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“Now that everything is done digitally,” says student Levi Ommen, “it is easier to close yourself off.” Normally Ommen, she studies international relations, would protest with Kick Out Zwarte Piet on the day of the entry of Sinterklaas. This year she is at home in The Hague. “If you know: this is happening in my town, then as an activist you have to expose yourself to it. Now that you see Zwarte Pieten in fewer and fewer shops, and The Hague no longer subsidizes entries with Zwarte Pieten, you have to be confronted less with the racist caricature. ”
It is relatively quiet on the street, the culture battle for the color of Piet is still raging online. The arrival of Sinterklaas, which would take place this weekend, can be seen on screens this year due to corona. In recent years, the entry has often been the backdrop for demonstrations for and against Zwarte Piet; such as in 2017 with the ‘blocking Frisians’ near Dokkum, and fireworks throwing hooligans in 2018 in Eindhoven. Last year, Sinterklaas and his horse were almost ground up in various places between the two camps, and a meeting of the Kick Out Zwarte Piet action group in The Hague was attacked by pro-Piet activists with clubs.
Also read: These people got institutional racism on the political agenda
Saturday did not lead to confrontations at entries. But poet, rapper and KOPZ activist Akwasi Owusu Ansah was intimidated at his house by three pro-Zwarte Piet activists. Dressed as Zwarte Pieten, they rang his doorbell. A demonstration of KOPZ took place in Breda.
Throughout the weekend, a hallucinatory series of Sinterklaas tours can be followed via television and YouTube. Many municipalities, including Amersfoort, Elburg, Soest and Delft, are not satisfied with the entry into the Sinterklaas journal, and are organizing their own digital version.
Top-heavy of folklore
A news’ Omroep Ongehoord Nederland received the first Sinterklaas in Harlingen this year. The subtle title of the show, which can be seen on YouTube, reads The Zwarte Pietenjournaal – The traditional entry 2020. And indeed the staging of the entry was top heavy in folklore: the presenter of the news was sitting against a backdrop of windmills, and vowed to put her ‘clog’ instead of her shoe; Sinterklaas’ ship was called the ‘Holland’.
In addition to Sinterklaas, Pieten made up entirely in black, and the presenter, Ongehoord Nederland played a role for Geert Wilders. The parliamentarian mused about his wish list, reminisced about the Sinterklaas celebration of his childhood and said that for him ‘there is no Sinterklaas without Zwarte Piet’. Few parents presented their children with this political variant of the Sinterklaas celebration; less than 4,500 viewers followed the broadcast live.
In The Sinterklaas Journal of the NTR, the ‘Pakjesboot’ moored at the ‘Dieuwertje Blokkade’, after which Sinterklaas and his entourage went to Soestdijk Palace to receive mayors and children there.
Christians angry about ‘Kruisigem’
A fictional village, Kruisigem, caused outrage because it would be a reference to the Biblical ‘Crucify Him’. A lecturer at the Theological University of Kampen, Dolf te Velde, wrote on Twitter: “We are now boycotting the #Sinterklaasjournaal, much to the sadness of our children. We could have a misguided joke, but if there is explicit mockery with the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, it goes across the border for us. ” Another Twitterer wrote: “While Zwarte Piet should be avoided because of its offensive character, the broadcaster NTR will, in a children’s program, hurt Christians deeply.”
Zwarte Pieten peat from home
Activist Jerry Afriyie is at home on the day of the entry, just like student Levi Ommen. He has been campaigning against Zwarte Piet for years – in 2011 he was arrested at the entry into Dordrecht. This year he coordinates smaller campaigns throughout the country from home. With a team he watches the entries and registers, for example, where the Petes are still black. “NTR is pushing the boundaries. You can hardly distinguish some soot sweepers from Zwarte Piet. We do not want a half-hearted change, we want to make sure that the next generation does not have to deal with this anymore. ” According to him, the protest has taken on a different character. “First you protest because you are not being heard. Now it is important that the change process also succeeds. ”
People from all over the country are contacting Afriyie and the other initiators of # 2020ZwartePietVrij, he says: “The protest is now widely supported. And we have clearly communicated how to protest peacefully and constructively. Even if, for example, you think you are a loner who yearns for change, in a small place: then we recommend that you enter into a conversation – with love – at school or with family, with parents or brothers or sisters. ”
Levi Ommen also thinks that the protest has reached a new phase: “The Hague should set an example. That is why we are now talking to the councilor about how institutional racism, which is the source of Zwarte Piet, can be tackled.
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