Comments on: “Black Pete” (NSFW)

By: GG

GG — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:54:00 +0000

Yup – there it is. He was a slave.

Until the second half of the 20th century, Saint Nicholas’ helper was not too bright, in line with the old colonial traditions. Once immigration started from the former colonised countries Zwarte Piet became a much more respected assistant of Saint Nicholas, who is often a bit inattentive, but playfull.[8]

By: M. M. Amir ( a moslem)

M. M. Amir ( a moslem) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 02:27:00 +0000

A more accurate description of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet can be found in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas.
Zwarte Piet was a slave, who was bought and liberated by Sinterklaas.

By: shorelines

shorelines — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:09:04 +0000

I am dying to know why the comments were closed.

By: Inny

Inny — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 09:26:57 +0000

I agree with you on all points (I’m from Holland too). I actually find this poist kind of offending. Everybody loves black Piet. The idea of a black face comes originally from the dirt in the chimney. I don’t know why people gave Piet earrings and red lips, but it is something they have added later. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe there has been controversy around black Piet, but that has ebbed away because the white people made a problem out of it instead of the people who would supposedly be offended. I strongly believe black piet is not percieved as racism by colored people if they grew up here.

By: erik smit

erik smit — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:16:15 +0000

Okay, here’s a few thoughts from Holland:

Lulu Helder’s claims that “He or she will speak improper Dutch with a low voice and a Surinamese accent.” are not true – unless she saw a Zwarte Piet who was actually Surinamese (they’re an important minority, mainly in Amsterdam) of course. It is Sinterklaas, not Zwarte Piet, who speaks in a low voice.

What hasn’t been mentioned yet is that of the two characters, Sinterklaas is generally strict and stern. Nothing like Santa Claus. Zwarte Piet is generally funny, friendly and approachable, and kids love him.

I find the ‘not safe for work’ comment very strange, by the way. But apparently the Americans have a similar character who does have racist connotations – this would explain why Americans often think the character of Zwarte Piet is racist. So in the end it all seems to come down to a misundertanding – our non-racist Zwarte Piet has similarities to an American character from the past who was racist.

In Holland we do have tremendous issues with racism, by the way. But this is generally directed against muslims (Turks and Moroccans to be precise: our two largest racial minorities are overwhelmingly muslim). We even have a racist party backing our government at the moment, and the hatred against muslims is an ongoing issue that is tearing up our country. That is where our true problems lie, not in the color of a friendly children’s character’s face.

erik smit
flickr.com/eti-eti

By: Cee

Cee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:37:28 +0000

But, as Lynn pointed out, this racism is primairly directed at muslim people.

I.e., you may be racist against blacks, but not as you are racist as you are against other minorities!

Okay gotcha.

By: Cee

Cee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:27:41 +0000

Longstanding colonization totally diminishes racism, trufax.

Excuse me while I bust a gut laughing in your face.

By: Cee

Cee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:25:59 +0000

Ah, well your anecdotal testimony as someone who has never personally witnessed or experienced racism towards blacks in her life CLEARLY wins out.

In all seriousness – this just serves to demonstrate how you’re sheltered and ignorant.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:19:43 +0000

Yeah, keep telling yourself that. :-)

This reminds me of a discussion I and another African American woman had with some French people about a French expression for a ghostwriter. It’s essential the French equivalent of the “N word.”
The French folk kept saying, Oh, it’s a compliment. This person works hard …

… like an “N word.”

They could not grasp that the term was offensive.

When I saw the candy display for Black Pete, I couldn’t but think, now if this were an Asian character, and I saw a row of yellow marzipan caricatured heads, what would I think?

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:14:01 +0000

I have been in Paris and I assure you that there is plenty of racism towards blacks.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:13:34 +0000

I have been in Paris and I assure there is plenty of racism towards blacks.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:12:32 +0000

It was extremely worth mentioning.

By: Cee

Cee — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:02:20 +0000

“Black people are out of sight and out of mind, therefore this is okay!”

Sure thing, Princess.

By: notthemarimba

notthemarimba — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 04:42:36 +0000

There’s actually a Dutch imports store by my house that has people in blackface standing outside every winter… I always just drive by and feel awkward and wonder why it’s not occurred to the owners that in Utah, that might not be appropriate.

By: LP

LP — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 04:35:52 +0000

I always associated the two. I’m American, but lived for a year in Holland, and already knew of Der Krampus. When I first heard about Piet, I assumed he was a similar figure, and was surprised to see how he was personified.