High level play
Gender: Male
Location: Netherlands
Rank: Ace Attorney
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 1181
This topic seemed like it warranted a new thread, since I know out of personal experience this issue can spin out of control pretty easily. I really want your (objective) views about this matter C-R, because this debate is driving people nuts here in the Netherlands. I'm talking about this guy:
This guy is Black Pete (or Zwarte Piet in the Netherlands) and you may have heard of him on your local news. Black Pete is associated with a Dutch holiday for children called 'Sinterklaas' (Saint Nicolas) where this guy hands out treats and presents to children, because Sinterklaas is too old to deliver everything by himself. You could compare his role to the little elves in the Christmas fantasy stories. However, this guy has been sparking big national debates for the last 2-4 years and even making the news at international news stations. The main reason:
1: He's black, has red lips and black curly hair.
2: All helpers are black and the 'main figure' (Sinterklaas) is white.
3: Just like Christmas does Sinterklaas have it's own songs for children. In these songs (which are based of a book in 1850) Pete is mentioned as a knave/servant (knecht).
Ergo on a superficial level you can easily draw a parallel between the holiday and the Dutch history of slave trading. I'll explain why the debate bothers me so much in a bit. First I need to tell you about the Pro-pete standpoints for the 3 reasons above.
1: Yes he has black, red lips and curly hair but that is because Petes used to deliver presents through chimneys when kids are asleep (another similarity to Christmas). The soot coming from the chimney is what makes Pete black.
2: Sinterklaas stands out from the crowd because he is white with a mostly red suit (Christmas) so he is the 'main attraction' so to speak. The man decides the fate over who gets presents or not. However he is getting on in his age and has trouble that comes with age (like remembering stuff). This is why the Petes is depicted as both Manager and Operative in this holiday. Petes makes the candy, makes sure the presents are in order and delivers both on time etc.
3: Pro-Petes can't deny this or make excuses. Just that that's the way they sang the songs and they pretty much don't want to change it.
So as a kid it goes as follows: A month before the actual gift giving Sinterklaas comes to the Netherlands and you are excited. You'll be able to get some presents you marked in a advertisement folder somehow in a month and before that you get to eat delicious candy. Every day during this month you get excited to wake up, because when you've been exceptionally good you might find a small treat in your shoes next to the chimney delivered by Pete. When you're at school it's possible that Petes can burst in and hand out treats to all the children. You can tell Sinterklaas what you want on Gift Evening (universal day when you get your presents, 5 Dec) and he'll ask you if you've been a nice or naughty boy/girl. You'll say yes off course because your presents are on the line and he has a big book that tells magically whether you've been good or bad. Finally when Gift Evening arrives either Sinterklaas comes personally or a Pete mysteriously leave all presents just somewhere around the house.
Now let's get down to business. I agree that on a surface level the Black Pete comes off as pretty racist. It's pretty much the Blackface (wiki
this if you don't know what Blackface is) phenomenon, it's all black people 'working' for 1 white man and he's depicted as a knave/servant.
The thing is, you don't see that as a child. Like a Santa and Elves at a mall Sinterklaas is the one you need to impress for your presents and Pete mainly hands out candy and helps Sinterklaas. Not until you're a bit older you fully understand the concept of racism and some facts in history. This is years after you stop believing in the fairy tale, so there is absolutely no harmful intentions coming from the children. The adults who put on the show do it to please the children so they also do it without harmful intentions, because they got the same holiday when they were young.
But protests are rising from the 'black community' (sorry if I lack a better word for them) in Amsterdam. They claim this holiday hurts them in their private life, as it is a reminder to slavery and makes them feel less validated in the community. They also imply that Black Pete is a racial slur for black people. This is why they want to change the character Black Pete drastically (but not abolish him, at least for now). There are mixed opinions about what should be done, but their general consensus is that Pete of different colors is the right answer. This year 'rainbow Petes' have been introduced, who look like this:
They have also lost the red lips, but the curly hair remains.
Although this change is purely cosmetic it makes things pretty differently. The whole story about delivering presents and sweets through the chimney no longer applies, because Petes no longer have 'chimney soot' on them. This means the story needs to change a bit. Also remember that I previously mentioned that the songs to celebrate are changing so Pete won't be called a knave/servant anymore.
This outrages a lot of Dutch people. 87% (official polls) want the holiday to stay the same without the rainbowpete and change in songs. The government is pressing on however with the changes to please the 8% minority who wanted these changes because they felt discriminated against. This is THE holiday for children and pretty much everyone has fond memories about this holiday. The fact that the way it needs to be celebrated (songs) and the story (soot) are changing is upsetting a lot of people.
Think of a holiday you love. Maybe 8% of people in your country do not like this holiday and feels like it harms them in a private matter so the way to celebrate and the story needs to be adapt. That's how a lot of dutch people feel when this issue comes back year after year.
But this year thing are really spiraling out of control. Anti-Pete protesters are literally screaming that Sinterklaas does not exist at public spaces where he makes appearances for children. They even went as far as to call a 3 year old boy a racist because he was dressed like a Black Pete. On the other side you have extremist nationalist who are starting to beat up Anti-Pete protestors, because for the previous reason, but saying you want to change Petes appearance can sometimes be enough for these extremists. In reaction to this threats have popped up from extremist socialists who are going to kill 'all the white haters' with pictures of guns (who are VERY illegal here, all guns)
The sad thing is that children are caught in the middle of this. They don't know what racism is but they want to see Sinterklaas and Pete. Now at those gatherings protesters ruin the fairy tale, fights break out and police forces are more and more common. Instead of smiles and candy you now have children asking to go home in fear or even cry.
The current situation is horrible. Personally I don't mind changing the appearance, but changing the songs or the way you celebrate the holiday goes to far. Things seem to spiral out of control more and more each year. Although I'm pretty 'Pro-Pete' in this debate I tried to inform you guys as objectively as possible what the problem is, the context and why the problem is getting worse. In the Netherlands everyone has his/her mind pretty much set on the issue, leaving pretty much no room for open minded discussions.
It's been quite a long post, but let me ask you this: Do you guys think Black Pete's image should change or other aspects of this holiday? If so, how much should be changed? If not, why should it remain the same?
Face your emptiness don't be afraid. The danger is often smaller than your fear.