A New Black Pete?

On December 7th Dutch Santa has his birthday, and brings presents to all the children in the country. His name is Sinterklaas, he dresses like a bishop, lives in Spain, rides a white horse called Amerigo, and his assistants are called Black Petes. Several weeks before his birthday he arrives in the Netherlands by boat, and is being welcomed by the mayor and a big crowd of kids and their parents. The Black Pete's cheer the children up by doing funny acrobatic tricks, throw around peppernuts and other kinds of candy, and they assist Sinterklaas since he is an old man and cannot get around that easy anymore. Well, except for the night before his birthday, because then he is able to ride a horse on rooftops and deliver big bags of presents to almost every house in the country. After that he and his servants drive their big boat back to Spain and we don't hear from him again, until the supermarkets decide it is time to get the sales up again by putting Sinterklaas candy in the racks again. A great and also very funny description of our Sinterklaas celebration is being narrated by David Sedaris, you can listen to it here:

Our Sinterklaas custom is slowly changing though. In the last decade his competitor Santa Claus is becoming more and more popular. Probably under influence of movies and cartoons from the USA more and more Dutch people get presents at Christmas Eve too. Lucky kids here, they now have two old friendly men who throw presents down the chimney that most people don't have anymore. Sometimes Sinterklaas is asked how he feels about this competition, but he never really goes into that subject. There doesn't seem to be bad blood between the two though.

Santa vs Sinterklaas

Another thing that has changed somewhat over the years is Black Pete. Where he used to be armed with sticks to hit the kids that have been bad, and a sack to put the real bad kids in to kidnap them to Spain, he now is unarmed and friendly to the kids and uses his sack only to carry treats to throw around. In the past years however more and more people demand changes regarding the way Black Pete looks. They claim that our Black Pete custom is racist and insulting to black people. The majority of the Dutch people turned out to be very sensitive about this subject, and massively responded on social media not to change our Black Pete custom, since it is our cultural heritage. Not that they ever complained about the upcoming popularity of his competitor Santa Claus. Getting extra gifts is more important than our cultural heritage, it seems.

Old School Black Petes

Since the first protests against Black Pete started a few years ago, there has been an ongoing discussion about the matter, with a lot of emotions on the part of the protesters, and on the part of the people who want to keep the Sinterklaas celebration as it is. Most Dutch people consider it an insult that our kid friendly and happy custom is being called racist. And they do seem to have a point, I think. A few years ago, a Dutch chocolate and whipped cream treat called 'Negrokisses' had a name change because of alleged racism. In Dutch language the word 'Negro' is generally an accepted term to use, both by white and black people. Also, the treat was very tasty and there wasn´t anything negative about them. Myself, I like black women a lot, I think they are beautiful, but I don´t consider that racist either. Some say Black Pete can´t be a racist thing, because the blackness comes from climbing up and down the chimney. That makes sense, especially considering the bunch of sticks he carries with him, which resembles a tool used by chimney sweepers.

Anti Black Pete protestors

The opposition has a different reading though. If Black Pete is blackened by the chimney, how come he has curly hair, big red lips, and huge golden earrings? And according to them Pete's outfit is not a chimney sweepers outfit, but it resembles the costume that black slave servants were wearing in the 1800's. What's more important, they disagree with the idea that the Netherlands are so innocent when it comes to racism. The big role that our country has had in the slave trade and the refusal of the Dutch government to take responsability for this gruesome past claims otherwise. Also, research shows that some minority groups have to deal with a lot of prejudice when applying for a job or getting in to a club on a saturday night. When a black man wore a sign that said 'Black Pete is Racist' in the middle of the crowd when Sinterklaas arrived, policemen threw him onto the floor and arrested him for disturbing the celebration. Maybe we need to take a good look at ourselves and ask again, are we really so tolerant in the Netherlands?

Free Speech in the Netherlands; Anti Black Pete protester arrested for disturbing the festivities, kids can feel safe again

The discussion about Black Pete is still ongoing, and it will probably take years until a good solution is found. This week the Center for Dutch Culture and Immaterial Heritage presented the new look of Black Pete. He will loose his curly hair and earrings, and his lips will be thinner. The protesters aren't satisfied with these small changes, and they suggest a more radical make-over, and suggested a blue Pete with purple hair. The trouble is his name, it's Black Pete. Changing the looks will be easier than changing his name, I think. Like our prime-minister said: "Black Pete is black, I cannot change that."   

From Left to Right: A new Pete with straight hair, a blue Pete with Lady Gaga's hair, and an old school Pete who looks a bit pale