Netherlands' Black Pete: Racist or Harmless?

Black Pete, the helper to the Dutch Santa Claus known as Sinterklass, is one of the most common sights of the holiday season in the Netherlands. This year, however, Black Pete has brought something new with him besides gifts for good little girls and boys: Charges of racism.

In a controversy that rocked the Netherlands this year, some have accused the normally-benign figure of Black Pete as being a racist symbol that should either be changed or done away with.

The uproar was similar to what might happen in the United States if Frosty the Snowman was accused of being a white power symbol. Sinterklass is said to spend most of the year in Spain. In November he returns to the Netherlands by steamboat, which signals the start of the Dutch holiday season and is celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the country. Sinterklass then supposedly rides around the country until the night of December 5th. He then visits the rooftops of all the Dutch homes, and sends his Black Petes down the chimneys with gifts for goods children.

As a symbol, Sinterklass is fine; as a popular figure, he is tall, somewhat stand-offish, and stern. So the jolly Black Petes have become the unofficial ambassadors of Christmas, as ubiquitous as mall Santas as they show up on street corners, in stores, and at office parties throughout the country.

In their jester-like costumes, with gold hoop earrings and curly black hair, Black Petes are often played by performers in blackface. This has led to many black children being cruelly taunted by their peers, with cries of "When are you going to entertain us"? and similar jabs quite common.

This year, a panel that advises the United Nations on human rights has questioned whether Black Pete is a racist symbol. People in the Netherlands have passionately weighed in on both sides of the question, and even Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, felt compelled to address the issue, saying "…Black Pete is black, and we can't change that."

Although the origins of the character are unclear, some claim that Black Pete is linked to minstrel shows in the United States. Originally he was Sinterklass's tough-guy enforcer, being used to threaten kids with being good or else they could expect a visit from the ominous Black Pete, who might well stuff the kids in a sack and drag them off to Spain.

Today Black Pete is jolly and clownish, and used by Dutch merchants everywhere to sell their Christmas wares. While Christmas itself is often a low-key holiday, the weeks before it account for some $675 million in sales according to Business Week, with much of it coming on the arrival day of Sinterklass from Spain. Black Petes roam the streets of Dutch cities and towns, handing out cookies and generally serving as heralds for the upcoming holidays.

Understandably, the issue of whether Black Pete is a racist symbol has ignited passion on both sides of the issue. Those who proclaim Black Pete as racist are accused of ruining childhoods, threatened and even arrested. Black Pete supporters are legion, citing harmless tradition as their best defense and claiming attacks on the figure as racist as another example of political correctness gone wild.

Although December 5th has come and gone in the Netherlands, this certainly seems like a controversy that's going to reoccur in upcoming years.

So what do you think? Is Black Pete racist or harmless?