IOPList.Org

Fri Aug 28, 2015 | 1:11 PM EDT
By Yoruk Bahceli

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -
A U.N. body called on the Netherlands on Friday to revamp its "Black Pete" Christmas tradition, where white performers black up to entertain children, as many saw it as a "vestige of slavery".

The comments from the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination will stoke an already heated debate on the custom,
described as a harmless piece of fun by
defenders, but condemned by other groups as
an offensive stereotype.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte quickly dismissed the recommendations, saying it was not the
government's job to shape folklore.

"Guys. Folk traditions, come on. What Christmas songs you should sing, how you celebrate Christmas and Easter – this isn't what politics is about," he told reporters in The Hague. The Geneva-based U.N. committee, which does not have the power to enforce its
recommendations, said the Dutch government
should actively work to get rid of negative racial stereotypes in the depiction of the colorfully blackfaced assistant to a white St. Nicholas -- who inspired Father Christmas.

"(The stereotypes) are experienced by many
people of African descent as a vestige of
slavery," it added.

Black Pete, who often appears with bright red
lips and a curly black wig, has become a fraught topic in a country which has long regarded itself as progressive and tolerant.

In the run-up to last Christmas, police arrested
90 demonstrators in Gouda, 40 miles south of
Amsterdam, for picketing the annual St.
Nicholas parade.

Some carried "Black Pete is racism" banners as others demonstrated in support of the character.

Surinamese, Antillean and African minorities
perceive the tradition as a legacy of colonial
racism.

The National Platform on Slavery, a group which campaigns for atonement for the
Netherlands' past role in the slave trade, said
many black children found the depiction disturbing.

Last year, an Amsterdam court ruled that Black
Pete was racist, but the decision was
overturned by the country's highest
administrative court.

The U.N. panel also called on the government
to reverse its decision not to give food and
shelter to rejected asylum seekers.

Rutte also defended that policy saying it would
be "crazy" to offer permanent shelter to people
who refused to return to their country of origin.



(Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli, additional
reporting by Toby Sterling; Writing by Thomas
Escritt; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

wow, one would be tarred and feathered if they tried that here.

i think naoimi campbell, whom may be black, used blackface for a video or holiday and she was so put down.

i know the USA has absolutely a zero tolerance policy for actors in "blackface" for any reason.

i am not even sure why. maybe its how the character is portrayed. The Irish were treated with great prejudice. Signs would say: dogs, jews and irish need not apply. sometimes blacks. and both my parents were born in harlem. one in the wealthiest part back then. one not.

so, I went out of my way to not fall into prejudice traps.

i am kinda surprised a whole country would still do this.

but, it is society whom should address this. not the gvt. just as they should allow us to put up a manger at christmas, a jewish star and chanukah stuff.

i wonder why the curly wig and red lips. that image reminds me of when i was trying to help put a guy whom worked with spin doctors thru rehab. to record. because he was the son of my mothers best friend. and, i turned around and he was wearing a wig, smooshed red lipstick, and red high heels. he looked exactly like his mother then. i could never shake that image.

nothing to do with the subject at hand. just a revolting memory I have. thanks for reminding me, Ice. kidding. just kidding.

and, i learned later, that a psychology experiment i did, showing children distorted faces, actually did really upset them. i felt like dog meat. it was psych 101. so, i know any deviation from the norm upsets a child in re: faces.

weird tradition. but, then again, me country believes in leprochauns. little people don't seem upset by that belief.

but, nowadays, it gets hard to always be politically correct.

(i should look up the portrayal to really comment. but, it would sadden me, I suspect.)

we have a thread here, or in our last weeks over there, "Why can't we all get along?"

I like that idea. And, mocking another, is not really playing well with others.

Eddie Izzard, the UK comic always said the Amsterdam peoples can speak four or five languages. And, smoke dope. So, if they are so smart and so civilized, why do they mock another race?

I guess it goes back to when it started. Someone somewhere found it Christmasy? huh?