Can the tradition of Saint Nicholas

(Sinterklaas) and Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) be

considered as
racist?

Stefan de Reijer 4ve

Content:
 Introduction
 main goals + sub questions
 Hypothesis
 Methodology
 Results
 Analysis + Discussion
 Conclusion
 Apendix
 Bibliography and Sources
Introduction:
In the Netherlands there exist a tradition with someone playing Saint Nicholas and multiple
persons playing as Black Pete. A lot of people (white/Caucasians and black tinted) think Black
Pete is racism and feel offended by the tradition. Personally I think the character Black Pete
is not racist. I think it is just a fun tradition for children in which people are generous and
give each other presents and spend a fabulous time with their family.

Main question and Sub questions:

Main question:
Can the tradition of Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas) and Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) be considered as racist?

Sub questions:
- What is racism?
- What is the history of Saint Nicholas and Black Pete?
- How do people think about the tradition?
- Do people close to me consider the tradition racist?
- When is something considered racist and when not?

Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is that the majority of the population in the Netherland thinks the tradition of
Black Pete and Saint Nicholas is not racist. The main goal of this research is to find out what
the arguments for and against the tradition of Saint Nicholas and Black Pete in the
Netherlands are and how people think about the tradition of Black Pete. I assume most
people think it is not an offensive tradition because it is meant to make small/young children
happy and to have a lovely time with friends and family in which people give each other
presents. I also want to find out where the boundary/line is of racism.

Methodology:
To answer my questions I am going to analyse news articles and blogs in which people give
their opinions and arguments. I am also going to dive into the history of Saint Nicholas and
Black Pete to know the origin of the tradition. Another way to find information is to
interview people I know. In addition, I am going to search for scientific research performed
that will likely help me understand the concept of racism and to look from a more neutral
and logical angle on other people their opinions. I am going to criticise the reliability of the
sources as well. To finish it off I have made a survey which I have sent to some classes of my
school to see how the pupils of Broklede think about the subject.
Results:
Definitions of racism Information required from source 1:
1. Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race
based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
2. The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities
specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another
race or races.
History Information required from source 2:
In the end of the middle ages the Catholic Church had a lot of power. This is the reason
because religion played a very important role in everyday life. People living in the middle
ages believed that life on earth was a through passing to end up in the heaven or hell. During
the time on earth people tried to do as many good deeds as possible so they would go to
heaven. The easiest way to know how God wants you to live is to listen to the Church,
because after all God appointed the pope and saints in this way God had a direct connection
to them. Some Saints who got famous because of their generousity are Saint Nicholas and
Saint Maarten.
It is not certain if Saint Nicholas actually existed but the historical person who could have
been the model of the Dutch Saint Nicholas was born 270 A.D. in the port of Patara in the a
Greek province called Lycië (nowadays Turkey). His Greek name Nikolaos means something
like ‘Conqueror/victor of the people’. He became a bishop in Myra and died on 6 December
340 A.D. There are stories that Saint Nicholas let some miracles occur and in 550 A.D. He
received the title of a Saint. Saint Nicholas is called the protector of sailors and prostitutes.
Among one of his generous actions was the throwing of three bags filled with money to
three poor prostitutes so they could have a decent marriage. The chocolate coins represent
the bags filled with money and the ‘taai-taai poppen’ (a special kind of gingerbread dolls)
are a metaphor for the prostitutes. Another legend follows that Saint Nicholas silenced a
furious/rough sea, thereby protecting sailors. This is why Saint Nicholas comes to the
Netherlands by boat and it is the reason why lots of Nicholas churches and chapels have
been built near the sea.
Saint Nicholas became one of the most beloved Saints of Greece, Russia and later on of Italy
and the Netherlands as well. Around the year 1200 it was common to celebrate someone’s
Saint’s day/death day the evening before this person died, that is why we celebrate
‘Sinterklaasavond’ on 5 December. At 28 December there was also a ‘Onnozele/Onschuldige
Kinderen feest’ whereby children could be chosen as a ‘jongenbisschop’ and then they
would hand out food, for example candy. This tradition mixed with the tradition of Saint
Nicholas into a Christian tradition. The people of the 13th century would celebrate the
miracles made by Saint Nicholas and check if the children knew everything about the bible,
this often happened with a combination of punishing and rewarding.
In the beginning of the 16th century there was a division in the church. It separated the
Catholics and the Protestants. The citizens/housholds kept on holding the tradition of Saint
Nicholas for example Luther gave his children presents. That is why the tradition keep
existing even after the division of the church. In the 19th century people put presents and
treats in their shoes and clogs. Next to this the cane (’roe’) was introduced as an educational
instrument. Saint Nicholas markets were founded whereby people sold banquet letters,
marzipan, gingerbread and spiced biscuits (Dutch people know it as ‘banketletters,
marsepein, peperkoeken en speculaas’).
A scholar from Amsterdam made the first book/picture book of Saint Nicholas. This book
was made by Schenkman and published around the year 1850. In this book an Indian looking
servant was introduced. In 1855 when a second edition was published this figure was
changed to a black servant. This image together with the name ‘Piet(er)’ were kept in mind
and passed on to the next generations. It is not known if Schenkman got the idea of a black
servant from the old-fashioned exotic servants or maybe it came from the devil figure
Krampus which accompanied Saint Nicholas in Germany. After the picture books where
published Saint Nicholas and Black Pete were being played by humans for the first time.
Black Pete needed to do the punishing part of the naughty children by hitting them or
putting the children in bags and bring them back to Spain while Saint Nicholas doled out the
presents and treats. That gave Black Pete a negative association, but in modern society the
children like Black Pete because he/she is kind and hands out presents and treats. The
emphasis is no longer on the punishing and the cane but on the positive actions of Black
Pete.
Slavery and stereotypical ideas:
Lots of people refer to the colonial era when slaves were being traded and Africans/black
people needed to work on plantations, when they discuss the topic of Black Pete. In these
times the black race was seen as inferior to the superior white race. They were treated like
beast by the white imperial Europeans. These Europeans travelled around the world to
produce, trade, buy and sell spices and product like sugar and indigo. At first the Europeans
let the locals/Native Americans work on the plantations but they had a weak immune system
and died by a lot of European diseases.
Information required from source 5 The
idea that Black persons were inferior
stayed for a long time in the culture of the white population. In the 19th
century was a character/model of blackface introduced. Blackface is a
form of theatrical make-up used predominantly by non-black (mostly
white) performers to represent a caricature of a black person. This was
mainly used in minstrel shows. It gained popularity and contributed to
the spread of racial stereotypes such as the “happy-go-lucky darky on
the plantation” or the “dandified coon” (a highly insulting anti-black
caricature in which a black person is portrayed as a racoon which is
lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate buffoon). Early in
the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and
became a form in its own right, until the Civil Rights Movement of the
1960s came in the United States of America. Blackface promoted slavery and racial
stereotypical ideas and some people in the Netherlands see Black Pete as a form of black
face.
Modern tradition:
Information required from source 3 The
modern tradition is a collective event. Small children love the
tradition and the older children who know the secret that Saint Nicholas and Black Pete are
fake, try to keep the secret for themselves/try to not break the illusion and not spoil the
feast for the younger children. Older children also buy gifts and make surprises (creative
artworks with presents on or in them) for their family.
The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights:
Copied from source 12 But
just as the defense of traditions has grown stronger, so has the
criticism that Black Pete is a racist holdover from the Netherlands’s colonial past. In January
the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights sent a letter to the Dutch
government stating that Black Pete perpetuated the image of people of African descent as
second-class citizens and constituted a “living trace of past slavery.”
Copied from source 12The
Dutch government responded by saying that it regarded the Sinterklaas
tradition as a children’s celebration, that it was aware of the differences of opinion
concerning Black Pete, but that it was highly committed to combating discrimination in all
forms.
Thus even the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights thinks Black Pete is based
on slavery. However, the Dutch government admits that it is a sensible subject but rejects
the statement that it is “living trace of past slavery” because it is a tradition for young
children. This shows that the boundary of racism is very difficult to find and that a lot of
people and organisations have opposing thoughts about this subject.
The opinion of the classes:
44 pupils answered the survey. I asked the different classes the question do you think Black
Pete is racist? and the result are as follow:

Answers: Percentage: Pupils:

Yes 13,64% 6
No 70,45% 31
Neutral 15,91% 7
Total: 100% 44

I also asked why people consider the tradition to be racist or not. The majority thinks the
Black Pete is not racist. Their main arguments is that the tradition is specially for young
children who get happy from Black Pete. The children admire Black Pete, sometimes even
worship him/her. They never see the character as a slave and usually do not even know what
racism means. The pupils also mentioned that it is a tradition which has existed for a long
time and became part of our culture. If we change the skin colour of Black Pete then the
children will doubt whether Black Pete and Saint Nicholas are real and that will break the fun
of the tradition. Furthermore, pupils indicate that parents explain to their children that the
skin colour of Black Pete is black because of the soot/grime/dust in the chimneys which they
get on their face when they climb through them to deliver presents.
The opposite side/ one of the minor groups/the pupils who voted yes, have as main
arguments that it is racism because one white/blanc person is the boss over a couple of
black servants. They say a lot of dark tinted persons do not feel comfortable in the month
December because children for example call them Black Pete or look weird at them because
they do not have a costume of Black Pete on. They think the black skin colour is not really
racist but it is combined with stereotypical Negroid attributes for example big ear rings, dark
red lipstick This group of pupils also state that it is a small effort to not completely change
the skin colour but to put black stripes on their faces so parents can still tell their children
the black skin colour comes from chimneys.
The other minority of pupils are neutral and do not have a real/strong opinion about the
subject.
My family’s opinion:
My sister thinks it is not a racist tradition but that the tradition could have developed better.
She for instance thinks that it would be better if the skin of Black Pete is not inner black but
stripes of black while still hide the real identity of the people who play the role of Black Pete.
My mother thinks the way they look with earrings and lipstick have features/traits of the
Golden Age in which slavery was common and coloured persons were inferior to white/blanc
citizens.
Dutch population’s opinion:
Information required from source 4 Lisette van Vliet
has done research about what size/scale of the
Dutch population thinks Black Pete is racist. As you can see in the graph below the
percentage who indeed think Black Pete is racist has increased over the past few years. This
can be due to the increase in media attention about this subject or because of the increasing
amount of immigrants who came to the Netherlands.
Analysis and Discussion:
For several years this case has been on the news and some fierce discussions have occurred
at the parliament and at several television programs (think e.g. of ‘De wereld draait door’)
between people who think the tradition of Black Pete is racist and should be banned or
changed and the other/opposing side who things the tradition is not racist at all because it
for example is not meant to insult the black race. The media tried to look for new discussions
and different parties they could write about. Sometimes even being bias thereby giving one
sided information. There was for example a black person who was dressed like Saint
Nicholas, but he was arrested. In the discussions a lot of people say it was an act of
discrimination to arrest the man but actually the man had not got the sufficient papers
required to play as Saint Nicholas.
Another example is in 2011 in Dordrecht two campaigners/demonstrators named Quinsy
Gario and Jerry Afriyie were arrested because they wore a t-shirt with the text ‘Zwarte Piet is
Racisme’ on it. There have been a lot of discussions about this incident. Were these
demonstrators just expressing their opinion (thereby having the right of freedom of speech)
or was it an act of disrupting order. It is a difficult case to judge whether the police officer’s
did the right thing or not.
But the biggest question that plays a role here is when is something considered racist and
when not. Well we know what the definition of racism is, so we can now judge if the
tradition Black Pete is racist or not. The persons playing Black Pete are not being called
inferior because they are black. It rarely happens that black people get discriminated as a
result of the tradition. However, it can be highly irritating if young children call someone
Black Pete or if people feel offended when they look at Black Pete because of how that
character looks and acts.

Conclusion:
My conclusion follows that the tradition can be improved by not using inner black make-up
but by using a lot of stripes like ‘roetvegen’. By doing this dark tinted people can feel less
offended and the blanc people playing Black Pete can still be anonymous. In addition I still
do not consider the tradition as racist because none parties are being seen as inferior. We
now know the history of Saint Nicholas and that Black Pete was added later to the tradition.
However, we are not sure whether Black Pete originates from the idea of Black servants (like
the Moors) or not, but the tradition developed in a positive way and nowadays children see
Black Pete as a hero/friend.

Apendix:
Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus are two different historic figures.
Bibliography + Resources:
1. Scientific definition researched by Oxford
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/racism

2. Paul Faber, 04-12-2008, De geschiedenis van Sint-Nikolaas, Nemokennislink

https://www.nemokennislink.nl/publicaties/de-geschiedenis-van-sint-nicolaas/

3. Paul Faber, 04-12-2008, Het moderne Sinterklaasfeest, Nemokennislink

https://www.nemokennislink.nl/publicaties/het-moderne-sinterklaasfeest/

4. Gijs Rademaker,(researcher: Lisette van Vliet), 29-11-2017, Is Zwarte Piet racisme?,

EenVandaag

https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/panels/opiniepanel/alle-uitslagen/item/is-zwarte-piet-
racisme/
5. Last edited on 11-06-18, Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia, Blackface
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

Extra sources which I have read but not really used in the research:

6. Eva van Mossevelde, 05-12-2012, Zwarte Piet is niet racistisch, EenVandaag

https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/panels/jijvandaag/item/zwarte-piet-is-niet-racistisch/
7. Bert van Zantwijk, 29-10-2016, Zwarte Piet, wordpress

https://bertvanzantwijk.wordpress.com/2016/10/29/zwarte-piet/
8. Jaïr Cijntje, Zwarte Piet: wat is er nou precies racistisch aan?
https://www.ondertussen.nl/zwarte-piet-wat-is-er-nou-precies-racistisch-aan/
9. Becky Little, 1-12-2017, The History of Europe’s Most Contoversial Christmas Character,
National Geographic

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/black-pete-christmas-zwarte-piet-dutch/
10. Unknown, 04-11-2013, Is Zwarte Piet racistisch?, The Economist,
https://www.economist.com/europe/2013/11/04/is-zwarte-piet-racism
11. Somini Sengupta, 28-08-2015, U.N. Urges the Netherlands to Stop Portrayals of ‘Black
Pete’ Character, The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/29/world/europe/zwarte-piet-netherlands-united-
nations.html
 12. Arnon Grunberg, 04-12-2013, Why the Dutch love Black Pete, The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/opinion/why-the-dutch-love-black-pete.html
13. Daniel Boffey, 28-11-2017, Black Pete: extreme right appears to stroke Dutch
divisions, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/28/black-pete-extreme-right-appears-to-
stoke-dutch-divisions

Stefan de Reijer 4ve 17-6-2018