Kingleopoldthesecond's channel

I made this channel to highlight some aspects of the popular Sinterklass celebration, due to be held on 5th December in the Netherlands and 6th December in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium), which I consider inherently racist and promoting discrimination against black/coloured people. In particular, THIS FESTIVAL ENCOURAGES CHILDREN AND ADULTS TO DRESS UP IN BLACKFACE TO IMITATE A BLACK AFRICAN!!! For some reason, Dutch and Flemish people do not see how racially offensive that is. Is it ok to dress your son/daughter up like a "Chinky Chinese" by taping their eyes back and giving them buck teeth? Or a Jew by giving them horns, claws, and a yarmulke? Or a Mexican by painting their face brown with a poncho? If you think so, then sorry, go back to the 1800s you don't belong in a multi-cultural society.

By way of summary, the aforementioned celebration involves Sinterklass (or Saint Nicholas, a Greek saint on which the popular Santa Claus is based) arriving on a boat from Spain with several other servants or slaves called Zwarte Piet (literally Black Pete). I understand that the Zwarte Piet characters are typically performed by white people dressed in a renaissance minstrels outfit complete with blackface, painted red lips, and an afro-wig i.e. classic darky iconography. The characters usually speak in a stupid or Surinamese accent, and are portrayed as childlike and mischievous when performing in public or on television programmes. There is further evidence that such characters are subjected to racist ridicule, as evidenced by the following satire which was released onto public television as late as 2007 and is available on the following URL with almost 450,000 views:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2H6SXaWxuo.

As I write this, Zwarte Piet-themed products such as chocolates, biscuits, and dolls have become readily commercially available in Flanders and the Netherlands. These products are perceived as normal and the typical Flemish or Dutch-speaker will not consider them racist. When asked about the racial origin of Zwarte Piet, people usually comment that he is merely covered with soot from going down the chimney. However, they can less readily explain the other "darky" caricatured features, or why the face is completely black rather than smeared with soot.

By way of background, originally, the companions of Saint Nicholas were devils or monsters such as Krampus, Belsnickel or Hans Muff, or more human-like companions such as Knecht Ruprecht or Le Père Fouettard. The history of the Zwarte Piet tradition begins in 1850 when Jan Schenkman wrote the popular novel, Sinterklaas en Zijn Knecht and, according to folklore historian John Helsloot, invented the contemporary character of Zwarte Piet. A likely influence for Sinterklaas en Zijn Knecht is the book Der Stuwwelpeter, written by Heinrich Hoffman in 1844. In this book, mischievous boys mock a Moor for his dark complexion and are punished by big Nicholas who throws them in an inkwell, from which they emerge blacker than the Moor (Pieterse, 164). It was not until 1891, however, that childrens books named Sinterklaas companion by the name we know today (Brown and Tavares, 2004). Thus, literature reinvented Sinterklaas helper in the nineteenth century and, transformed this character from a devil to an African slave.

In my view, the use of darky iconography as part of this celebration is inherently offensive and racially insensitive, and am surprised that it is still publically celebrated in Dutch-speaking society in the 21st century, particularly after the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s and subsequent legal developments to prevent discrimination. It only serves to highlight, and is somehow psychologically tied to, the slave-trading and colonial past of the Netherlands and Belgium. The former had a major role in establishing the global slave trade, and the latter was involved in high-profile atrocities in the late 19th century, which resulted in the deaths of millions of Africans in the rubber mines of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Children are not born racist but society makes you racist. Dutch and Flemish society are in some urgent need of racist de-programming. Did you know what a euphemism for coffee is negerzweet (literally, "negro sweat")?There are hundreds of other words like this used in everyday public language. Things need to change.

Dutch and Flemish people - wake up. It was racist to do it back then and its still racist now, no matter what you tell yourselves (e.g. he's not a slave he's an employee, he's not black he climbed down a chimney, its a matter of context). Of course you're not going to admit it's racist, its too popular. And this isn't PC madness or 'cultural imperialism' - it's common sense.

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