Zwarte Pete
Ah those wacky Flemish. Such lovely customs.
Look at the happy, happy white man with the big, big hat.
Who is that?
Ah, that is Sinterklaas! Hello Sinterklaas!!
And who is that happy, smiling black boy next to you Sinterklaas? He looks funny. And very happy. He's smiling!
Ahhh, this is Zwarte Pete! Zwarte Pete smile for the people. Smile Zwarte Pete, smile. Look how happy he is.
And Sinterklaas, who is Zwarte Pete? And why Sinterklaas is he so happy?
Why, Zwarte Pete is my little helper. Aren't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete grins toothily and bobs head up and down enthusiastically)
..Zwarte Pete is happy because Zwarte Pete is a veeery special helper of Sinterklaas, aren't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete smiles idiotically, revealing a gold-capped tooth. He gets down on one knee singing "Mammy", white-gloved hand shimmering in the air)
...ah Zwarte Pete, you make Sinterklaas very happy (pats him on head like a puppy dog)... yes, Zwarte Pete is very helpful to Sinterklaas because he carries all of Sinterklass' presents that he brings for the little children. The bag is very heavy and Zwarte Pete carries it all over the Netherlands, climbing up and down, and up and down all of the chimneys of the land, delivering toys to all the good little girls and boys, don't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete looks up from polishing Sinterklaas' black patent leather boot to a shimmery shine, and beaming adoringly)
...but children. You have to be careful (wags finger sternly in the direction of the wide-eyed children), because if you are a baaaad little girl, or a baaaad little boy, Zwarte Pete will beat you with a stick, pop you into Sinterklaas' big, big bag and carry you far, far away to Spain!
**** insert sound of a needle scraaaaaaping across the surface of a vinyl Supertramp 'Breakfast in America' LP... ****
Ok. No. I'm sorry. Does anyone else think this is not the greatest idea?
For those of you not in the know, let's recap. "Zwarte", in Flemish, means "Black". Black *coughslavecough* Pete is a little guy who has been commandered by Sinterklaas to drag his kit all around the Netherlands, climbing in and out of chimneys, and playing the heavy with the bad little kids of Belgium (note: I've met kids in Belgium and, frankly, they are all creepily perfect. A bad kid is probably someone who gets caught singing Adelweiss offkey during "Sound of Music"... I've no idea).
The Flemish insist that Zwarte Pete is not a slave. The fact that Zwarte Pete does not get paid for his services, I suppose makes him a volunteer. Ok, this is moderately believable. Great. He's a volunteer. So why does he have to be black? Welllllll, the Flemish will tell you, Zwarte Pete is not reeeeally black. No. Rather, he's just covered in chimney dust from climbing in and out of all those chimneys he volunteers to climb in and out of. Oh reallllllly? So his clothes are clean and shiny because they are made of some medieval magic fabric that DuPont hasn't yet taken a patent out on???
I've asked several of my Belgian friends if they think it's ok to be promoting such obvious racial stereotypes to CHILDREN. They insist that there is nothing nefarious whatsoever going on. Despite being extremely bright, worldly and critical-thinking people, they seem incapable of making the connection between a beloved centuries-0ld tradition and the problems that are going on today in their country. If you will excuse the expression, they refuse to call a spade a spade.
I'm sorry, but Zwarte Pete is a black slave and an offensive caricature of a black man... I don't care who the hell says he isn't and I don't care how much the Flemish want to overlook this elephant in the tea room so that they can prance around their cobblestoney towns in black-face and still sleep easy in the belief that they are not racists... but he's a Slave.
Honestly, I know that not all Flemish are racist (just 26.9% of them are). But I think it's time they start to connect the dots between the things they are teaching their kids -- actively or passively -- and the intolerance they are experiencing in their society.
As of March this year, Van der Breggen the makers of the yummy marshmellowy treat Negerzoenen ("Nigger's Kiss") has rebranded their cookie as "Buys Kiss". So that's a start. It's a bloody stupid name for a cookie and it will probably fail, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
When it comes to the legend of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pete, I'd like to see Belgium follow Van der Breggen's lead and acknowledge that their image of the gardenpath-jockey-come-to-life could possibly be perceived as offensive to some. They could make a few changes to bring this dynamic duo into the 21st century. If, for example, Zwarte Pete really is black only because of the messy volunteer work he does, he could be depicted as a chimney-dust covered ragamuffin of any nationality. Just a thought. It has to start somewhere.
By the way, it may just be me, but being hit with sticks doesn't seem an overly huge price to pay to be hand-carried all the way to Spain. I'm just saying.
Ah those wacky Flemish. Such lovely customs.
Look at the happy, happy white man with the big, big hat.
Who is that?
Ah, that is Sinterklaas! Hello Sinterklaas!!
And who is that happy, smiling black boy next to you Sinterklaas? He looks funny. And very happy. He's smiling!
Ahhh, this is Zwarte Pete! Zwarte Pete smile for the people. Smile Zwarte Pete, smile. Look how happy he is.
And Sinterklaas, who is Zwarte Pete? And why Sinterklaas is he so happy?
Why, Zwarte Pete is my little helper. Aren't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete grins toothily and bobs head up and down enthusiastically)
..Zwarte Pete is happy because Zwarte Pete is a veeery special helper of Sinterklaas, aren't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete smiles idiotically, revealing a gold-capped tooth. He gets down on one knee singing "Mammy", white-gloved hand shimmering in the air)
...ah Zwarte Pete, you make Sinterklaas very happy (pats him on head like a puppy dog)... yes, Zwarte Pete is very helpful to Sinterklaas because he carries all of Sinterklass' presents that he brings for the little children. The bag is very heavy and Zwarte Pete carries it all over the Netherlands, climbing up and down, and up and down all of the chimneys of the land, delivering toys to all the good little girls and boys, don't you Zwarte Pete?...
(Zwarte Pete looks up from polishing Sinterklaas' black patent leather boot to a shimmery shine, and beaming adoringly)
...but children. You have to be careful (wags finger sternly in the direction of the wide-eyed children), because if you are a baaaad little girl, or a baaaad little boy, Zwarte Pete will beat you with a stick, pop you into Sinterklaas' big, big bag and carry you far, far away to Spain!
**** insert sound of a needle scraaaaaaping across the surface of a vinyl Supertramp 'Breakfast in America' LP... ****
Ok. No. I'm sorry. Does anyone else think this is not the greatest idea?
For those of you not in the know, let's recap. "Zwarte", in Flemish, means "Black". Black *coughslavecough* Pete is a little guy who has been commandered by Sinterklaas to drag his kit all around the Netherlands, climbing in and out of chimneys, and playing the heavy with the bad little kids of Belgium (note: I've met kids in Belgium and, frankly, they are all creepily perfect. A bad kid is probably someone who gets caught singing Adelweiss offkey during "Sound of Music"... I've no idea).
The Flemish insist that Zwarte Pete is not a slave. The fact that Zwarte Pete does not get paid for his services, I suppose makes him a volunteer. Ok, this is moderately believable. Great. He's a volunteer. So why does he have to be black? Welllllll, the Flemish will tell you, Zwarte Pete is not reeeeally black. No. Rather, he's just covered in chimney dust from climbing in and out of all those chimneys he volunteers to climb in and out of. Oh reallllllly? So his clothes are clean and shiny because they are made of some medieval magic fabric that DuPont hasn't yet taken a patent out on???
I've asked several of my Belgian friends if they think it's ok to be promoting such obvious racial stereotypes to CHILDREN. They insist that there is nothing nefarious whatsoever going on. Despite being extremely bright, worldly and critical-thinking people, they seem incapable of making the connection between a beloved centuries-0ld tradition and the problems that are going on today in their country. If you will excuse the expression, they refuse to call a spade a spade.
I'm sorry, but Zwarte Pete is a black slave and an offensive caricature of a black man... I don't care who the hell says he isn't and I don't care how much the Flemish want to overlook this elephant in the tea room so that they can prance around their cobblestoney towns in black-face and still sleep easy in the belief that they are not racists... but he's a Slave.
Honestly, I know that not all Flemish are racist (just 26.9% of them are). But I think it's time they start to connect the dots between the things they are teaching their kids -- actively or passively -- and the intolerance they are experiencing in their society.
As of March this year, Van der Breggen the makers of the yummy marshmellowy treat Negerzoenen ("Nigger's Kiss") has rebranded their cookie as "Buys Kiss". So that's a start. It's a bloody stupid name for a cookie and it will probably fail, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
When it comes to the legend of Sinterklaas and Zwarte Pete, I'd like to see Belgium follow Van der Breggen's lead and acknowledge that their image of the gardenpath-jockey-come-to-life could possibly be perceived as offensive to some. They could make a few changes to bring this dynamic duo into the 21st century. If, for example, Zwarte Pete really is black only because of the messy volunteer work he does, he could be depicted as a chimney-dust covered ragamuffin of any nationality. Just a thought. It has to start somewhere.
By the way, it may just be me, but being hit with sticks doesn't seem an overly huge price to pay to be hand-carried all the way to Spain. I'm just saying.
posted by Penless Artist at 11:17 p.m.
6 Comments:
And to think we have been shamed into giving up telling jokes about Belgians - political correctness gone mad!
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