Zwarte Piet

[gusl]

Sinterklaas never fails to shock Americans.

Surviving Zwarte Piet - a Black mother in the Netherlands copes with a racist institution in Dutch culture

It has taken me years to come to terms with my feelings about the Dutch Christmas tradition of Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). I am an African-American living with my husband and 3-year-old son in the Netherlands, which is considered a liberal country as far as race is concerned. So imagine my shock when, during my first Christmas here, I was treated to the sight of a White man in blackface with shining beet-red lips accented by a dark purple line that made them appear round and thick. He wore make-up to give the appearance of bulging eyes and sported a huge jet-black curly Afro wig that had seen better days. And that's not all: He was intentionally acting like a buffoon, clowning around and giving candy to eager Dutch children while assuring them that "Sinterklaas" would be coming soon.

Sinterklaas is, of course, the Dutch version of the American Santa Claus. But instead of traveling with reindeer and elves, he has an advance team of befuddled Zwarte Piets who run around while awaiting the arrival of their fearless leader, the wise White man who always comes to save the day. The Moorish-descended Zwarte Piet carries a sack full of treats to give good children, but once the bag is empty he gathers up all the "bad" children and takes them to his homeland, Spain. All the good children remain to meet the saintly Sinterklaas, who is capable of granting their every wish.

Based on a centuries-old fable and staged for the first time in 1852, the Feast of Sinterklaas is held every December 5, kicking off the holiday season for thousands of families. But this annual pageant also introduces a troubling minstrel-show stereotype to young Dutch children, whose exposure to Blacks is often limited to the Zwarte Piet character. As a result, many can't tell the difference between a made-up Zwarte Piet and a person of African descent. Ask any Black person living in Holland if they have ever been mistaken for Zwarte Piet and they will invariably respond "Yes, but the child didn't mean any harm." That's probably true, but imagine the thoughts spinning in the heads of local children when they walk into a Black doctor's office. In my small village there is a doctor who comes from the former. Dutch colony of Surinam, and I know children give him the once-over: They believe that any Black person is a potential Zwarte Piet and expect us to act accordingly. Unfortunately, the story of Zwarte Piet has also taught them that Blacks do the legwork and are threatening, while Whites lead the main event and are godlike.

When these children grow up, such expectations persist because they mostly go unchallenged. In fact, Zwarte Piet grows in popularity each year. You can buy Zwarte Piet dolls, cassettes, books, CDs and wrapping paper. More Dutch children attend the Feast of Sinterklaas than celebrate the actual religious holiday of Christmas three weeks later. Even in Surinam, Zwarte Piet is alive and well, albeit with some alterations: Zwarte Piet can be played by anyone, White or Black, and Sinterklaas has a Black counterpart, de Goede Pa (the Good Father). But the traditional Sinterklaas character is always White.

This will be my fourth Christmas in Holland, and as the Zwarte Piet wigs are being pulled out of closets all over the country, I'm bracing myself for yet another assault of the Petes. But how do I help my son--who cries every time he sees one--understand that Zwarte Piet is not out to get him, that he has nothing to fear? On second thought, he has everything to fear because stereotypes can influence how he sees himself and how others see him.

When I've tried to talk to Dutch people about the implications of the Zwarte Piet character, they either look at me blankly or become angry. "Don't mess with our holiday rituals," the angry ones tell me. So I go to see Annie, a family friend from Surinam. I rant and rave, and she smiles gently and lets me blow off steam. And then in her soft, wise voice, she says, "Zwarte Piet is not you." She tells me to teach my son the truth about his history, and to nurture his self-esteem so that he'll find within himself the strength to overcome such stereotypes. I listen without saying a word, because I am not convinced.

I make my way home, thinking: Annie just doesn't understand the harm caused by stereotypes, the lives lost became of them. That's why in America, we got rid of those stereotypes in the sixties. Suddenly I realize that although some stereotypes have indeed been vanquished, others are stronger than ever, and some brand-new ones have cropped up as well. I see that I've spent so much energy fighting Zwarte Piet that I've had little left for more productive responses. Kwanzaa has come and gone three times without my lighting it single candle, and I've missed a valuable opportunity by not sharing this celebration with my new Dutch family.

As I vow to make this year different, I begin to accept the fact that stereotypes will be with us always. We must learn to look beyond them, for as Annie understands, the stereotype is not us but someone else's image of us. This knowledge can free us to get on with the business of being ourselves--and creating our own rituals.

Pamela Armstrong-de Vreeze is writing a book about her experiences as a Black mother in the Netherlands.

What's the history of the political correctness meme? When did it become forbidden for people to spread racial/ethnic/religious stereotypes in social situations?
I'm starting to think that this meme never made it to this part of the world. It's never been very strong in Brazil either.

Comments

[altamira16.livejournal.com]

I think that it built up throughout the 1990s. It is definitely apparent in popular music. Though they are not the most popular band in the world, songs like "Your Racist Friend" by They Might Be Giants are clear in their opposition to racism. Musicians such as Vanilla Ice and Snow fell out of favor for failing to be congruous with the style of music that they played. White guys were not allowed to rap or pretend to be Jamaican. This resulted in people exploiting certain markets. Like some parts of rap music are intelligent and thoughtful, that falls away as black musicians are allowed to exploit black stereo types while white musicians are not. Then the original stereotypes became used in a more sarcastic way in that people would use them strictly for shock value.

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

Political correctness has always applied everywhere. The question is just how certain things become politically incorrect in certain times and places. The American right has done an impressive job of convincing people that political correctness is a tool of the left to quiet those that disagree with them. But a look at the American media reveals instantly that supposedly politically incorrect racist and sexist stereotypes and remarks are defended by a large segment of the population, while anti-Bush messages are almost always toned down, or even left out on TV.

Anyway, it's probably since the Enlightenment that these stereotypes have been thought of unfavorably. European intellectuals wanted to think of people as individuals first, rather than as members of some group first, so they wanted to get rid of stereotypes. And as society has gradually liberalized, these views have followed.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

q>Anyway, it's probably since the Enlightenment that these stereotypes have been thought of unfavorably. European intellectuals wanted to think of people as individuals first, rather than as members of some group first, so they wanted to get rid of stereotypes. And as society has gradually liberalized, these views have followed.

Sure, but the question I'm interested in is why America & Canada (and also England) have the so-called "political correctness" more intensively than the rest of the world. I'm interested in the particular "PC" phenomenon that peaked recently (early 90s?), before the "anti-PC" reaction got much strength.

In America, many race-related topics are simply unmentionable: educated people avoid them like the plague (either that or they stick to a simple-minded PC response, e.g. "race doesn't exist"). I think that many "stated opinions" are formed so as to minimize the risk of being accused of racism (a pretty bad thing to be accused of anywhere in the civilized world, but *much* more so in the US).


But a look at the American media reveals instantly that supposedly politically incorrect racist and sexist stereotypes and remarks are defended by a large segment of the population

Where would I see this? I didn't have a TV when I lived in America.

[jonathankaplan.livejournal.com]

...Sure, but the question I'm interested in is why America & Canada (and also England) have the so-called "political correctness" more intensively than the rest of the world. I'm interested in the particular "PC" phenomenon that peaked recently (early 90s?), before the "anti-PC" reaction got much strength....

For most of its existence the United States has prided itself on being a republic. We have free speech and freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms, a representative democracy, individual protections, etcetera. We Americans have an elitist attitude in part cause we think all of those freedoms are highly valuable, and few other nations in the world have them to the extent of Americans. (I didn't write that right, but I bet you know what I mean....smile...) We have the most free (best) political system in the world. (Okay, that may not be true, but Americans think it is true, and that is what is important to your question.)

But the United States wasn't perfect in its execution of this system throughout its existence. There is a long history of different minorities receiving unequal treatment, denial of freedom, and various oppressions. As the most prominent example, for the first century of existence, the US enslaved blacks. For the next century, the white political establishment merely oppressed them. It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that the tide of racial discrimination started turning. In those decades, there was a growing public recognition that our supposedly egalitarian society wasn't so much so. And that was (still is) very embarrassing to the mass of Americans.

So, couple oppression/enslavement of minorities in a system that was putatively designed to provide equality for all (and prideful of that) with the subsequent embarrassment of mass public acknowledgment of this deficiency. I think this dynamic goes a long way to explaining why Americans seem considerably hung up in the PC phase of racial understanding.

[mathemajician.livejournal.com]

I'm no expert on Dutch culture but my understanding is this:

He's a chimney sweep. That's why he's black, and that's why he gives a lump of coal to the bad children.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

That's what some people like to say. But if you look at his hair and his lips, it's hard to doubt that Zwarte Piet is a blackface. He might originally have been a white guy dirty with coal, but over time, he acquired African features.

A revisionist explanation for Zwarte Piet's complexion is that he is a chimney sweep, or that he goes down chimneys to deliver presents, and his face has been blackened by soot. However, this does not explain how he got large red lips, an afro hair-do and Surinam accent.

Here are some POVs.

[peamasii.livejournal.com]

It's typical of some UK/US expats in the NL to complain about this stereotype. I guess it's a way of saying "how unfair that I should be identified with laughingstock ZP as a result of being black". I personally don't see any relation between racist discrimination and ZP, as both kids and adults seem to like ZP's just fine. In fact, this year at my girl's school ZP's were acting very "brotherly", putting on a rap show, dancing, making wild gestures, and generally impersonating black people better then those might do it themselves on MTV (or wherever Dutch people come largely in contact with them). Also, I think that portraying Dutch culture as racist or xenophobic must be swallowed with large doses of sarcasm, since it's likely that the Dutch would be extinct before they even learn to feel anything of the sort.