Updated December 23, 2016 12:49:05 The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany Saint Nicholas throughout the territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire or the countries that it influenced culturally. 9. Black Peter was also associated with pirates, a common threat to naughty Dutch children was that he would take them to a pirate’s hide out and beat them. [24] In the 1891 book Het Feest van Sinterklaas, the servant is named Pieter. St. Nicholas sent naughty children to him to be beaten. According to a story from the Legenda Aurea, retold by Eelco Verwijs in his 1863 monograph Sinterklaas, one of the miraculous deeds performed by Saint Nicholas after his death consisted of freeing a boy from slavery at the court of the "Emperor of Babylon" and delivering him back to his parents. [31] Nickelodeon in the Netherlands also decided to use a racially mixed group of actors to portray Piet in their holiday broadcasts instead of people in blackface. It may not display this or other websites correctly. [48] American essayist David Sedaris has written about the tradition,[49] and British comedian and activist Russell Brand has spoken negatively of it, the latter dubbing Zwarte Piet "a colonial hangover. Nowadays there is still not one universal image of Black Peter, but he has lost his large stick and is usually dressed in a Renaissance page style costume with short pants, stockings, and a cap with a large feather. Traditionally, Zwarte Piet is black because he is a Moor from Spain. Many shop owners have removed decorations containing Santa's helpers. ", "Onderzoek RTL Nieuws: Zwarte Piet moet zwart blijven". JavaScript is disabled. In 1850, the Amsterdam-based primary school teacher Jan Schenkman published the book Sint Nikolaas en zijn Knecht ("Saint Nicholas and his Servant" in English). It's the first Christmas without Grandma and a diffucult time for the family, until Gradpa (James Earl Jones, Star Wars, Field of Dream) decides to share a story with his ten-year-old grandson Terence. This is when presents and sweets are traditionally distributed to children. While our Santa flies on a sled, Saint Nicholas arrives by boat and then transfers to a white horse. "Black Pete: Cheese-Face to Partially Replace Blackface During Dutch Festivities", "Onderzoek: Zwarte Piet is genoeg aangepast", "The dark side of 'Zwarte Piet': A misunderstood tradition or racism in disguise? 81 per cent only supported a solely black Zwarte Piet with an additional 10 per cent supporting a majority of Zwarte Piets with a few soot-covered ones. [9] The Zwarte Piet characters appear only in the weeks before the Feast of Saint Nicholas, first when the saint is welcomed with a parade as he arrives in the country (generally by boat, having traveled from Madrid, Spain). The introduction of Zwarte Piet did coincide, by and large, with a change in the depiction of the Sinterklaas character. The most frequently mentioned reason of those who were in favour of a changing was to put an end to the discussion. [62][63] Others continued to make the case that Zwarte Piet is racist due to extreme undertones, among them that Zwarte Piet is a subservient slave and that the tradition enforces racial stereotypes. [58] According to a 2013 survey, upward of 90 per cent of the Dutch public do not perceive Zwarte Piet to be a racist character or associate him with slavery and are opposed to altering the character's appearance. [32] RTL Nederland made a similar decision in the autumn of 2016 and replaced the characters with actors with soot on their faces. [26], The most popular explanation that came to prominence in the later decades of the 20th century, Zwarte Piet's blackness is due to a permanent layer of soot on his body acquired during his many trips down the chimneys of the homes he visits. [42] In August 2020, Facebook updated its policies to ban depictions of blackface on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, including traditional blackface depictions of Zwarte Piet. "In a 2012 study by the municipality of Amsterdam, shows that majority of respondents do not consider the Zwarte Piet character to be racist or that the character is racists toward others, but this differs greatly when comparing ethnic groups", "VN wil einde Sinterklaasfeest - Binnenland | Het laatste nieuws uit Nederland leest u op Telegraaf.nl [binnenland]". Black Peter, or Zwarte Piet in Dutch, began in Holland in the 15th century. There have been protests of black people against Pete. In the nineteenth century, at the height of imperialism, he was alternately portrayed as an Indian and an African in traditional dress. Named Black Peter, this companion was the physical opposite of St. Nicholas. People line the road to greet Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, and his "Swarte Piet" (Black Pete) sidekicks in Amsterdam on Nov. 17, 2013. [39] That November, a group called Kick Out Zwarte Piet were attacked during a meeting. The holiday is celebrated on 6 December in Belgium. After the introduction of Zwarte Piet as Sinterklaas' servant, both characters adopted more gentle personas.[20]. The real St Nicholas was the … The gift bringer is known as Saint Nicholas. The event is televised, and great crowds gather at the waterfront to greet him. [46], Outside of the Netherlands, the character has received criticism from a wide variety of international publications and organizations. In the Netherlands, the tradition is slightly different. With Hume Cronyn, James Earl Jones, Flex Alexander, Tempestt Bledsoe. So on one of the tanks rode St. Nicholas and one Black Peter, while multiple Black Peters rode on the other tanks. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. At the time “Black Peter” was a euphemism for the devil, and it was thought that St. Nicholas, being a representative of God, had beaten the devil and made him his servant. Traditionally, Zwarte Piet is black because he is a Moor from Spain. On this occasion, a man portraying Saint Nicholas had been accompanied by another described as "Pieter me Knecht ..., a frizzy haired Negro" who brought a large basket filled with presents. You are using an out of date browser. The book remained in print until 1950 and has had considerable influence on the current celebration. [21] Although in Schenkman's book the servant was nameless, author Joseph Albert Alberdingk Thijm provided him with the name "Pieter-me-knecht" in a handwritten note to E.J. [53], In the early 2010s, a large majority of the overall populace in both the Netherlands and Belgium was in favor of retaining the traditional Zwarte Piet character. [68] A December 2020 survey by EenVandaag saw 55 per cent of those surveyed in support of the traditional appearance, 34 per cent supported changing the appearance of Zwarte Piet and 11 per cent were unsure. Driving down St. Nicholas Avenue, his grandfather begins the story of "Santa & Pete." Windows were smashed, nearby vehicles were vandalized, and fireworks were shot into the building where the group was planning protests in 12 communities that still feature traditional versions of the character. Santa Claus and Black Pete on Mars, Curiosity Sol 538 6 oct. 2019 by leon elshout, roodgoudvanparvaim.nl, – aurichalcum2018 (at) protonmail.com In the first picture I tend to see Santa Claus and Black Pete on Mars, embracing each other (Nasa, Curiosity cited in Burnett, Sol 538). The idea that Santa doesn't work alone, but has a partner who is actively part of what he does is great, as is the fact that Pete is a Moor, so has dark skin. Tall and gaunt with a dark beard and hair, Black Peter was associated with the punitive side of Christmas. But the most different thing about him is his help. [27], Throughout the latter half of the 2010s, communities and various organizations across the Netherlands and elsewhere opted to use either the traditional version of Zwarte Piet in celebrations or variations, most commonly the "sooty" version. [59] This correlated to a 2015 study among Dutch children aged 3 to 7 which showed that they perceive Zwarte Piet to be a fantastical clownish figure rather than a black person. "[41], Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated in a parliamentary debate on 5 June 2020 that he had changed his opinion on the issue and now better understands why many people consider the character's appearance to be racist. Smeared on makeup simulates soot smudges and an actor portraying the character retains their own natural skin tone. [60] However, the number of Dutch people who are willing to change certain details of the character (for example his lips and hair) is reported to be growing. 2015 enquiry shows children perceive Zwarte Piet as a clown rather than black. St. Nicholas. Directed by Duwayne Dunham. You must log in or register to reply here. Because of ongoing controversies surrounding the character, many schools, businesses, and other organizations across the Netherlands have begun changing Zwarte Piet's clothing and makeup or phasing the character out entirely. [16] According to a long-standing theory first proposed by Karl Meisen,[17] Zwarte Piet and his equivalents in Germanic Europe were originally presented as one or more enslaved demons forced to assist their captor. 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