Sinterklaas, yes. He and his Moor helpers, de Black Petes, will be handing out the gifts in the Netherlands on Tuesday, along with buckets of candy and chocolate.
The vast majority of places don’t have zwarte Piet anymore. My young nieces don’t even know who that is, they only know him as Piet. Why repeat this shit about zwarte Piet when it’s fading away?
Because white folks (ie Dutch people) would paint their faces black which is seen as massive disrespect to the plight of Black people.
Essentially, anti-Zwarte Piet folk argue that painting your face black to play some Saint’s slaves is callous and disrespectful.
Pro-Zwarte Piet folk argue that, since it is a very positive persona they emulate, it is no different than wearing any costume of anyone you admire. There is no inherent disrespect, according to them.
Then there are others, who want to make the case that Saint Nick never owned slaves and that Dutch history was intermingled with St Nicholas’s history, since the Dutch had quite a big role in the creation of slavery. In that case, it would be completely unnecessary to dress up as Moors from the Middle Ages.
In any event, there is now one organisation that still protests the use of Zwarte Piet, some regions do have Zwarte Piet, some others have Piets of all colours, like Rainbow Piet.
Many people consider Zwarte Piet racist because it is usually white people wearing black facepaint (blackface) and they are Sinterklaas (rich white guy) his “assistant” (slavery).
Good thing most places have banned Black Pete and use Chimney Sweeper Pete. The only places that are holding out are backwaters inhabited by hicks and yokels. It’s actually useful that these racists are calling themselves out so I will never set foot in these backwards towns.
It can go a bit too far though. A while back I read about a person with black skin who used to play Black Pete each year and was no longer allowed because Black Pete being black was considered racist. So now apparently he can now only be played by white people. In one occasion a darker skinned person was asked to use make-up to lighten his skin color before he was allowed to play Black Pete.
I’m all for changing this tradition into one where Pete’s face just has some soot on it instead of full blackface and getting rid of the caricature, but we should make sure we end up with a new tradition where everyone is included.
Black Pete being black was considered racist. So now apparently he can now only be played by white people. In one occasion a darker skinned person was asked to use make-up to lighten his skin color before he was allowed to play Black Pete.
I’m guessing that was white people deciding? That just sounds like more racism to me.
In other European countries Saint Nicolas’ helper is still Krampus, a little demon. The Dutch of the past thought a black person was a good substitute for a demon.
Sinterklaas, yes. He and his Moor helpers, de Black Petes, will be handing out the gifts in the Netherlands on Tuesday, along with buckets of candy and chocolate.
The vast majority of places don’t have zwarte Piet anymore. My young nieces don’t even know who that is, they only know him as Piet. Why repeat this shit about zwarte Piet when it’s fading away?
Is racism not coming back into fashion in Netherlands?
Well, if you’ve heard about our recent election, yes. Yes it is.
Honest question because I don’t know anything about zwarte piet. Why is this racist?
Because white folks (ie Dutch people) would paint their faces black which is seen as massive disrespect to the plight of Black people.
Essentially, anti-Zwarte Piet folk argue that painting your face black to play some Saint’s slaves is callous and disrespectful.
Pro-Zwarte Piet folk argue that, since it is a very positive persona they emulate, it is no different than wearing any costume of anyone you admire. There is no inherent disrespect, according to them.
Then there are others, who want to make the case that Saint Nick never owned slaves and that Dutch history was intermingled with St Nicholas’s history, since the Dutch had quite a big role in the creation of slavery. In that case, it would be completely unnecessary to dress up as Moors from the Middle Ages.
In any event, there is now one organisation that still protests the use of Zwarte Piet, some regions do have Zwarte Piet, some others have Piets of all colours, like Rainbow Piet.
Many people consider Zwarte Piet racist because it is usually white people wearing black facepaint (blackface) and they are Sinterklaas (rich white guy) his “assistant” (slavery).
Expect those people are not black and need to stop pretending they are. Other than that, it’s always been a great and festive time for me
Good thing most places have banned Black Pete and use Chimney Sweeper Pete. The only places that are holding out are backwaters inhabited by hicks and yokels. It’s actually useful that these racists are calling themselves out so I will never set foot in these backwards towns.
It can go a bit too far though. A while back I read about a person with black skin who used to play Black Pete each year and was no longer allowed because Black Pete being black was considered racist. So now apparently he can now only be played by white people. In one occasion a darker skinned person was asked to use make-up to lighten his skin color before he was allowed to play Black Pete.
I’m all for changing this tradition into one where Pete’s face just has some soot on it instead of full blackface and getting rid of the caricature, but we should make sure we end up with a new tradition where everyone is included.
I’m guessing that was white people deciding? That just sounds like more racism to me.
Yeah that’s a hot button issue here
In other European countries Saint Nicolas’ helper is still Krampus, a little demon. The Dutch of the past thought a black person was a good substitute for a demon.
Actually, no. There is historical proof that Saint Nicholas had slaves. Most clergy and noblemen did back then.
…So the elves? Holy shit, Santa was an asshole.