* cababarant *

Monday, December 05, 2005

Zwarte Piet: Millenium minstrel?

Happy Sinterklaas!

So today is a big day for kids in Holland-- it's Sinterklaas, or what Americans know as the Feast of Saint Nicholas. For those who are unfamiliar with the whole thing, Sinterklaas is a Dutch tradition not unlike Santa Claus with a few cultural variations. Sinterklaas has the white beard, but he wears a bishop's robes rather than Santa's velvet suit. (I just now realized how tacky Santa's outfit is. I mean, velvet?!) Rather than driving a sleigh, he arrives in a boat from Spain (the origin of St. Nicholas is actually modern-day Turkey, but the Spain thing just seems to be part of the legend). Children in Holland leave their shoes by the fireplace on the eve of Sinterklaas so they can get toys and sweets (and my personal obsession, kruidnoten - delicious tiny gingersnap cookies). Sounds pretty much like Santa, right?

Except for one thing. Rather than elves, Sint delivers his gifts with the help of his sidekicks, all named Zwarte Piet. Collectively they're called Zwarte Pieten, or Black Peters. Zwarte Piet delivers the goods, and seems to almost outweigh Sinterklaas himself in representation during the holidays. What can't I deal with about Zwarte Piet? All the blackface. I don't think I've actually ever seen blackface in real life until I arrived in Holland a few weeks ago. And now I can honestly say I've seen hundreds of people in blackface. Why? They're dressed up as Zwarte Piet, of course. Not only are there tons of people in blackface (albeit throwing cookies, but STILL!) but the representation of Zwarte Piet is like those horrible Mammy and Sambo caricatures that existed in the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century. Because I'm American (remember how stupid Ted Danson was for appearing in blackface in 1993?), the whole thing is pretty offensive and disturbing. But why aren't the Dutch offended by it?

I don't think the reason is that Americans are overly sensitive about racism; the Dutch just don't have the same history in the Netherlands. Slavery was a far off island affair, and in the end, it's slavery on American soil that is at the heart of the American outlook on racism. Not to mention the 1920's tradition of blackface - based on bigotry and stereotype. I get the sense that the Dutch attitude is that Zwarte Piet is everywhere because "we love Zwarte Piet!" They culturally don't get what's wrong with the blackface, just like I don't get what's great about Zwarte Piet. The ridiculous thing is that Zwarte Piet doesn't have to be this offensive (even though his beginnings are incredibly offensive as well-- Sint's slaves). But if they must have Piet, how about an actual minority playing him instead of a white guy in blackface? He could even be cute, like in this book that I bought for the baby:

Piet looking cute and natural, a little bit like Franklin from Peanuts...

Rather than this:

Umm, NOT natural... and definitely not cute

Anyway, that's my Zwarte Piet rant - believe me, every American goes through this the first time. An Expatica columnist writes his American reaction to all the blackface (read: horrified, and calling the Netherlands out on all its so-called tolerance), and there is an annual debate regarding Piet on Expatica as well. Best of all, David Sedaris has a hilarious essay about Zwarte Piet (I'm guessing he didn't lay eyes on the blackface, because I'm sure he would have talked about it!) called "Six to Eight Black Men". It's a good primer on the sinister side of Zwarte Piet, who, if a child has been bad, throws him in a sack and takes him back to Spain with him. What I want to know is: where in Spain? Andalucia? Can I go too?

The Holland Ring: Sinterklaas - The Feast of Sinterklaas
Wikipedia: Zwarte Piet
Brownglasses.com: David Sedaris' essay, Six to Eight Black Men
Expatica: Zwarte Piet - a sinister symbol in a 'tolerant' country

posted by sheryl | 9:54 AM | comments (4)