On Zwarte Piet (the Black Pete) A very interesting discussion at - TopicsExpress



          

On Zwarte Piet (the Black Pete) A very interesting discussion at Cal campus today on the issue of Zwarte Piet (the Black Pete) in the St. Nicholas festival in the Netherlands. The main question was; does Zwarte Piet symbolizes racism and discrimination over the Blackness. In what extend the Blackness of the Black Pete represents slavery during Dutch Colonial period. During the discussion, I was thinking about bring this discussion beyond the Netherlands and the USAs slavery conversation to the Dutch and Malukan relationship during colonial time. For me, the relationship of white St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet is beyond the blackness and slavery. Rather, it is a representation of being and non-being. The relationship between the Dutch and its helpers. When the Dutch established KNIL (Koninklijk Nederland Indisch Leger), the colonial government recruited thousands of young Malukan (the Black Dutch or Londo Ireng) many of them died in the Dutch colonial wars. However, the Malukan KNIL could not reach the high rank in the Dutch colonial Army. Not matter how great was a Malukan KNIL, his position was lower than a Dutch officer. Just like Zwarte Piet, Malukan KNIL was just a helper who fought for the master, the white Dutch.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 07:43:15 +0000

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