Jolly Black Servant – Tradition and Racism in the Netherlands

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16 Responses

  1. eslaporte says:

    Tell me where the “racism” is with Zwarte Piet…

    I have never seen where Zwatre Piet was treated like a slave or “man-servant,” which would be, indeed, racist. Zwatre Piet is treated more like a partner, not a slave.

    In a time of disgraceful, un-Dutch, national intolerance and open hate toward “non-Dutch,” Zwatre Piet could bring back the real sense of Dutch culture and heritage grounded in tolerence. Zwatre Piet is a part of the Netehrlands and must not “be deported!”

    And – the Netherlands has a vastly larger problem with Islamophobia and is under the influence of hateful myths of about Muslims, like “Islamisation,” peddled by a so-called “anti-Islam” political figure and “leader’ of a so-called “political party” that threatens the whole constitutional order of the country.

    The loss of Zwatre Piet as a Dutch tradition does not really compare to the loss religious tolerance as a Dutch tradition!

  2. K.D.M says:

    Zie Boek “Sinterklaasje, Kom maar Binnen ZONDER Knecht”: Download > http://tinyurl.com/ccaxzsx (Deel I), en http://tinyurl.com/c37t7k2 (2)

  3. mary-ann says:

    I agree with Martijn that we can use this Dutch tradition to teach our children to be more tolerant towards people from a different race or/and religion. On the one hand we are dealing in Holland with a large group of Dutch people with a great fear for evryone not Dutch and on the other hand, as a result of this, the blacks and muslims (and lots of other ‘foreigners’) who have the idea that they are seen as second-class. Now, isn’t it time that we see this tradition for what it is: for children aged around 2-10. And isn’t the greedy world to blame that we all make a point of this?
    Besides this: Sinterklaas isn’t just good, how many parents don’t tell their children to be good girls and boys because otherwise they end up in Spain and no one knows what happens there….

  4. Nerdmiga says:

    Sinterklaas has servants. In it’s tradition all noblemen had servants. Mostly white. Servants in the household and butlers were mostly white throughout the whole history. Egyptian pharao’s and such may had white servants who knows. Why does is matter so much what color the servants were? In the children’s story Black Piet is black because of the ashes of the chimney. Does it matter if it’s believable he turns complete black of stays totally white like Santa Claus? It’s all about imagination.
    And the outfit of Black Piet is the same as Spanish noblemen wore. Not the same as slaves.

  1. November 21, 2011

    […] and blogger Martijn de Koning of CLOSER explains in Jolly Black Servant – Tradition and Racism in the Netherlands: I dont expect a change in this tradition very soon. It should be clear however that Black Pete is a […]

  2. November 22, 2011

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  3. November 22, 2011

    […] en blogger Martijn de Koning van CLOSER [en] legt in Jolly Black Servant – Tradition and Racism in the Netherlands (Grappige zwarte bediende – Traditie en racisme in Nederland) uit: [en] Ik verwacht niet dat deze […]

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    […] and religious backgrounds, the racism in the children’s fantastical Sinterklaas holiday is overshadowed by the real struggles people of color – citizens of former slave colonies and descendents of North African guest workers alike. […]

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    […] is the case in the last five or what years, the Netherlands is having a debate on Black Pete again. According to Dutch folklore, Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands via steamship every […]

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