#kick out zwarte piet

[sundove88]

Spreading the word!

◾️ zwarte piet is racisme // black pete is racist ◾️

where i’m from, Sinterklaas is celebrated today; a winter holiday like Christmas, but imagine instead of jolly elves giving you presents and bringing you joy, it’s white people in blackface - Zwarte Piet, a racist caricature.

because of this, late november - early december is Hell for black people in the Netherlands and Belgium. you walk down the street seeing white people doing blackface minstrelsy, you grow up seeing tons of blackface imagery in stores or on TV, and the conversation on whether or not its racist is being dominated by complete disregard to the Dutch colonial & slavery history. 

while changes are being made (slowly), the amount of gaslighting and racist violence black people and POC here have to endure is draining and traumatizing. “it’s for the kids!” they say, but i���ve seen first hand how it has negatively impacted black kids in my family, making them question their place in society, myself included. black activists have campaigned against the tradition and those speaking out have been beaten and harassed by both the police and the far-right. and yes, this happens in a country that prides itself on being sooooo tolerant.

it should not take that much effort to change a “fun, family friendly holiday tradition for kids” in such a way that is inclusive for EVERYONE - in a way that remains fun and pleasant without harming others, especially marginalized folks.  today i wanted to speak up and use my platform in hopes to educate, spread awareness and advocate for change.

[sugdenlovesdingle]

so the incoming Dutch government has (among others)

a prime minister who is not a member of a political party but basically just someone who knows the right people to get him a nice job, former head of immigration and naturalisation services

a health minister/deputy PM who used to be a member of a white power/neo nazi forum and strongly opposes late term abortion.

a minister in charge of trade and international aid (as in aid sent to other countries from the Netherlands) who wanted to cut that aid significantly or even get rid of it altogether to pay for a hair brained plan to lower health insurance costs here a few years ago, who is (or was i'm not entirely sure) a board member for an even more racist and unhinged Dutch version of fox news, believes in some ass backwards conspiracy theory that the "elite" are trying to "replace" the population with non white/non western (Jewish!) people but claims that is not nazi rhetoric but a "factual description of a demographic development" , pro zwarte piet (loooong story but basically she's pro blackface)

a minister of immigration who also believes in the replacement conspiracy theory, is also racist, has referred to Islam as despicable. She's been called out on spouting nazi bullshit and just went "it's possible it's a nazi thing, I don't know, I don't really care/think about that"

a speaker of the house who also believes in the replace conspiracy theory and has mentioned it several times as an mp. He also complained about being sick of talks about slavery when there was a discussion on whether or not the (then) prime minister and the king should officially apologise for the Dutch slavery history. July 1st is Keti koti in the Netherlands - which celebrates the end of slavery and remembers those who lost their lives during it (kind of like Juneteenth in the US) and there is an 'official' celebration/memorial service in Amsterdam where normally at least some politicians would show their face and speak. The organisation has said they don't want Bosman (that's his name) there because he's a racist asshole. He's planning to go anyway.

an MP who blatantly denies there is famine in Gaza and says 2000 aid trucks enter the Gaza strip every week.

the leader of that ^ gang who is bffs with Viktor Orbán (Hungarian PM) and the American republicans (that should tell you enough), who was going to make sure there would be 'less Moroccans' in The Hague after winning local elections there, has insulted Islam on various occasions throughout the past 20 or so years, and wants to ban people from having dual citizenship except that one guy in his own party he kinda forgot about

The daughter of an immigrant who opposes immigration and wants to stop people from bringing their family here when they've officially been told they can stay. The EXACT same law that allowed her father to bring her and her mother and siblings here after he left Turkey when she was a kid. She also claims hundreds of thousands of people do this every year - which is bullshit, but she 'didn't do it on purpose' so it's ok.

a minister of housing who actively opposed building plans in her city. And also who nobody takes seriously because she got kicked out of her old party for openly criticising their covid policies during lockdown. Comedians love her because she says stupid shit all the time that they can use to make fun of her.

the leader of the farmers party who can't do maths, won't let anyone run the numbers on her party's plans because it's "not important what things cost or how they'd be paid for"

So yeah - the country is going to shit!

[krinsbez]

Random Thoughts

May have said this before, but it's worth repeating.

So, I don't celebrate Christmas, but it bothers me that various media keep talking up the Krampus as if he's some sort of badass Anti-Santa.

No.

He's a less-racist, more chuuni version of Zwarte Piet. He's Santa's servant.

And since he's a demonic monster, and St. Nicholas of Myra is said to have been a demon-fighter, I think it's safe to say that Krampus got that way because St. Nick kicked the shit out of him, and it was the only way to save his hairy neck.

I want media that depicts the Krampus as what he is: Santa Claus' bitch.

[m-ultraarticles]

The arrival of Kick Out Zwarte Piet was the straw that broke the camel's back in Staphorst

Participants of action group Kick Out Zwarte Piet were stopped by counter-demonstrators at the exit of the A28 near Staphorst.Image ANP Six months after the Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP) demonstrators in Staphorst were attacked and threatened by an angry crowd at the exit of the A28 and at a petrol station in Meppel, the city council looked back on its own role on that day on Tuesday. The…

[reneleijen]

Gemeente liet ernstige steken vallen bij Sinterklaas-rellen

De gemeente Staphorst heeft ernstige steken laten vallen bij de Sinterklaasrellen van november jl. Bij die rellen werd actiegroep Kick Out Zwarte Piet belaagd, geïntimideerd en bedreigd. Auto’s van betogers werden vernield, er werd met eieren en rookbommen gegooid. Volgens onderzoekers hebben B&W in de aanloop naar de intocht last gehad van ‘blinde vlekken’ en ‘wensdenken’. Ze onderschatten de…

[mentalrenttv]

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[antifainternational]

November 14, Breda - Breda: Kom in actie voor een inclusieve Sinterklaasintocht

[nedermemes]

[transrightsjimin]

Dipsaus #02 - Zwarte Piet is Racisme met Quinsy Gario

ik zocht laatst op of er podcasts over KOZP verschenen op spotify, en toen vond ik deze van Dipsaus, die ik al eerder kende van naam maar nog niet veel afleveringen van heb beluisterd. ik keek niet naar de datum van de podcast, dus pas halverwege, toen ze het hadden over hoe Trump de verkiezingen vlak ervoor had gewonnen, besefte ik dat deze in 2016 gemaakt was. Quinsy Gario was te gast en blikte terug op o.a. het moment waarop hij door de politie werd gearresteerd voor het dragen van een 'zwarte piet is racisme' shirt. wat bleek, dat moment was eigenlijk niet voorpaginanieuws toen het gebeurde in 2011, maar blies later pas op doordat een filmpje op Geenstijl belandde. het is inmiddels vandaag Sinterklaas en ik wilde deze graag delen omdat het best wat perspectief biedt op het politieke landschap omtrent racisme en KOZP en veranderingen (of eerder gebrek daar aan) hier in. ik heb inmiddels nog wat andere Dipsaus podcasts beluisterd die gerelateerde vraagstukken behandelen en het is echt een verademing om te luisteren naar vrouwen van kleur die hun eigen platform hebben opgericht en over kwesties praten die de witte Nederlandse media niet professioneel willen behandelen.

[stitchtehzombie]

@zal001 I am going to assume that you have good intentions by reimagining in your own way, so please allow me to provide sources so you can understand Zwarte Piet better. People here in the Netherlands are pretending that zwarte piet does not in fact have racist origins and is not an enslaved person, and instead is just a guy that has their black appearance because they go through chimneys. They are also often treated as being their own "species", as in, they arent even human at all, theyre just a 'piet' and they just kindof exist in their own pieten bubble. basically reducing an actual slaves tale to a fairytale, dehumanising them to the point of being fairy tale creatures. Pieter not having red lips or not being human unfortunately does not exclude him from being a charicature like zwarte piet. Kick Out Zwarte Piet actually has a list of criteria that make zwarte piet racist:

Code red: municipality uses blackface, brownface, grayface ( and ofc all the other features listed below)

Code orange: municipalities that have started using soot marks while still using other racist characteristics, such as nearly having their entire face covered in black facepaint, golden earrings, wigs with curly hair, thick red lips

When a municipality falls under code orange it is seen as just slightly less problematic, but ultimately they still have a long way to go to make Sinterklaasfeest as inclusive and non-racist as possible.

Here's an article about moorish slave attire (the browser translate option makes a pretty decent translation":

"In everything he still is, Zwarte Piet mainly portrays a page who indeed wants to make everyone happy."

And here are some examples of enslaved people wearing clothes similar to what zwarte piet tends to wear:

Again, I'm not going to assume that you're intentionally trying to make Pieter a racist image. But I want to make clear that Zwarte Piet is inherently racist in his appearance, regardless of whatever backstory you give him.

Character bios from last year's Tales of the Otherfolk winter holiday secial.

[winds-of--fortune]

Blackface Protests in The Netherlands

[wenshow]

#KeepMeSharp – Tenemi Skèrpi [Revelashon]-02

#KeepMeSharp – Tenemi Skèrpi [Revelashon]-02

• ✊🏾 • #TenemiSkèrpi

WILLEMSTAD, CURAÇAO – Gwendell Mercelina, Jr writes his sharp reflections and statements on the worldwide but also nation-wide Black Lives Matters effects in Papiamentu for his community. It comes as his second revelation part.

P’abo (nos) ku ta djis bai ke narativo di bo sintimentunan so, sin pensa e efekto di e movementu akí pa ratu kaba.

P’abo (nos) ku ta pensa…

[eltjedoddema]

Intocht Sunterkloas Sinterklaas komt dit jaar niet per stoomboot, maar komt in Apeldoorn per stoomtrein aan......

[kleefkruid]

Dutch speaking people, here's a super interesting livestream from the Netherlands from yesterday!

‘Zwart Manifest in gesprek: met de Joodse gemeenschap’ Tijdens deze uitzending gaan we in gesprek met experts, ervaringsdeskundigen en actieve burgers. Ondanks dat de Zwarte gemeenschap en de Joodse gemeenschap een geschiedenis kennen van racisme, structurele discriminatie en onderdrukking, is vandaag de dag solidariteit niet vanzelfsprekend. We kijken naar de gezamenlijke geschiedenis en we blikken vooruit naar de toekomst. Hoe overbruggen we de afstand en bouwen we aan sterke relaties en solidariteit?

I haven't had the time to watch it myself yet because schoolwork but there's no way this theme can't be incredibly interesting so I'm already sharing it. The group creating this is in part founded by Jerry King Luther Afriyie, the poet who's one of the first people to publicly protest blackface in The Netherlands (and an indirect driving force for the discussion in Belgium too) and co-founder of kick out zwarte piet. Nederland wordt beter is also a driving force in the Dutch BLM movement and tries to create an umberella movement against discrimination, involving the queer community and now having this talk. It's a pretty young organisation but I'm always excited about outreach between marginalised groups. The better we get at this the less people opposing our views can pitch us against each other.

[talktomeintiptoes]

If you’re not from the US: all these posts and donation links that are going around right now are all very important, and should be shared widely, but I think it’s important to note that the US is not the only country that has a huge racism problem. Just because it manifests itself differently in different places because of different cultures and different histories, doesn’t mean it’s not there. Please also consider looking into what you can do locally. Is there a protest you can go to? Is there a group you can donate to? Is there a way you can educate yourself and the people around you about the issues that are relevant to your country specifically?

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Over here in the Netherlands, multiple protests have already taken place in Amsterdam, Groningen, The Hague and Rotterdam, and more will take place in Utrecht and Almere in the coming days. The Utrecht protest is semi-local to me, but I won’t be able to attend as I don’t own a car and both the government and the organizers of the protest have urged people not to travel to protests on public transit to comply with the social distancing rules- safety first. The protest in Amsterdam is getting a lot of media attention right now because way more people showed up than expected & it wasn’t possible to keep a 1.5m distance, and there’s been a lot of discussions in national politics about what went wrong here and how the organizers and the local authorities should have handled the situation- so much so that the actual message is getting drowned out. I have however donated to the organizers (Keti Koti Utrecht) and will be looking into what else I can do.

Other organizations include:

Nederland Wordt Beter (They are one of the initiators of the Kick Out Zwarte Piet movement. They focus on: “Education about the history of colonialism and slavery”, “An inclusive Sinterklaas celebration without a racist stereotype“, “A National Commemoration of the History of Colonialism and Slavery“)

Black Queer & Trans Resistance Netherlands (”Black Queer & Trans Resistance Netherlands is a community and activist group countering racism, transphobia and homophobia through marches, intergenerational meetups and archival work.“)

The Black Archives (”The Black Archives is a unique historical archive for inspiring conversations, activities and literature from Black and other perspectives that are often overlooked elsewhere. The Black Archives documents the history of black emancipation movements and individuals in the Netherlands. [...] The Black Archives consists of unique book collections, archives and artifacts that are the legacy of Black Dutch writers and scientists. The approximately 3000 books in the collections focus on racism and race issues, slavery and (the) colonization, gender and feminism, social sciences and development, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, South America, Africa and more.“)

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If you want to educate yourself on racism and white privilege in general, the book “Hallo witte mensen” by Anousha Nzume is a good place to start, it’s very accessible.

While I have not read it yet, “White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race“ by Gloria Wekker is also supposed to be a good one to read, but it is an academic publication so it’s not quite as accessible. (There is a Dutch version too, but in this case the English version actually came first.)

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I’m not sure how many people will actually read this, let alone Dutch people (I don’t think I have any Dutch followers), but I felt compelled to share.

If you know of any resources specific to your country, feel free to reblog this and add them on!

[skamofcolor]

From Zoë Love Smith’s Instagram (May 31 2020):

Solidarity protest against anti-black violence in the US en EU

On 25 May 2020, George Floyd was killed with brutal violence inflicted by a police officer who forcefully blocked his windpipe by kneeling on his neck for minutes, while his colleagues stood there and watched. “I can’t breathe” were Floyd’s last words. Words that remind us of the Eric Garner's police murder in New York in 2014. On March 12, nurse Breonna Taylor was shot dead at her home by police when they were "looking for a suspect." On February 23, #AhmaudArbery was murdered by a former cop and his son while out jogging. On May 27, Tony McDade, a black Trans man, was murdered by police in Florida. These black Americans are only the most recent in a long list of victims of systematic institutional racism in the US. All across the country, people are rising up against racist violence. On 1 June 2020, a protest event will also be organized in the Netherlands in solidarity with the movement in the US and against anti-black violence in the Netherlands. Throughout the week, other demonstrations will also be organized in different cities by different individuals and groups, including a manifestation in The Hague on Tuesday.

Many of the comments she posted afterwards are really powerful, so we’re re-posting them here under the Read More and also encourage you to read and like her statements on her Insta: 

Institutional Anti-Black Racism

Violence in the USA has been a problem for decades and has been widely condemned by both people and the media. Institutional racist violence against black people is however not only an American issue, it is also a recurring problem in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. On 28 June 2020, it will be exactly 5 years since #MitchHenriquez was murdered by police brutality in the Hague. The same police force refused to fire a police officer who attacked a Moroccan-Dutch man and gave himself the nickname ‘Morrocan purger’, instead the whistleblower was removed from her position. For years, The Dutch Tax office targeted people for fraud inspection based on their nationality. Numerous studies have shown proof of structural racism on the job market, in education, in the police force and other institutions.

The past years institutional racism against black people has been particularly expressed in the response to peaceful protests organized by Kick Out Zwarte Piet. The last words spoken by #GeorgeFloyd “I can’t breathe” are reminiscent of the excessive police aggression used during the arrest of Jerry Afriyie during the parade in Gouda in 2014. The mass arrests in Rotterdam in 2016 made a lasting impression due to violence police used against black protesters. In the years after, there were repeated transgressions against of anti-black-pete protesters, both by the police and pro-Pete defenders. The attack against the national manifestation by #KOZP was a low point in Dutch democracy and the pretense of equal rights for Black people. Although only a few suspects were arrested, no charges have been pressed.

Keti Koti month: racism is the heritage of colonialism and slavery Both in the USA and the Netherlands, anti-black racism is rooted in a long history of colonialism, slavery and imperialism. On June 1 2020, the yearly Keti Koti month is opened in Amsterdam with a manifestation on Dam Square. After all, the city of Amsterdam was co-owner of the colony of Suriname and the head office of the Society of Surinam was located on Dam Square. Because of the corona crisis, this opening of the Keti Koti month has been cancelled. Due to the current uprising of worldwide anti-black racism we still invite you to join a protest action on this important day. We call all people to show solidarity with the protesters in the USA and to take a stand against institutional racism in the Netherlands and Europe.

Anti-blackness in Europe At the borders of 'Fort Europe' thousands of people – predominantly black people – have lost their lives because of the lethal immigration policy supported by the Dutch state. An immigration policy that moreover gives illegalized people prey to exploitation by working in European construction, farming and service industries. Black illegalized people are systematically charged and incarcerated with no regard for human rights, and illegally deported to unsafe countries. We can no longer look away from the (lethal) consequences of institutional anti-black racism in the Netherlands and in Europe. Black Lives Matter in the Netherlands and Europe Too.

The failure to enforce the constitutional laws against racism within government and society is a recurring theme. The chief of the national police issued an employment guarantee for officers that engaged in excessive violence on the job. Amber alerts for missing black children are issued too late. Black children are more quickly framed as dangerous, are confronted with police violence at an earlier age and their rights to psycho-social safety and equal treatment are systematically violated. In the Carribean part of the Dutch Kingdom, black people are treated as second-class citizens.