34 supporters of Holland’s ‘Black Pete’ blackface tradition are sentenced to community service for trying to block anti-racism demonstration
- ‘Zwarte Piet’ is the traditional Christmas helper of Santa Claus in Dutch folklore
- Court says the accused ‘took the law into their own hands’ by blocking the road
- Last year the pro-Pete group’s blockade caused concussion to a bus passenger
- UN committee called Black Pete a ‘vestige of slavery’ after furious rows in 2016
Thirty-four supporters of a traditional Christmas blackface character who blocked anti-racism demonstrators have been sentenced to hundreds of hours of community service.
‘Zwarte Piet’ or Black Pete appears during the festive period with a blackened face, red lips and afro wig, handing out gifts to children as the sidekick to Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus.
Last year a small anti-racist demonstration was blocked by supporters of ‘Zwarte Piet,’ causing chaos on the busy A7 in northern Friesland.
The character sparks heated debate every Christmas and small but vocal protests anti-racist protests take place across the Netherlands, as he is branded a throwback to the colonial era.
A child talks to ‘Black Pete’ the traditional black-faced assistant of Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus
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The supporters stopped the two buses with activists on their way to the small Frisian town of Dokkum, where Saint Nicholas and his Black Petes stepped off a boat.
‘The court seriously condemns all the accused,’ Leeuwarden District Court said in a statement, adding that while ‘to demonstrate is a fundamental right… the accused took the law into their own hands.’
The blockaders were given sentences of between 80 and 240 hours community service.
Judges also handed compensation to an anti-racism activist who suffered concussion when the buses were abruptly halted.
Black Pete’s defenders say he is simply black from coming down the chimney and a children’s figure, refusing to admit there might be anything racist about the character.
Anti-racist activist Jenny Douwes smiles outside the courthouse for the trial of the highway blockers in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on November 9
After a particularly heated debate in 2014 other Petes were introduced for the first time: ‘Cheese Petes’ with yellow faces, ‘Stroopwafel Petes’ with striped, light brown faces resembling the traditional syrup biscuit of the same name and a white-faced ‘Clown Pete’.
Last month the Dutch public broadcaster prevaricated over its decision to change the appearance of Black Pete at this year’s ‘arrival’ in Zaanstad north of Amsterdam.
But they eventually decided that ‘some Petes go down the chimney a lot, therefore they turn properly black’, the NOS reported.
Activists plan to make anti-Pete protests again this year, the largest at The Hague on November 17, news reports said.
A UN committee that looks at the eradication of racism in 2016 branded Black Pete a ‘vestige of slavery’.
The Dutch children’s ombudsman also ruled that the character must be ‘stripped of discriminatory or stereotypical characteristics.’
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