After 15 years, Dutch anti-blackface group declares victory


By AFP
December 4, 2025


Santa Claus is coming to town - Copyright ANP/AFP ROB ENGELAAR

Stéphanie HAMEL

Cherished Christmas tradition for some, profoundly insulting for others, the Dutch character “Black Pete”, a servant who helps Santa Claus distribute presents, has divided opinion in The Netherlands for decades.

Until recently, Santa’s arrival on the eve of Saint Nicolas Day (December 5) — a major Yuletide celebration for the Dutch — was marked by many people dressing up as Black Pete, complete with blacked-out faces and often afro wigs, creole earrings and make-up to plump out lips.

Stung by the caricature that harks back to Dutch colonial times, Jerry Afriyie founded the “Kick Out Black Pete” (KOZP) movement in 2010 to fight racism and is now wrapping up with the battle won.

“Around this time of the year, you would pass hundreds of Black Petes (Zwarte Piet in Dutch), hundreds of white people in blackface. Today, it is different,” he told AFP.

“Even small children are correcting me. When I say ‘Zwarte Piet’, they say ‘Piet,’ added the 44-year-old poet in an interview in Amsterdam.

In 2010, Afriyie’s foundation “Nederlands Wordt Beter” (“The Netherlands is improving”) set three objectives.

They wanted Dutch colonial history, heavily dependent on slavery, taught in schools, an annual commemoration for the victims and Black Pete to get the boot.

KOZP activists organised peaceful protests whenever Santa came to town with Black Petes in tow. Some were pelted with eggs or even fireworks by Black Pete backers.

The movement hit global headlines, tarnishing the country’s reputation for tolerance, and reached new heights amid the 2020 “Black Lives Matter” protests.

Then Prime Minister Mark Rutte — who had said for years that “Black Pete is just black” — urged the tradition to end.



– ‘This is not normal’ –



Afriyie explained that Black Pete was a figment of the imagination of Jan Schenkman, who popularised the story of Santa Claus in the Netherlands.

Black Pete is “actually a black servant. He (Schenkman) himself said it. It’s a black servant serving a white master,” said Afriyie.

“And I think that in 2025, it’s uncalled for.”

The movement’s goal was to “de-normalise” Black Pete and the blackface tradition, said Afriyie.

“It was as normal as Dutch pancakes. And we felt like, hey, this is not normal. It’s hurting people. A lot of children feel insecure,” he said.

KOZP has been so successful in persuading organisers — often municipal officials — to make the Santa arrival inclusive that it held no protests this year.

According to an Ipsos survey, the percentage of Dutch wanting to maintain the tradition has dropped to 38 percent, compared to 65 percent in 2016.

Sporting a “modern Pete” outfit of a long purple wig, spangles and a face lightly dusted with soot, Gipsy Peters told AFP: “It’s good to keep traditions alive but we can adjust them a little.”

“It should be about children and not about colour or something,” said the 35-year-old, who works in a school.



– ‘It’s not about racism’ –



However, not everyone agrees and maintaining the Black Pete tradition has become a rallying cry for far-right leader Geert Wilders among others.

Several activists in a recent anti-immigration rally in The Hague dressed in the “traditional” Black Pete outfit.

Away from official celebrations, many Dutch still apply blackface as part of the costume.

Jaimy Sanders, 30, who works in a plumbing firm, told AFP: “It’s not about racism. It’s about fun for the children.”

“And I really don’t care if they’re purple, green or whatever colour. As long as we can talk about the children and not the adults who make such a big deal of it.”

Afriyie said much progress had been made, although the war against racism was not won in the Netherlands, still wrestling with its colonial past.

“You have to understand, being a black person in the Netherlands, we have seen it all,” he said.

“I think that this country has made a huge step in fighting racism. But we are not there yet.”

“And it’s good to hold the country accountable for the remaining fight that needs to be fought instead of resting it on the shoulders of a few.”

Researchers look to find why the Dutch are still holding to the traditional image of Black Pete despite the criticism

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE POLISH ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

 

IMAGE: SINTERKLAAS & BLACK PETE view more 

CREDIT: WERNER WILLEMSEN

Analogous to Santa Klaus in the West, every December, the saint Sinterklaas brings gifts to the good children in the Netherlands. However, the latter is not assisted by a Christmas elf, but by what appears as a ‘devilish’ helper, called Black Pete. 

Even though Pete’s face is said to be black due to the soot he picks as he jumps down the chimneys, in the Netherlands, there has been growing concern that the figure is largely racist. Black people in the Netherlands - mainly of Caribbean descent - have often reported being insulted by being called ‘Black Pete’.

Apart from the character’s stereotypical looks (e.g., black or brown face paint, red lips, golden hoop earrings, and afro wigs), he also plays a subservient role as Sinterklaas’ helper, whose task is to make sure that the presents are in order and delivered. 

As Black people in the country are continuously calling for Black Pete to have his image changed, the ethnic Dutch population remains convinced that the character is an innocent part of the culture and the lore. 

Now, researchers at the Leiden University: Daudi van Veen, Rosanneke A. G. Emmen and Judi Mesman, report on their study on whether it is a tradition or social hierarchy that the ethnic Dutch wish to preserve. Their scientific paper was published in the peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal Social Psychological Bulletin.

In their study, the researchers used data from an earlier Dutch survey meant to assess various items, including national identification, self-esteem, preference for social hierarchy, self-stereotypes referring to the Dutch, and feelings for Dutch caricatures. 

Interestingly, the research concluded that national identification, but not preference for social dominance, was what could significantly be associated with positive attitudes towards the Sinterklaas festivities. In the meantime, it was both national identification and preference for social hierarchy that could be correlated with positive attitudes towards Black Pete.

“These findings suggest that among ethnic Dutch people, acceptance of the unequal treatment of minority groups is related to resistance to changing the appearance of Black Pete,” conclude the authors of the present study.

  

CAPTION

Black lives matter and Black Pete demonstration (Leeuwarden, Netherlands)

CREDIT

Arnold Bartels

Research article: 

van Veen, D., Emmen, R. A. G., & Mesman, J. (2022). National Identification, Social Dominance Orientation, and Attitudes Towards Black Pete in the Netherlands: Person- and Variable-Centered Analyses. Social Psychological Bulletin, 17, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.32872/spb.7853

---

JOURNAL

Social Psychological Bulletin

DOI

10.32872/spb.7853 

ARTICLE TITLE

National Identification, Social Dominance Orientation, and Attitudes Towards Black Pete in the Netherlands: Person- and Variable-Centered Analyses

GOOD NEWS 

Dutch PM deems 'Black Pete' tradition racist

Mark Rutte, who once defended blackface as tradition, has now said he wants the custom to disappear. The decision comes as solidarity protests take hold in the Netherlands following the killing of George Floyd.

THE DUTCH USED SLAVERY AS THE USA DID TO BUILD CAPITALISM, ALLOWING THEM TO CREATE THE FIRST BOURSE, STOCK EXCHANGE. SO YES BLACK PETER ORIGINATES IN THIS PERIOD OF SLAVERY, AND RISE OF CALVINISM IN THE NETHERLANDS.

http://pombo.free.fr/tawney1922simil.pdf



Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Friday that he no longer wants the Netherlands to celebrate the Saint Nicholas tradition of "Black Pete," whereby white people in blackface, afro wigs and exaggerated red lipsticks portray delinquent Moorish slaves from Spain.

Rutte described his new view point during a parliamentary debate on Thursday about anti-racism demonstrations in solidarity with US demonstrations after American George Floyd — an unarmed black man — died in police custody in Minneapolis.

Rutte said his attitude towards "Black Pete," known in the Netherlands as "Zwarte Piet," had changed since 2013. At the time, the prime minister had said: "Black Pete is just black and I can't do much about that." Rutte said he now hopes that the tradition will disappear in the Netherlands.

Watch video  Erik van Muiswinkel defends the Black Pete tradition in the Netherlands

'No more Black Petes… in a few years' 

In the Dutch pre-Christmas tradition known as Sinterklaas, the revered Saint Nicholas — who is portrayed as white — brings gifts to children accompanied by his ensemble of disobedient helpers — "Black Petes."

Rutte said that since 2013 he had met many people, including "small children, who said 'I feel terribly discriminated (against) because Pete is black'… I thought, that's the last thing that we want" in a holiday intended for children.

"I expect in a few years there will be no more Black Petes," Rutte said.

Supporters of the tradition argue that Pete is a fantasy character who does not portray any race.

Racism a 'systemic problem' in the Netherlands

Linda Nooitmeer, chairwoman of the National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy, said Rutte's comments were important in a country that has a problem with acknowledging racism.

"The magnitude of a leader in a country stating this is enormous," she said, according to Reuters.
"You can have all the legislation you want ... but if the people in power, the leader of the country, doesn't seem to support it — and that's what it looked like in 2013 when he said that about Black Pete — then the struggle will be harder."

Anti-racism demonstrations honouring Floyd took place in Amsterdam and Rotterdam this week, with more upcoming protests scheduled.

Rutte acknowledged on Wednesday that discrimination is a "systematic problem" in the Netherlands.

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up to receive it directly here.

Date 05.06.2020
Author Melissa Sou-Jie Van Brunnersum
Related Subjects The Hague
Keywords Netherlands, Mark Rutte, Black Pete, racism

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3dJqF

NETHERLANDS
'Black Pete': Dismantling a racist tradition

Astrid Benölken
12/05/2022

December 5, 2022

Over the past decade, attitudes have changed towards the blackface figure accompanying Saint Nicholas in the Netherlands. But the debate is still on.

https://p.dw.com/p/4KPUJ

The arrival of Sinterklaas, the Dutch figure based on Saint Nicholas, is celebrated with different festivities in the Netherlands. Starting in mid-November, crowds of children and parents enthusiastically gather to greet the saint as he arrives in their city or village by steamboat, horse or even hot air balloon.

Landing with him are his little helpers, the so-called Zwarte Piets ("Black Pete"), traditionally depicted as a character with dark skin.

In Amsterdam alone, hundreds of Piets join Sinterklaas on his boat, or out in the streets, handing out Peppernut cookies, dancing, waving and fooling around.

They are everywhere until the eve of December 6, handing out presents or sneaking them into children's shoes. They even report for their own daily news show on TV.

Controversial blackfacing

For activists like Jerry Afriyie, November and December is the most difficult time of the year. That is because Zwarte Piet is usually played by white Dutch people who paint their face black, might wear afro or curly wigs, paint their lips plump, and often wore golden earrings in the past.

For Afriyie, this is clear-cut blackfacing, a racist display of Black people that should have long been abolished. Not only does it make Black people the target of mockery, he also sees the tradition as a symbol of the Netherlands' colonial past — and the lack of historical reappraisal of it.

The controversy surrounding the Zwarte Piet character has been growing in the country for years. But for fans of the figure like Marc Giling, the accusations of racism are misleading and "a threat to one of the most important traditions from the Netherlands." Giling himself has dressed up as Zwarte Piet for parades in the past and is one of the founders of the Sint & Pietengilde, a community of Zwarte Piet supporters.

Decades of complaints

Within the Dutch Black community, Zwarte Piet has been viewed critically for decades, explains Mitchell Esajas, an anthropologist and founder of the Black Archives in Amsterdam.

Historian Elisabeth Koning has researched the roots of the Black Pete figureImage: Privat

In the 1980s, for example, Dutch-Surinamese actor Gerda Havertong told children on an episode of Sesame Street: "I'm tired of being called Zwarte Piet all the time." But overall, complaints like these fell on deaf ears, historian Elisabeth Koning says.

Then the 2010s came around and the first protests gained traction.

By that time, smartphones and social media allowed images of the figure to be seen worldwide, creating additional support for the new generation of Black Dutch people expressing their disapproval.

"We have every right to be seen as fully Dutch people — just like every other child born in this country. We deserve the same respect, the same opportunities, the same space to be able to be heard," says Jerry Afriyie.

In 2011, along with others, he mobilized a first successful wave of protests. As part of an art installation, he walked through Dutch cities with a T-shirt and posters denouncing the racism of the figure.

Afriyie and his group were violently arrested during Sinterklaas' arrival to the city of Dordrecht, and eyewitnesses filmed the scene and the disproportionate level of force used on the activists. The protest movement slowly took off.

Protesters of theAnti-Zwarte-Piet movement have received death threats in the past, and their actions are still met with violent reactions.

 

Protesting against Black Pete can be dangerous

Image: Imago/Paulo Amorim

In November this year, activists of the Kick out Zwarte Piet initiative and Amnesty International were attacked as they gathered to demonstrate during the fest of Sinterklaas' arrival to Staphorst, where Zwarte Piet is still very common. A mob of Zwarte Piets stopped the activists on the streets, threw eggs at them and demolished their cars.

Blackface or a dark devil figure?

Zwarte Piet supporter Giling explicitly distances himself from mobs and being put into "a political right corner."

But he believes there shouldn't be a blackface debate in the first place. According to him, it's rather a misunderstanding. Black Pete is not based on Black people, he claims, but rather derives from pagan folklore.

Just like the German Krampus, a demon-like dark figure accompanying Saint Nicholas, the Dutch Sinterklaas figure was originally accompanied by a dark creature that eventually took a human shape — the only thing remnant of that being the paint on the face that was "coincidentally" black.

Due to these roots, Zwarte Piet cannot be racist, Giling argues.

"There are prints with devil-like depictions of Krampus — definitely, I agree," historian Koning says. But that doesn't change the fact that the present-day depiction of Zwarte Piet, as the likeness of a Black Moor from Spain, started appearing in the 19th century, she adds.

The Krampus figure has little to do with Black Pete, says historian Elisabeth Koning

Image: dapd

"Culture doesn't develop in a vacuum," Koning says. Blackfacing as a stereotypical depiction of Black people was not an isolated phenomenon of American Minstrel shows, but was also very common in the Netherlands as a former colonial power.

'Chimney Pete' replaces Black Pete

By now, in most schools, at many parades and on TV, Black Petes have been replaced by so-called Schoorsteenpieten, or Chimney Petes. Their faces are dirtied with soot, resulting from their trips through the chimney to deliver presents.

Some cities have also started including grey, yellow or purple colored Petes to their parades in addition to black ones.

Afriyie claims that he does not care about what the change to Zwarte Piet will look like — as long as all the racist elements are gone, and the Netherlands doesn't end up with a "Zwarte Piet Light."

Giling also says that he does not mind change. He however believes that it might take away from the magic if Black Petes wear less make-up, since children could recognize them. Also, he also does not see the need to find a compromise, since he doesn't agree with the blackface criticism in the first place.

But for Afriyie, it remains clear: "If the tradition is destroyed when we take out the racism, then it is a tradition we should have never handed over to our children."

When the protests began in 2011, nine out of 10 Dutch people thought that the appearance of Zwarte Piet was alright.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who had even dressed up as Zwarte Piet himself several times, said: "Zwarte Piet is just black."

Today, about half of the Dutch think that the figure of Zwarte Piet needs to be changed.

And Rutte, who is still prime minister to this day, said after the protests over the death of George Floyd that he too had changed his mind. He doesn't want to ban the depiction of Zwarte Piet — but he believes that in a few years from now, the traditional depiction of the character will have disappeared on its own.

This article was originally written in German.

BLACK PETER ORIGINATES WITH THE RISE OF THE DUTCH IMPERIAL FLEET, ITS ROLE IN THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE RISE OF HOLLAND AND ITS BOURSE (STOCK EXCHANGE) DURING THE 15TH CENTURY AT THE BEGINING OF CAPITALISM IN EUROPE

EP

Dutch online store to halt sales depicting ‘Black Pete’
Activists say the character from the children’s holiday is a racist stereotype. 

The sale of Black Pete products will be halted by Bol | Valerie Kuypers/AFP via Getty Images

By HANNE COKELAERE
8/19/20

Online retailer Bol.com will ban products that reference Zwarte Piet or Black Pete, a character from a popular children's holiday, it announced Wednesday.

The company will also drop 'Black' from the character's name and will only refer to the character as "Piet" from late September.

Bol.com is a leading online store in the Netherlands and Belgium, where the winter tradition of Sinterklaas has come under fire for including a character called “Black Pete,” a blacked-up helper many see as a racist stereotype.

"Bol.com is a store for every one of us. ... Feeling welcome cannot be reconciled with an assortment that encourages discrimination/hate and is therefore experienced as hurtful," the web store said in a statement.

The retailer's announcement comes in the wake of anti-racism protests that began in the U.S. after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by the police in May. The protests also spread through Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands.

Bol.com said it will halt sales of books, movies or toys that depict or reference Black Pete as a "stereotypical caricature." Costumes of the character will remain available on the condition that they don't include caricatural elements such as a black wig, golden earrings or a ruff, it said.

The platform carved out an exception for products that are important from a historical or educational perspective, for instance books explaining the history of the character. It may decide to keep those online, but add a label to highlight their content as controversial, it said.

The web shop banned pictures containing blackface last year.

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