Nick’s Blog

Much of what I’m writing here is based on the article in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet).

In the mid 1990’s my wife and I moved to the Netherlands. It was late in the year and it was not long before we encountered Sinterklaas and his helpers Zwarte Piet. For those not familiar with the story here is a very short summary. In mid November Sinterklaas arrives on a steam boat from Spain bringing toys and helpers. Over the coming weeks these toys are distributed to the children by the helpers as the children leave shoes, carrots (for Sinterklaas’ horse), and drawings.

The arrival of Sinterklaas is televised and much is made of his presence in the land over the following weeks until finally on the 5th of December big presents are shared during a family evening. Over the weeks there are often parades and Piet can be seen handing out sweets to the children and often being a little mischievous.

The fact that Piet is usually a white bloke with black makeup and afro hair wig has led to an annual debate over the appropriateness in a modern culture of a symbol that could be taken to be somewhat racially offensive. They often say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to some extent I feel that offence is often similar. After so many years living here I have to say Dutch culture really is one of tolerance, sure there are racists in every society but I can genuinely say that I have seen people of every culture working side by side with few problems. The Piet character is an assistant to Sinterklaas, not a slave, not a fool, and no longer portrayed as the punisher of bad children. The history is a little dubious perhaps, created in a time when slavery was common and the links between the Netherlands and South Africa are hard to ignore.

I sometimes wonder what I would make of a bunch of black people dressing annually in white makeup. Perhaps I too would have been offended but I like to think that my time in the Netherlands would force me to ask the intentions of the people dressing up. If they are portraying white devils or idiots then perhaps yes I would still be offended. However if they are simply portraying a character that is generally benign then where is the harm?

I am suddenly reminded of a story. Under Chinese culture witches are seen as people with very white hair. So during one adoption a little girl went hysterical when her blond haired parents came to pick her up. The crying is normal but it was only later that a translator told them she had been saying “don’t eat me”. Should I be offended?

Dutch people are increasingly trying to find alternatives and justifications for the Zwarte Piet. One failed attempt was the rainbow of different coloured Piets and increasingly I hear that Piet is black because he climes down the chimney. Well what is wrong with “Piet is black because he comes from a country where people are black, oh and he is a decent bloke that likes to have fun and gives out sweets and presents to children because Sinterklaas is too old and frail to do it himself”?