Zwarte Piet: A Racist Caricature?

One year for the Christmas season my dad read us this book: http://santaandpete.com/ Santa and Pete, about Santa Claus and his best friend Pete! This was when I was, like 10, and I doubt my parents knew who Zwarte Piet was. I think we were all just jazzed that there was a culture and/or author that thought black people were important enough to include in Christmas lore, and the book supported that by erasing all the nasty racist history and symbolism.

I’m glad to say that this year, there has been more discussion of the issue of Zwarte Piet, not only in the Netherlands but in Dutch and former Dutch territories. Also, Quinsy has a website: http://zwartepietisracisme.tumblr.com/, where he continues his fight against the image of Zwarte Piet. He also has a facebook page for his organization: https://www.facebook.com/zwartepietisblackface?fref=ts. So there is hope.

I never heard of Santa and Pete. I am actually interested in seeing the movie and reading the book. I find it interesting that this book was written by two people of color.

Great post, thanks for refuting all the excuses made for Zwarte Piet. It’s interesting to me that whenever other countries are accused of racism, that they resort to demanding that Americans stop practicing “cultural imperialism”. As if telling someone to be a decent human being towards others doesn’t translate well across cultures! And it’s interesting to hear about the actual foreign origins of Zwarte Piet (and Sinterklaas!) While Zwarte PIet may not be viewed by the Dutch as being exactly like American black face, some of his characteristics (the afro, bright red lips, etc) could have easily been picked up from American culture because different ideas, cultures and peoples still managed to travel everywhere around the world even back then.

I spent about 3 hours on facebook yesterday posting on Quinsy’s page, trying to get thick Dutchies to understand why it’s offensive. I have to say I’ve seen a lot more blatant racism in my 19 years here than my 24 years in the States (though maybe because I now self-identify as an immigrant, I’m more attuned to it).
By the way, my wife is an art restorer, and was chatting to someone at the Amsterdam museum – the ‘Zwarte Piet is racisme’ shirt is now a museum piece!
BTW, if anyone has a good explanation that a white guy can use to explain to other white guys why blackface is just wrong, I’d appreciate it. So far, the best I’ve been able to come up with is: “Look. If a black guy dresses up as Sinterklaas, he’s not going to wear whiteface. White guys wearing black face sends the message that these stereotypical characteristics – dark skin, red lips, kinky hair – are the most important aspects of people who aren’t white.” I’m just not good at explaining white privilege, I guess.
My (biracial) wife has a Zwarte Piet costume, so last weekend she went out in whiteface while I wore my Zwarte Piet is Racist shirt. She actually suggested I get a Sinterklaas costume and black up next year, but I don’t think I could do that. Sure would screw with the kids to see a reverse Sint and Piet making out, though.

It gets worse. Sinterklaas travels to Holland on a colonial era steamship (like the one from The Heart of Darkness). And during the holidays, Dutch kids send toys and charitable donations off to Africa to help the kids who, they’re told, get nothing for Christmas, while listening to songs like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

Meanwhile, they’re being told stories about how they get presents for being good and that bad kids get nothing. So what goes on in their minds? That kids in Africa are bad and that’s why they get nothing? And meanwhile Sinterklaas the colonist is driving a steamship full of presents for Dutch kids that he probably stole from Dutch colonies, aided by a slave (and Zwarte Piet was a slave in one version of the story).

I’m also really bored with Europeans claiming that they don’t “get” American race relations. If you’re from a country that had colonies or was involved in the slave trade; or if you’re from a country that buys American products, TV, films, literature, it’s time to start getting it.

yeah, i grew up christian in indonesia and the way i remember the sinterklaas retellings, he was a giant black cat. Still, i don’t know how anyone can defend this as NON racist. Especially when they brutally colonized a good chunk of the world for centuries and installed white supremacy. If a white dutch person claims ignorance on racism (u.s-style or otherwise) then that’s a rather convenient form of historical selective amnesia and a poor excuse.

It seems like you are intentionally misinterpreting what was written. The links are to images of people dressed up in a vague, non-specific Middle Eastern or North African style, representing the Magi in a nativity pageant. The URLs show that one link is from Austria and one is from Finland, so it’s a tradition spread out over northern, and maybe central, Europe. It’s helpful to know that you’ve never seen it, but that doesn’t prove it doesn’t happen in any Scandinavian country. One man in each picture has dark brown paint on his face, as part of a traditional representation that one of the wise men was a black African. This relates to the discusion about people of European descent feeling comfortable changing their skin color uncritically as part of a traditional performance.

Minstrel shows may not have happened in Europe, but elements of the minstrel image, as demonstrated in the article, were present in children’s books and cartoons in the 1800s. Movies made in the US have also been exported and viewed in Europe for 100 years, the earliest with white actors in blackface and black actors playing stock characters from the minstrel tradition. The minstrel stereotypes and the blackface look are interchangeable in this tradition.

Thanks for your comment.

Thanks, I truly appreciate the comment.

I received the your racist for bringing up racism comment numerous times. In addition to that comment the person also said that racism exists because we still refer to people by colors (Black, White, etc.) and that we should be a human race instead.