Sinterklass is coming to town! (along with the annual Zwart Piet debate)
You know it’s that time of year again in Holland, when you are greeted on the street by a perky middle age woman whose face is painted completely black and is sporting an afro wig and a ridiculous clownlike costume -- and no one around you even blinks an eye at the bizarre site! Yep, it’s the yearly onslaught of the Zwarte Piet!
For those of you who are not familiar with Dutch traditions, let me explain. In Holland, Sinterklaas is celebrated on December 5th (today!) On this evening, children put out their shoes for Sinterklaas to fill with treats. Sounds quite similar to good old Saint Nick doesn’t it? Well, yes and no. Firstly, Sinterklaas comes from Spain --quite different from the North Pole. Secondly, he travels by ship (on sea) and horse (on land) --again, unlike our sleigh flying Santa. Lastly, and most notably, Sinterklaas is accompanied by his very own band of Zwarte Piets (translation: Black Peters)--if you thought elves were offensive, they have nothing on the Piets!
Sinterklaas is said to have originated from St. Nicolaus, the Bishop of Mira, Turkey. According to the legend, he saved the town from starvation, revived three dead children, and offered gifts of dowries to poor girls. The roots, however, of the Zwarte Piets are unclear. Some say these helpers are simply black in colour because they have gone down the chimneys so many times (hmmm, seems like a stretch to me), other say they were in fact “hired helpers”, and other simply state that they are dark “because they come from Spain” (hmmm, right...)
As recently discussed on Expatica "despite his colourful image, Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, is a very controversial character in the Netherlands. He is called Black Pete because of his dark colouring, and while some attribute his skin colour to the soot from the chimneys he slides down, others criticise the character for being an old-fashioned stereotype and racist symbol of slavery.”
More and more people are finding offence with the icon, an icon that has clearly met its “socially appropriateness” due date.
“To understand the endurance of an icon like Zwarte Piet is to know the gaping divide between tolerance and acceptance, between a multi-cultural society and one which is Dutch with buitenlanders (foreigners) on the begrudging periphery. It is one of the subtle paradoxes of Dutch culture, but one I believe illustrates perfectly the hypocrisy and passive aggressiveness of the Dutch character.“ (full article here)
While surfing the internet for some more opinions on the topic I came across the blog of "Grennie", who has clearly reached a breaking point with the whole season "The past few days have been this horrible emotional downward spiral for me. Horrible lethargic depression, and this extreme fear of going outside. Why? Because Tis' the Season when Blackface is acceptable! I'm so fucking tired of explaining to people that this image is NOT okay. Why do you pretend like these images don't stick with kids when often times if a little dutch kid sees a black person they point and go "Zwarte Piet!" what makes you think that these images aren't going to stick in a society's collective subconscious?"
And so the debate continues. Is Zwarte Piet simply a harmless tradition not worth working ourselves up over. Or, is it an archaic racist symbol which is no longer appropriate for a multicultural society?
I certainly have my opinions, what’s yours?
Ha! just posted about this 'issue' as well. The Dutch refuse to see it.....
last year I had an argument, disput collision, with a friend of mine. I told him a Dutch lawer, Prem from Suriname/India had said "Sinterklaas is a racist" and Zwarte Piet symbol of slavery and added this was untrue because the Moorish/blacks from Islamitic Andalusia and the rest of Spain came to Antwerpen en Amsterdam after 1492 when Katholic Kings killed jews and moslims. This to me seemed a good example of orgine but he claims a Zwarte in Viking/Swedish mythology is the first
Piet. There is this Loki or so who stole the fire
from the gods fireplace in the edda saga?
Yep! I've presented this to a few of my black American friends and they are speachless. But, my Dutch friends feel differently and I will inlude a quote from my friend Jacob Van der "".
"HAHA, it is called Zwarte Piet, Black Piet. No I'm sure it will not look P.C. to you who doesn't know the context. Let me say that when you need to think about things being politically correct, you still have problems to solve. Racism would really be abandoned when you can freely make jokes about color and race without hurting anybody. This Schwarze Pietz thing has nothing to do with racism, it's just tradition. The helpers of Sinterklaas are just traditionally different from Sinterklaas himself, as are the reindeers from Sinterklaas.
Is the Animal Foundation also offended by the slavery of the rendeers by Santa? It's like all reindeers are always drunk and stupid with that nasty red nose...
Really, there is no child who couples Zwarte Piet to racism of black people. In fact they like the Pieten, they bring them presents! Only the foreign grown-ups make problems of it, they don't know what a beautiful tradition this is for children in the Netherlands! But I'm sure this is also said on the Expatica forum. Funny site by the way, it is nice to see how foreign eyes look to our country."
I guess it will be quite some time before this changes. He is 24 years old.
One more thing. I am passing your site address to some Dutch friends. If you truly want an open forum, these guys will give you some opinions.
Toni
Sorry about the errors in the first addition!!
First let me say that I too think it is very odd. But, I would like throw in some insights to the conversation.
The Spanish...who married into the Nethelands (King of Spain to a French Burgandy Dukes daughter) who occupied The
Netherlands...whew...started killing off the Dutch that wanted to become protestant. This instigated the 80 year war Between
1568 and 1648. I am sure that at the time, there was no love loss between the two countries. The Moorish...dark shaded
Morrocan/Islamic/Berber's where the occupiers of Spain for over 700 years starting at around 700 AD or so and where ousted by
the white Goths, who were the original inhabitants of Spain.
For a long time the Moors, were killed because they were considered Occupiers and killers of Spain. I belive that is what
gave the Spanish Inquistion such teeth and free reign around the region. The prejudice though horrid, had roots like almost
all predjudice does. Roots enough that Nepolean said "Africa begins at the Pyrenees".
As for the Dutch, they have been occupied by many and I think that the Piet thing is just an oddity that has derived from
being occupied by Spain who was occupied by the Moors etc. earlier. I am very interested in the evolution of this, because
the Dutch back then, probably felt absolutly helpness and very different for their occupiers. You must remember that even the
French were invaded at that time much of Europe was affraid of the Moors and they feared they would be occupied. I think the
roots of this tradition start well before the colonial times. Being African was probably unpopular for MANY reasons...but,
the Dutch may have associated much with the Spanish and Moors etc. The Netherlands were not worldly occupiers at that time.
I have to wonder if the reversal of the roles (possibly slavery) was actually wishful thinking considering they had been
occupied by Spain. Additionally, the Moors were only doing what was natural after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Romans
enslaved EVERYBODY, as did Atilla before etc. We can trace this way back.
These are just thoughts and I would love to hear other opinions. In truth, I think anything that offends so deeply should be
stopped. The Dutch not breaking with this tradition, knowing that it hurts many, just shows indiffernece to the feelings of
others. Not hatred. But remember, they are a VERY white society and Amsterdam and Rotterdam are exceptions to the Rule.
Travel-Blog Link Exchange
Hi
I'm looking for travel bloggers to exchange links with. My travel-blog's title is Aaron Aardvark's Amazing Adventures and it's at http://aaron-aardvark.blogspot.com/ . It outlines my plans for a huge adventure, and will, when the adventure finally commences, become the online journal of a man with no destination...
In May 2006 I'm putting my house on the market and when it sells I'm buying a van and heading off in the general direction of Spain with my partner and 4 year old daughter. Where we'll end up, and what we'll do I haven't a clue.
If you'd like to exchange links, please email me the URL and title of your blog and I'll add you to my travel-blog links.
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and an adventurous New Year.
All the best
Dee Rimbaud
i'm lost... what is the name of the horse??? it's for my homework but i don't know. help me!
Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog :-)
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day :)
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