Traditions

Yet, I am appalled every November, when the native Dutch blacken their faces, and don the most ridiculously colourful renaissance clothes transforming into the jolly ‘Zwarte’ (black) Pieten.

According to a modern Sint Nicolaas legend, the Zwarte Piet is a servant who accompanies Sint Nicolaas on his holiday travels. In some versions, Sint Nicolaas is said to have liberated a young slave named Piet, who decided to serve Sint Nicolaas. The children though, are told that the Pieten are black in colour because they come down the chimney and getting soot on their hands and faces while delivering presents for the children. The origin of the Zwarte Piet, however, seems to be a mockery of the darker Spanish occupiers of the Low countries in the past millennium. The Piet was originally conceived as the devil, who often operated alongside Sint Nicolaas doing his dirty work, beating children who were not good the past year, and it was only natural that the Dutch represented their occupiers as the devil incarnate.

Nevertheless, it is quite a culture shock to most international students, experiencing Sinterklaas and witnessing the ‘Black’ Pieten for the first time. The concept of the Zwarte Piet has been criticized since the 1950s. The last decade has seen national debates on the issue, and even resulted in the introduction of rainbow coloured Pieten in 2006, but the idea wasn’t carried forward. While the Dutch public opinion remains that the intention of the Zwarte Piet is not to discriminate or insult anyone, we cannot refute that an ‘unintentional’ racist message is sent out by the character. Mid November, 2011, saw the arrest of activists protesting against the concept of Zwarte Piet, as 2011 marked the ‘Slavery Remembrance Year’. While the issue has been in and out of the limelight, cultural reforms are imminent. Racism has not been erased completely but has just become much more subtle. Talking to people, Dutch and Internationals alike, most respond with a ‘Who cares?’ attitude, which makes the case that today’s society tolerates a certain level of racism and accepts it as part of the globalized lifestyle of the present.

While traditions may be hard to change, cultural reforms can help eradicate this aura of low level racism that society considers natural. The Zwarte Piet might be here to stay and maybe celebrated even, in the future as a cultural icon. But what needs to change is the willingness to accept criticism and work towards a constructive future. The (in) famous French ban of the Burqa was part of a cultural reform, though inconsistent with the French concept of a Secular State. It was one of the landmark cases in public memory that debates the thin line between religion and culture. What needs to change is our ability to listen.



Harish Ramakrishnan

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