutch Neger] is widely used and is not problematized at all. Right-wing MP Geert Wilders called a Muslim woman in hijab a penguin and I don’t think that even raised much discussion. As for Sinterklaas, people will just say it’s an innocent children’s festival but the fact is that it of course stems from racist stereotypes on blacks and master-servant relationships. Zwarte Piet [Black Peter] will beat you with a ‘roe’ (old-fashioned broom) if you have been naughty while the benevolent Sinterklaas [Santa Claus] will just hand out presents.
I’m also embarrassed to confess that in my case it shaped my childhood perception of black people in the sense that I was told by my mum when I first saw a black man as a child, I said something like ‘Ah, Zwarte Piet’…. [I did not grow up in a very cosmopolitan place, I remember only two or three black children in my primary school, a family from Suriname). I remember there have been attempts from within the Surinam community to address the issue of Sinterklaas but not sure it has been very effective (see also below few articles). Vaguely remember in some places, they now have rephrased ‘Zwarte Piet’ to ‘Piet’ or ‘hulppiet’ [Assistant Peter] and they use all sorts of colours for face paint and not only black. But apart from that, I don’t think there’s much critical discussion on Sinterklaas at all.
They also have a similar controversial festival in Cornwall called ‘Darkie day’ (dating back to slave trade).
See here.
3 responses so far ↓
jasper // December 1, 2009 at 9:46 pm |
as a dutchie i feel i have to add my two cents:)
i agree with most of what he says, just wanted to point out that the word ‘neger’ is not the equivalent of the n-word, that would be ‘nikker’, ‘neger’ means negro. This only makes it worse in my few and I think it is the most horrible word in the Dutch language, especially because it is said so casually and there is not much political incorrectness surrounding it. Political correct terms for a black person would be a ‘dark’ man which might be worse. i think ‘dark man’ and negro are still the most commonly used, nobody really says black man.
anywayyy, i think its also absurd that we still have it and i think we should indeed either get rid of the red lips (then it could be due to the chimney) but pref just paint in all colors, would make it much more colorful and feestelijk!!
jasper // December 1, 2009 at 9:52 pm |
ps check this almost absurd tv-program of one of the country’s biggest tv-stars dressing up as a black antillean woman and fooling celebrities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d3F0zmuOY0
yeah, there is this weird kind of ignorance of racial sensitivity in this beautiful, so-called tolerant country..
and now to get rid of all my frustrations the mentioned parliamentarian proposed a ‘head-rag-tax’, a tax for women wearing hijabs, of say 1000 euro..
Cassandra // December 7, 2009 at 12:53 am |
The fact that Holland holds on to racism is not surprising at all. Holland, the birthplace of Whites who went to South Africa to oppress Black natives for hundreds of years – why change now?