DUTCH TRADITION REMAINS CONTROVERSIAL

Several weeks ago I asked one of my brothers in the Netherlands to send me traditional literature depicting the Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) festivities that get under way around November 12 each year. While the U.S. prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, one of our major holiday traditions, Dutch citizens, and especially their offspring, get ready to immerse themselves into what has been described as perhaps the most important Dutch annual celebration. As kids, growing up, we anticipated this perennial event with mixed emotions. A few weeks before the actual holiday, which is either December 5 or 6, depending on a convoluted mix of factors, Sinterklaas arrives from Spain on a steamboat filled with presents his team prepared the previous year. He visits with a white horse and an entourage of black-faced helpers, the "zwarte pieten" or black Petes. His helpers are traditionally portrayed by white people in full blackface, complete with oversized lips, dangling earrings and Afro wigs. Government officials and all media outlets welcome Sinterklaas officially. Press coverage is national, and the entire country generally plays into the folkloric narrative. After the saint's arrival, and leading up to the official holiday celebration, before going to bed at night, children place their shoes in front of the fireplace or under the chimney. They may insert carrots, hay or milk for Sinterklaas's horse to entice attention. At night Sinterklaas visits all the houses by traveling across the roofs on horseback. Black Pete will enter the houses by sliding down chimneys to place candy or little gifts into the shoes. When the actual holiday arrives major gift giving takes place. This may happen family style, or during large gatherings involving schools and other organizations. Sinterklaas will selectively review some kids' performance during the previous year. Naughty kids may be singled out for a symbolic beating, or end up in Pete's gunny sack to be transferred to Spain and converted into peppernuts. Hence the mixed emotions entering this folkloric festival. Parents tend to use this potential threat to control their kids' behavior during this time of the year. The story of Sinterklaas is based on the supposed history of the bishop of Myra, who lived in the 4th century A.D. There are many legends about the exceptional selfless acts of kindness he is said to have performed during his lifetime. The Catholic Church declared him a saint, and he is considered to be the patron-saint of children among many other designations, including merchants, archers, repentant thieves, brewers, pawnbrokers and others. At the end of the 19th century, the Sinterklaas character was given a servant, a young black man in the costume of a 16th century page. In 1850, the writer Jan Schenkman wrote a children's book: "Saint Nicholas and his servant." The servant had no name, but was inspired by the representations of the Moors in portrait art of the 17th and 18th century. This concept was adopted by other authors of children's books. The name "zwarte Piet" emerged first in a children's book of 1891. Sinterklaas is white, old, wise. Black Pete is a subservient helper, resembling concepts from Dutch colonial and slave running past. My brother responded to my request by letting me know that he had to search through antique book stores to get the documentation I wanted. He indicated that these days the term "zwarte Piet" was no longer acceptable and considered discriminatory. In fact, even though this folkloric celebration remains popular and continues going strong, the past decade the entire idea of black Pete as Santa's helper has morphed into a pitched culture war within Dutch society. Anti-racism activists denounce the racial stereotype, while others insist that the figure represents a harmless tradition, according to which Pete's skin is darkened by soot from sliding down chimneys with gifts. In 2013 the U.N. even decided to investigate the "zwarte Piet" controversy. That year the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination delivered a report to the Dutch government, essentially suggesting it abolish the tradition. In response, some Dutch politicians angrily retorted that they would rather the Netherlands pull out of the U.N. Although diminishing, the controversy has not significantly abated. Entire PHD dissertations have dissected multiple sides of the concept. Some libraries have actively removed relevant documentation, others refuse. Every year protests pro and con flare up in multiple locations. In some large cities, black Pete has appeared in multiple colors. In some case he shows up as "chimney-Pete," with dark smudges on his face - a compromise narrative that envisions Sinterklaas' helper as covered in soot because he came down the chimney. Opponents suggest that this is a lame movement from "racism" to "racism light." In general, people are tired of the perennially recurring discussion. However, most seem unwilling to give up on this cultural tradition. A 2021 "Statista research" study indicated that a little more that 80% of respondents do not believe that black Pete is a racist phenomenon. The same study also reveals that a growing percentage of Dutch consumers are beginning to adopt the commercial gift-giving side of Christmas as practiced in the U.S. However, very few, (only about 9%), are giving up on Sinterklaas altogether. Theo Wierdsma