Black Pete criticism grows
2012-12-04 22:21
Amsterdam - Foreigners visiting the Netherlands in winter are
often surprised to see that the Dutch version of St Nicholas' helpers have
their faces painted black, wear Afro wigs and have thick red lips - in short, a
racist caricature of a black person.
The overwhelming majority of Dutch are fiercely devoted to the
holiday tradition of "Zwarte Piet" (whose name means Black Pete) and
insist he's a harmless fictional figure who doesn't represent any race.
However, a growing number are questioning whether "Zwarte
Piet" should be given a makeover or banished from the holiday scene,
seeing him as a blight on the nation's image as a bulwark of tolerance.
"There is more opposition to Zwarte Piet than you might
think," says Jessica Silversmith, director of the regional
Anti-Discrimination Bureau for Amsterdam.
She said that historically her office received only one or two
complaints per year, but the number jumped to more than 100 last year and will
escalate much further this year.
"It's not only Antilleans or Surinamers who are
complaining," she said, referring to people descended from the former
Dutch colonies that once traded in slavery.
"It's all kinds of Dutch people."
There are various versions of the history of St Nicholas (Sinterklaas) in Dutch and of Zwarte Piet, who made his debut as an
African servant in an 1850 book.
"Nobody is against the Sinterklaas celebration or is calling
people who celebrate it racist," said Silversmith, "but it is time to
consider whether this is offensive, whether there actually are racist ideas
underlying Zwarte Piet."
The debate comes after a decade in which the Dutch have rolled
back many aspects of their famed tolerance policies, and in which
anti-immigrant sentiment has risen sharply.
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 came from the soot he picked up
climbing down chimneys to deliver presents - although that hardly explains the
frizzy hair and big lips.
- AP
