Every December, for the last few years, I've heard episodes of podcasts discussing whether or not Black Pete needs to go. If you've never heard of Black Pete, apparently in Dutch culture Santa Claus doesn't live at the South Pole, he lives in Spain; and he doesn't have elves to help him out, he's got a black mate named Pete. And since most people living in Holland are white, Pete is usually played by somebody in black makeup.
And as far as I can tell, this is what seems to be at the heart of the argument; this (American?) mindset that any time a white person paints themselves black, it's automatically racist. I've talked about this before, but to reiterate: I don't think making yourself up like a different race is racist, I don't think making yourself up like a different sex is sexist, and I don't think making yourself up like a different cultural group is xenophobic; what matters is what you do once you put the makeup on.
Now, if Black Pete was some horrible, greedy, arsehole whom children were encouraged to beat with a stick in order to get their presents, then I'd say there was a pretty good reason to get rid of him; but from what I've heard, he's just a nice bloke who hands out lollies and other little treats, and all you're going to do by getting rid of him is erase a positive black character from your folklore. How the fuck does that help with anything?
6 comments :
I was in Holland once on Sinterklaas Day. The problem is not the blackface, but the fact that most Zwarte Piet are ideally played by little people (dwarfs) and they get up to as much mischief as they can get away with as well as dancing around and being playful. They are not really a benevolent character, more like an object of fear and ridicule.
In all the years I've been listening to this debate, that's the first time I've ever heard that side of it. Dancing and playing are fine, but being a scary character puts a bit of a different light on things.
Well that's what I saw. They may be trying to make it different now in an effort to hang onto their traditions. I was there in 1992, and the Dutch - even though they are generally really liberal - were surprisingly racist.
Actually racist, or just not super-sensitive about the subject like we are here?
No, actually racist. Some of the casual racism I heard at the time was a bit shocking. Like for example, when that plane crashed into the building near Schipol airport it was considered sad that so many people died, but they were mostly Surinamis, and what could you do when they pack so many illegal migrants into the one building like that? *sad head shake*
Okay, but is that a race issue or an illegal-immigrant issue?
I've heard that a lot of white working-class Western Europeans don't like white working-class Eastern Europeans coming into their countries and undercutting their wages. And I don't think that's primarily motivated by race.
I've also heard that there's growing resentment against Turks in Holland, but that's mainly due to the fact that there's a growing Turkish political bloc, complete with Turkish-only political parties, that are funded by and openly loyal to Erdogan, allowing him to effectively meddle in the Dutch political process. It's like what the Chinese are attempting here, only 100x worse, and the Dutch government are too weak to do anything about it.
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