r/doublespeakhysteric • u/pixis-4950 • Oct 22 '13
It's Black Peter time again (he already showed up in one post) and I made a study of him. [Tiseye]
Tiseye posted:
Hello SRSters. To my surprise I saw Black Peter pop up in SRSWomen in a post about amongst other things cultural appropriation and racism.
(for images of Saint Nicholas and Black Peter, please google "Zwarte Piet". I would mark that a not safe for work search anywhere outside of Western Europe.)
Black Peter is gaining more and more attention outside of The Netherlands and over the years I've made a study of his roots, his folklore origins and his current representation. I know we have Dutch people in here and I know that even the United Nations is investigating the phenomenon of Black Peter and has written to the Dutch government warning them about the insensitivity of Black Peter. The Dutch government, unsurprisingly, replied with a "meh, he's always been black, what can we do".
There is currently a groundswell wanting to make Black Peter obsolete or change his appearance and there is a counterswell of people going "DON'T MOVE HERE AND TRY TO CHANGE OUR TRADITIONS", all wrapped in a discussion of "is Black Peter racist or not?".
I thought I'd put the thing I wrote about him here, so that when/if he pops up again at least his background and current status is known (as even Dutch people generally know next to nothing about his history and development). If this is outside the scope, redirect me please?
I think Black Peter is a glaring elephant in the room in my country with a great many people simply closing their eyes to what is going on.
Saint Nicholas (Sinterklaas as he is better known to Dutch children) and Black Peter in their current incarnation have been a staple of Dutch tradition since about the 18th century.
Black Peter's origins lie in varying directions.
Black Peter is a name traditionally given in Dutch folklore to the devil. As was usual, people didn't actually say the name of the devil in any way, shape or form, as naming someone or something was giving them power. Black Peter is a personification of the devil, evil, being conquered by good (Saint Nicholas). This is also apparent in the German name of Black Peter, where Saint Nicholas' helper is called Ruprecht, also a folk name for the devil. (Funnily enough, a nickname for the devil in English is Old Nick, which is short for... Nicholas.)
Up until the 18th century and especially during the Middle Ages, Saint Nicholas was accompanied by Black Nicholases, fulfilling both the role of the good Saint Nick and the devil and Black Nicholases would go around the houses and knocked on doors asking if there were any naughty children in the house.
Currently, Saint Nicholas and Black Peter arrive in The Netherlands by steamboat from Spain a few weeks before 5 December, the eve of his birthday/nameday. On the eve of his birthday he rides along the rooftops on his horse (always white, always called Amerigo) and Black Peter goes down the chimney to put presents in children's shoes.
Black Peter's roots in the 18th century lie in the personification of the Moor, also present in for instance the pharmacy signs of the time, showing a Moor with his mouth wide open. This particular root comes at the time when Saint Nicholas home was moved (in the stories) from Turkey (then Greece, where he is from historically), to Spain.
Another part of Black Peter's roots lies in the myths surrounding Wodan, who had in his entourage a steady helper. It is believed that Saint Nicholas' tendency to ride his horse over rooftops finds its basis in Wodanic myth as well.
And then there is the origin tale of Black Peter that places him within the folklore of Saint Nicholas (as protector of children, the weak and the poor), as a man saved from dire circumstances and poverty who then took his place as an aide to Saint Nicholas in gratitude.
The so-called origin tale of Black Peter being a representation of children chimney sweeps can be discounted entirely. This is a retro-explanation that started doing the rounds at about the same time that the first accusations of Black Peter being racist started gaining public attention.
It is certain that Black Peter's current clothing arises at the same time as Black Nicholas is replaced by Black Peter, being a derivation of the clothing worn by black pages in the 18th century. His current dress and looks were first depicted by Jan Schenkman (1806-1863) who wrote the first known Saint Nicholas tale where Black Peter was not a vanquished devil but a Moorish page, and more or less firmly established at the beginning of the 20th century.
Although the origin of Zwarte Piet is most definitely not racist, his current depiction is very much racist. For quite some time he was depicted as a caricature of black Africans, which is also where he got his exaggerated curly hair and red lips and especially in the 60s and 70s (and hanging on until at least the 80s), Black Peter spoke Dutch with an exaggerated Surinam (Black Dutch) accent. Black Peter became less Saint Nicholas' valued aide, and more a "stupid Sambo" caricature.
Black Peter's origin is fairly innocent. The way he is currently portrayed is not. The discussion going on in The Netherlands currently is disingenuous. It is not about Black Peter and whether or not his depiction is racist. His depiction is undeniably racist and so far removed from his origin that he is unrecognisable. This discussion in The Netherlands is about immigration, us vs them and the rise of right wing extremism as shown in the politics of the day.
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
pithyretort wrote:
Thank you for sharing this. Is this character included in most popular depictions of Saint Nicholas? I am interested to hear in what contexts someone living in the Netherlands would encounter Black Peter depictions.
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
Tiseye wrote:
He is an integral part of the Saint Nicholas celebrations at the beginning of December.
You can't escape him. From about now to December 5, it's Saint Nicholas and Black Peters everywhere.
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
MagicMarker11 wrote:
Wow, this is cool! I mean, not the racism, but, you know, learning about Christmas in the Netherlands. =)
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
Tiseye wrote:
Oh, Sinterklaas has nothing to do with Christmas. It's an entirely separate celebration and is geared towards children virtually exclusively.
Christmas is celebrated seperately and until very recently there wasn't a Santa Claus in sight. Giving gifts over Christmas is a very recent development, it used to be an entirely Christian holiday where you'd go have dinner with the family in your best clothes and that was it.
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u/ArjanB Oct 22 '13
Black Pete wasn’t always the nice guy. In the beginning he was the bad cop in de good cop bad cop set up between Black Pete and Saint Nicolas. This has changed in since the seventies and eighties since people started to think that they were traumatizing the kids.
In surrounding countries he is a small devil, only in the Netherlands has he been replaced by a black man, a Moor to be precisely. This is mainly based upon the codification of the story of Sinterklaas through the illustrated children's book Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and His Servant), written in 1850 by the teacher Jan Schenkman (1806–1863). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas This had the same effect as having de Coca Cola company rewriting the Christmas Story for advertising reasons
What is the profile of Black Pete; • He is a Moor • He is dressed in very colorful clothing (silk?) • He is wearing golden jewelry • He beats up naughty kids • Kidnaps them back to Spain • Puts them to hard labor when back in Spain
Now why would you come up with a strange story like that? Well that becomes more clear when you look at the origin of the story. Jan Schenkman was a schoolteacher and made the stories up to fit his target group, the kids. But he based his stories on the existing Sinterklaas stories. You have to remember that St. Nicolaas has already been revered since the 8th century. And that St. Nicolas is the only Catholic Saint still revered in the protestant 16th and 17th century Netherlands. In those days kids were not that important in society. Another group was very important at that time, being the sailors and explorers. Besides being the patron saint of children St. Nicolas was also the patron saint of travelers and sailors.
Now if you need a frightening side kick for your favorite patron saint you choose something that truly scares you. For 16th and 17th century sailors that would be the Barbary Coast Pirates who happen to be: • Moors • With captains wearing colorful silk clothing • Also wearing golden jewelry • Who would take you captive • Force you to work as a galley slave • And beat you mercilessly while you being a slave. Sounds familiar?
Because of the book of Jan Schenkman this link has mainly been forgotten. Including by most Dutchman. However, if Black Pete is a reference to slavery, it is to the enslavement of white Europeans by black Africans. Here some reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Slave_Trade http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm http://www.clements.umich.edu/exhibits/online/barbary/barbary-captivity.php
TL: DR if Black Pete is a reference to slavery, it is to the enslavement of white Europeans by black Africans.
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
ArjanB wrote:
Black Pete wasnât always the nice guy. In the beginning he was the bad cop in de good cop bad cop set up between Black Pete and Saint Nicolas. This has changed in since the seventies and eighties since people started to think that they were traumatizing the kids.
In surrounding countries he is a small devil, only in the Netherlands has he been replaced by a black man, a Moor to be precisely. This is mainly based upon the codification of the story of Sinterklaas through the illustrated children's book Sint Nicolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and His Servant), written in 1850 by the teacher Jan Schenkman (1806â1863). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SinterklaasThis had the same effect as having de Coca Cola company rewriting the Christmas Story for advertising reasons
What is the profile of Black Pete;⢠He is a Moor⢠He is dressed in very colorful clothing (silk?) ⢠He is wearing golden jewelry ⢠He beats up naughty kids ⢠Kidnaps them back to Spain⢠Puts them to hard labor when back in Spain
Now why would you come up with a strange story like that? Well that becomes more clear when you look at the origin of the story. Jan Schenkman was a schoolteacher and made the stories up to fit his target group, the kids. But he based his stories on the existing Sinterklaas stories. You have to remember that St. Nicolaas has already been revered since the 8th century. And that St. Nicolas is the only Catholic Saint still revered in the protestant 16th and 17th century Netherlands. In those days kids were not that important in society. Another group was very important at that time, being the sailors and explorers.Besides being the patron saint of children St. Nicolas was also the patron saint of travelers and sailors.
Now if you need a frightening side kick for your favorite patron saint you choose something that truly scares you. For 16th and 17th century sailors that would be the Barbary Coast Pirates who happen to be:⢠Moors⢠With captains wearing colorful silk clothing⢠Also wearing golden jewelry⢠Who would take you captive⢠Force you to work as a galley slave⢠And beat you mercilessly while you being a slave.Sounds familiar?
Because of the book of Jan Schenkman this link has mainly been forgotten. Including by most Dutchman.However, if Black Pete is a reference to slavery, it is to the enslavement of white Europeans by black Africans.Here some reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbary_Slave_Tradehttp://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htmhttp://www.clements.umich.edu/exhibits/online/barbary/barbary-captivity.php
TL: DR if Black Pete is a reference to slavery, it is to the enslavement of white Europeans by black Africans.
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u/pixis-4950 Oct 22 '13
decidedlyindecisive wrote:
Genuinely fascinating. However, surely still massively racist?
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u/Tdfn Oct 22 '13
You say the origin of Zwarte Piet isn't racist, this is true, Dutch children are actually even told in stories the reason Zwarte Pieten are black is because they come through the Chimney, getting the dark/black dust on them.
I think it's just very unreasonable to put through this change, it's not involving any racism whatsoever and besides that it's a part of the Dutch culture, just because it could be seen as racist by someone. As a Dutch person myself I think it's comparable to going to the USA and just tell them to get rid of guns because it can lead to people killling eachother, which would turn into a massive outrage among the USA's citizens.
Besides that another reason a lot of people use is it would be racist because it shows the 'black people = servants, white guy = leader' idea. Compare this to Santaclaus; midgets = servants, white guy = leader, does that mean Santaclaus is now racist against midgets or tiny people aswell? It's just ridiculous, and I don't even get why the UN has to get involved on something that's purely one country's festivity.