Black Pete & Politics

Since my first post about the “Black Pete debate” in 2013, things have not gotten any better. This week protesters from both sides of the debate were arrested for instigating violence and it looks like this was only the beginning.

Actually, the real beginning of when Black Pete entered the political arena was years ago. 

Black Pete & the UN

I remember that I was kind of confused when I heard the United Nations was asking questions about every Dutch persons favorite holiday. This was in 2013 and I don’t remember ever having questioned anything related to Sinterklaas until then. Maybe I did, but if so then it must have been in a dismissive fashion, laughing it off with a “yeah, I guess it is a bit weird” kind of remark. But as I said, I don’t remember ever feeling guilty about celebrating Sinterklaas or seeing my friends paint their faces black to scare their nephews and nieces at the family celebration.

When the world started pointing fingers at us, making it official when the UN report was thrown in our faces in 2015, I was one of the first to say that it was a ridiculous waste of time and resources. Why would the United Nations have an opinion about something so harmless and so exclusively Dutch (and let’s face it, we are a puny country). And how could they possibly be against it??

It wasn’t the UN report itself that changed my mind (which I don’t think I ever actually read). It was my fellow countrymen. Hearing and reading their reactions to being called “racist” convinced me at once that that was precisely what we had been all along, and I was SHOCKED by the extent of it.

All though I haven’t lived anywhere but the Netherlands since my teenage years I suddenly felt like an outsider again. 

Since that moment I have made a vow to myself to never hold back my words about this topic, as I noticed that friends with similar opinions as mine were doing precisely that. This meant that it was only the knowingly racist and the harmfully ignorant that were doing all the talking, which I find unacceptable.

If you want to know how to make the temperature in a room drop from “pleasant” to “icy” in a heartbeat, try bringing up eliminating Black Pete from the Sinterklaas celebration in a room full of Dutch adults. If it wasn’t so pathetic, it would be kind of funny… 

Black Pete & Dutch politics

All though the United Nations’ accusing finger did stir up a debate in Dutch society I don’t really recall any of our politicians ever daring to take a stance in any of this.

Instead of expressing disapproval for the harmful atmosphere being created, they just smile and wave like idiots. I imagine they sit in their cars and point at their constituency as they drive by, saying: “Isn’t this nice? The people are really getting involved”.

All comments made in public have been luke warm and evasive, with the exception of one horrible occasion 2 years ago, which I wish never happened, but does explain why other politicians hadn’t ventured into the topic until (and since) then…

Our prime minister made a complete and utter fool of himself when he was asked about Black Pete at an international summit, by saying something along the lines of “Black Pete is Black, there is nothing I can do about that, since his name is, after all, Black Pete and not Green Pete or Brown Pete”.

If you are into cringe-worthy English and oblivious white men saying blatantly racist things, go ahead and press play below (skip to 1:10 and stick around until the very end if you are not afraid to bleed from your eyes, ears and/or heart).

Yepp, he actually said that (and on behalf of the good half of the country, my apologies).

As you can imagine, his leadership (or lack there of) has done us very little good. Events in recent days have demonstrated how wounds will fester if they are not tended to properly. 

Once again, peaceful protests were blocked by nimwits and hooligans, ending in senseless violence and 60 arrests throughout the country. Our prime minister said something along the lines of “there were fine people on both sides” and then washed his hands in innocence.

He also stated that the problem is one society needs to fix on its own and that politics can play no role in it.

So, as you can see, the wounds in Dutch society are not only pungent and painful, it seems we are now heading towards a zombie apocalypse. We need to start cutting off some limbs if we want to survive.

I watched Evil Dead. I know what to do. 

Advertisement

SDG’s – tell everyone you know!

There are seventeen SDG’s and you need to know about them.

I know, it made me think of some sort of icky disease at first too, but they’re actually a good thing! The disease may actually be us, but it turns out, we are also the cure.

Looky here:

Spread the word!

PS I’ll be posting some blogs on the Sustainable Development Goals over on my other blog in the coming weeks (I’ve been telling myself this for months now, but this vid was just the kick I needed)

Giving thanks to traditions.

All though it is not a holiday on my side of the pond, I am well aware of the fact that many of you are celebrating Thanksgiving today. A beautiful tradition with wonderful customs and rich foods to last for the rest of the year… and then there is always the recurring controversy surrounding the celebration, which is for a great deal understandable and frustrating and not likely to go away, as we can not change what happened in the past…

In Holland we have a holiday of our own around this time of year, which has become a bit more controversial than we seem to be able to handle, even though the discussion has lingered in the background for years. It’s the holiday of Sinterklaas, or as it is commonly referred to in English: Saint Nicholas. Sounds familiar right? Well, the plump guy from the North Pole many of you know and welcome into your homes in December, is based on the same guy that arrives in the Netherlands every year from Spain. Where Santa has a sleigh with reindeer as a ride, our man has a white horse called Amerigo and a big ol’ steamboat to bring all the presents up to our small little country. And well, where Santa has a bunch of elves helping out, Sinterklaas has a bunch of negroes doing the work….

He has a whole army of them and they are all called Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), with curly black hair, golden earrings and big red lips. There are female Petes as well, but their name is still Pete. The Petes are well loved by all, all though kids are a bit afraid of them, as they are also the ones that take you back to Spain with them in their big jute bags, if you’ve been a bad child that year. Oh yes, they also carry a bundle of sticks to hit you with… Really, don’t ask, I don’t even know….

Anyway, we have managed to convince ourselves and the world for a very long time that this tradition is not at all racist, that we love and respect Zwarte Piet very much and that Sinterklaas would be lost without his Petes. This year however, we seem to be failing at this and I must admit that for the first time in my life I have come to believe that we are indeed doing something wrong and that it might be time to change…

As I said, this discussion about Zwarte Piet has been around for years, but this year, it has become bigger, louder and more extreme than ever before. The whole thing exploded when the United Nations decided to say something about it and even threatened to prohibit the holiday all together.

Now, first of all I would like to start by saying I think it is absolutely ridiculous the United Nations thought it wise or necessary to say something about this at all and even started an “investigation” to determine if the tradition was indeed racist or not. A ridiculous waste of time and resources that could have been applied so much better on at least 100 different and more important matters. At first, I thought the discussion would blow over and out, along with the first big autumn storm as it always has, but I was wrong.

Sadly, in an attempt to defend Black Pete and prove that we don’t have racism running through our culture, my fellow countrymen have accomplished the exact opposite. I am now convinced, more than ever, that we are indeed racists and that we have been blind to it all this time.

As a counter reaction to the UN report, stating Sinterklaas “might be racist”, a petition was started to defend our tradition. The Piet-ition went viral nationwide, sparking reactions such as “If you don’t like Zwarte Piet, you are not Dutch”, or even worse, “If Zwarte Piet isn’t allowed, than neither is Eid al Fitr”. I almost shit my pants out of shame, reading these reactions, and couldn’t believe all these people didn’t understand how counterproductive they were being.

I am still convinced children do not see Zwarte Piet through racist eyes and that we were doing fine telling the kids that Pete is black because he climbs down the chimneys to put presents in the children’s shoes. We always said that Petes were in fact themselves children, who had been naughty and were taken back to Spain to help Sinterklaas prepare for the next year. This all made sense, especially as they were always portrayed as being a bit mischievous and fun loving, as naughty kids would be. Even more so, they were the cunning and witty ones in the equation, where Sinterklaas was often portrayed as the sweet and generous, yet slightly forgetful, old man. Without Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas is a pretty dull old guy. Even his horse is boring.

But instead of making space for an open dialogue, acknowledging the feelings of others and showing some willingness to share experiences, we have engulfed in this crazy crusade and made complete fools of ourselves. Everyone’s yelling and no one’s listening.

Black Pete is now indeed tainted. Well done. Idiots.